Imma von Bodmershof
Imma von Bodmershof was an Austrian writer known for her metric-rhythmic prose and haiku poetry, deeply influenced by her upbringing and family background. She was the daughter of philosopher and psychologist Christian von Ehrenfels, a key figure in the development of Gestalt psychology. Growing up in the picturesque Waldviertel region of Austria, she drew inspiration from her natural surroundings, frequently incorporating accurate depictions of plants and birds in her work. Bodmershof had a brief formal education, primarily learning through familial discussions and her father’s teachings during their walks.
Her literary career flourished in the context of her influences, including significant interactions with poets like Rainer Maria Rilke and Stefan George. Bodmershof's marriage to political scientist Wilhelm von Bodmershof led her to manage their estate while she continued to travel, notably to Sicily, which inspired some of her literary pieces. Her writing reflects a meticulous sense of order, often intertwining spiritual principles with material reality. Over her lifetime, she received numerous accolades for her contributions to literature, including the Great Austrian State Prize for Literature, cementing her legacy as an important figure in Austrian writing.
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Imma von Bodmershof
Writer
- Born: August 10, 1895
- Birthplace: Graz, Austria
- Died: August 26, 1982
Biography
Imma von Bodmershof was the daughter of the distinguished philosopher and psychologistChristian von Ehrenfels (1859-1932), whose work formed the basis for Gestalt psychology and who discovered the prime number law in mathematics. Bodmershof went to school for only a year. She and her brother learned mainly from dinner discussions with their parents and from what their father taught them about nature on their long walks together. Bodmershof grew up in the family mansion, Schloss Lichtenau, in the southern Waldviertel, the wooded area north of Melk in Lower Austria. The Waldviertel later became her permanent home and is beautifully portrayed in her metric-rhythmic prose and her collections of haiku. She calls all the plants and birds by their correct names.
Bodmershof was a private person and stated in her 1962 Kleine Autobiographie: Unter acht Winden (little autobiography: under eight winds) that anyone wanting to know anything about her would find it in her books. She audited lectures in art history, philosophy, and graphology at the University of Prague, where her father had been a professor since 1896, and at the University of Munich, but she did not complete a program of study. During these years, she became acquainted with the poets Rainer Maria Rilke and Stefan George, and in George’s circle she met the scholar Norbert von Hellingrath (1888-1916). They became engaged in 1913.
Hellingrath had earned his doctorate in 1910 with a foreword to the first edition of a work by the poet Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843). Hellingrath continued publishing Hölderlin’s works until his death in action in World War I. Bodmershof’s writing has a sense of order and proportion and exact diction. Her father’s influence is also evident in her works, in the idea that all order in the world is based on a principle that is more spiritual than material.
In 1925, she married the political scientist Dr. Wilhelm von Bodmershof. They worked hard to bring his country estate Schloss Rastbach near Gföhl in the Waldviertel back into operation. They maintained it for the rest of their lives, living there and in Vienna.
Imma von Bodmershof continued to travel widely for some years and was particularly impressed by Sicily, going there first in 1927 and returning several times. Sicily is the setting of her novella “Milch auf Gestein” (milk on rock) and of her novel Sieben Handvoll Salz (seven handfuls of salt). However, her most popular novel, Die Rosse des Urban Roithner, is set in the landscape she knew best: the Waldviertel.
The Austrian Sinologist Anna von Rottauscher, whose interest extended to Japanese literature, introduced Bodmershof to the haiku, a lyric poem consisting of three unrhymed lines of five, seven, and five syllables respectively. As shown by this lovely example from Bodmershof’s first collection, Haiku (1962), she used the form to advantage in the German language: “Aus meinen Händen/ rieselt der Sand ganz langsam/ zurück in das Meer.” (Out of my hands/ the sand trickles so slowly/ back to the sea.)
Bodmershof joined the PEN Club in 1950. She was awarded the Great Austrian State Prize for Literature in 1958, the Culture Prize of Lower Austria in 1965, and the Cross of Honor for Art and Science, First Class, in 1969.