Karl Hans Strobl (18 January 1877, in

Jihlava Jihlava (; german: Iglau) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 50,000 inhabitants. Jihlava is the capital of the Vysočina Region, situated on the Jihlava River on the historical border between Moravia and Bohemia. Historically, Jihlava ...

– 10 March 1946, in

Perchtoldsdorf Perchtoldsdorf (; colloquially ''Petersdorf'') is a market town in the Mödling District, in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. It is known chiefly for its winemaking. Geography It is located immediately at the Vienna city limits, south of the ...

) was an Austrian author and editor. Strobl is best known for his horror and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

writings. Strobl was a member of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

Life

Strobl grew up in

Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The m ...

and went to the University of

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, where he was a member of the "

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

" student fraternity. Strobl was an admirer of Rainer Maria Rilke and wrote a review praising Rilke's poetry collection '' Das Stunden-Buch'' for a newspaper. Strobl was also influenced by the ideas of

Houston Stewart Chamberlain Houston Stewart Chamberlain (; 9 September 1855 – 9 January 1927) was a British-German philosopher who wrote works about political philosophy and natural science. His writing promoted German ethnonationalism, antisemitism, and scientific ...

. Strobl became a prolific writer of fiction, especially "schauerromanen"— horror stories influenced by

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

and

Hanns Heinz Ewers Hanns Heinz Ewers (3 November 1871 – 12 June 1943) was a German actor, poet, philosopher, and writer of short stories and novels. While he wrote on a wide range of subjects, he is now known mainly for his works of horror, particularly his trilo ...

. Fantasy historian Franz Rottensteiner states that regarding his shorter fiction, Strobl "showed himself an able writer" Franz Rottensteiner, "Austria", in John Clute and John Grant, ''

The Encyclopedia of Fantasy ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' is a 1997 reference work concerning fantasy fiction, edited by John Clute and John Grant. Other contributors include Mike Ashley, Neil Gaiman, Diana Wynne Jones, David Langford, Sam J. Lundwall, Michael S ...

''. London, Orbit, 1999. (pp. 74-75) and anthologist Mike Mitchell describes Strobl's short story "The Head" as "a masterpiece of the macabre genre". After the First World War ended, Strobl relocated to Germany, where he edited the magazine '' Der Orchideengarten'' with Alfons von Czibulka; it is regarded as the world's first specialized fantasy magazine. Strobl's 1910 novel ''Eleagabal Kuperus'' was adapted as the film ''Nachtgestalten'' in 1920, starring

Conrad Veidt Hans Walter Conrad Veidt (; 22 January 1893 – 3 April 1943) was a German film actor who attracted early attention for his roles in the films ''Different from the Others'' (1919), '' The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' (1920), and '' The Man Who Laug ...

and directed by Richard Oswald. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Strobl expressed his advocacy for

German nationalism German nationalism () is an ideological notion that promotes the unity of Germans and German-speakers into one unified nation state. German nationalism also emphasizes and takes pride in the patriotism and national identity of Germans as one n ...

by writing a trilogy of historical novels about Otto von Bismarck. From the 1920s onward, Strobl became more right-wing and anti-semitic, eventually becoming a supporter of

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...

. Strobl became an advocate of Austria and the Sudetenland being incorporated into German rule; he was expelled from Czechoslovakia in 1934 for pro-Nazi activities.Klee, Ernst. ''Das Kulturlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945''. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, (p.601). After the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

he became an important official in the Nazi writers' organisation, the '' Reichsschrifttumskammer'', and devoted his literary career solely to producing pro-Nazi propaganda. At the end of the Second World War, Strobl's house in Vienna was looted by the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

and he was forced to work on a road repair gang. Released because of illness, he died in a poorhouse in 1946. Strobl's advocacy for Nazism meant his work was briefly banned by the Allies after World War Two.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strobl, Karl Hans 20th-century Austrian novelists Austrian male novelists Austrian male short story writers Austrian fantasy writers Austrian horror writers Austrian historical novelists Austrian Nazis 1877 births 1946 deaths 20th-century short story writers 20th-century Austrian male writers Writers from Austria-Hungary