Tagebücher
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Edited by:
Karl Konrad Polheim
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach’s journals, which she kept for many decades, are significant for many reasons– for her biography, for the creative process in her works, for literary history (with a wealth of aphorisms) and– as the documentation of the life of an aristocrat in the Austro-Hungarian Empire– for cultural history.
This volume is the latest in the ongoing complete edition of the diaries kept by Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916) over a number of decades. The state archives in Brno have a total of 36 full-year diaries from the period between 1862 and 1909, while others (up to 1916) have been handed down from outside sources. In accordance with the literary rank of their author, these diaries are notable in a number of respects, casting interesting light on her biography, the genesis of her works, the history of contemporary literature (with an abundance of aphorisms) and - as the product of a noblewoman living in the Austro-Hungarian Empire - on the cultural history of the period in general.
The fifth volume of the "Diaries" is of especial culture-historical interest. It was in the autumn of 1898 that Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916) first visited Rome, a sojourn of several months to be followed by a number of others in the subsequent years. The record of her impressions in the "Diaries" is extremly minute, reflecting very clearly her intention to achieve as personal an approach as possible to the cultural and historical significance of this city. The volume also includes a 'supplement' in the form of the travelogue "Aus Rom. An meine Freunde", first published in the "Gartenlaube" periodical (1900) and not otherwise accessible. A comparison of this text with the notes in her diary provides impressive testimony of the process leading from the first jottings to the finished literary version of her experiences in Rome.
This sixth volume covers the last decade of Ebner-Eschenbach's life. It is a period in which she not only received a number of late honors but was also astonishingly prolific. Alongside her autobiographical works ("Meine Erinnerungen an Grillparzer") she also penned a significant number of short narratives. At the same time we experience Ebner-Eschenbach as a vigilant observer of current affairs. This is reflected in her accounts of developments ranging from the nationality conflicts looming ever larger within the Hapsburg monarchy to the outbreak of the First World War, which she responded to first with approval, then with growing skepticism and finally with abhorrence.
