Gustav Gräser
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Gustav "Gusto" Arthur Gräser (16 February 1879 – 27 October 1958) was a German
alternative lifestyle An alternative lifestyle or unconventional lifestyle is a lifestyle (sociology), lifestyle perceived to be outside the social norm, norm for a given culture. The term ''alternative lifestyle'' is often used pejoratively. Description of a related ...
advocate, artist, and poet. He is considered one of the founders of communal lifestyle in Germany. Together with his brother and fellow artist Karl Gräser, he co-founded one of the earliest social reform settlements, which was located along
Monte Verità Monte Verità (Italian; German 'Berg Wahrheit', meaning "Mount Truth" or "Mountain of Truth") is a hill standing 321 Metres above the Sea (Switzerland), metres above sea level and a cultural-historical ensemble in the Swiss canton of Ticino. The ...
in
Ascona 300px, Ascona Ascona ( ) is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It is located on the shore of Lake Maggiore. The town is a popular tourist destination and holds the yearly Ascona Jazz Festival. ...
. His penned and painted works included many of that were not published until a revival of interest during the
counterculture of the 1960s The counterculture of the 1960s was an anti-establishment cultural phenomenon and political movement that developed in the Western world during the mid-20th century. It began in the early 1960s, and continued through the early 1970s. It is ofte ...
emerged. Gräser was born in
Brașov Brașov (, , ; , also ''Brasau''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the county seat (i.e. administrative centre) of Brașov County. According to the 2021 Romanian census, ...
(''Kronstadt''), a city in the
Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...
region of
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
that is now part of Romania. At an early age, he was influenced by the philosophy of
social reformer Reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary movements which reject t ...
Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach (21February 185115December 1913) was a German painter and social reformer. Diefenbach is regarded as the "forefather of alternative movements" and one of the most important champions of the Lebensreform (life-reform), th ...
. In 1897, Gräser lived in Diefenbach's commune, Himmelhof, located in Ober Sankt Veit, near
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, and embraced his ideas of
pacifism Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ...
, a human civilization in harmony with nature, and a vegetarian diet, while studying art. However, Gräser was dissuaded by Diefenbach's despotic leadership, and left the commune in 1898 to form his own following in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
. In 1900, Gräser completely cut ties with his hometown to wander, and co-founded his own commune near
Monte Verità Monte Verità (Italian; German 'Berg Wahrheit', meaning "Mount Truth" or "Mountain of Truth") is a hill standing 321 Metres above the Sea (Switzerland), metres above sea level and a cultural-historical ensemble in the Swiss canton of Ticino. The ...
in
Ascona 300px, Ascona Ascona ( ) is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It is located on the shore of Lake Maggiore. The town is a popular tourist destination and holds the yearly Ascona Jazz Festival. ...
with his brother, Karl Gräser. Among the settlement's inhabitants included several artists and authors such as
Otto Gross Otto Hans Adolf Gross (; 17 March 1877 – 13 February 1920) was an Austrian psychoanalyst. A maverick early disciple of Sigmund Freud, he later became an anarchist and joined the utopian Ascona community. His father Hans Gross was a judge tur ...
,
Leonhard Frank Leonhard Frank (4 September 1882 in Würzburg – 18 August 1961 in Munich) was a German expressionist writer. He studied painting and graphic art in Munich, and gained acclaim with his first novel ''The Robber Band'' (1914, tr. 1928). When a Be ...
, Erich Muhsam, Franziska Countess zu Reventlow, and
Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a Germans, German-Swiss people, Swiss poet and novelist, and the 1946 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His interest in Eastern philosophy, Eastern religious, spiritual, and philosophic ...
, whom Gräser influenced in his written works. Gräser helped fund the commune by giving lectures in various cities and selling copies of his poetry, but was often faced with ridicule for his appearance. In 1911, Gräser moved his family of six to the outskirts of Berlin. He became a leading figure in the political reconstruction of the youth movement, in particular, the Free German Youth Movement. However, Gräser's teachings were met with hostility, in 1912 he was arrested and expelled from Saxony, and again from Baden in the following year. In 1915, Gräser was deported to Austria and sentenced to death for being a
conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...
, but, instead, was ruled to be legally insane, and was transported to a mental institution. After he was released, Gräser briefly returned to Mount Verita, before becoming an activist against the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. Although he was expelled from Bavaria in 1919, Gräser migrated with a "new crowd" known as the "crusade of love" with his associate, Friedrich Muck-Lamberty, which was a subject in Hesse's story, ''
Journey to the East ''Journey to the East'' is a short novel by German author Hermann Hesse. It was first published in German in 1932 as ''Die Morgenlandfahrt''. This novel came directly after his biggest international success, ''Narcissus and Goldmund''. The first ...
''. In 1927, Gräser began public speaking in Berlin's Anti-War Museum, settled in the commune of ''Grunhurst'', and traveled through Germany with his son, Otto Brobohmig, to distribute his writings. When the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
came to power in 1933, ''Grunhurst'' was destroyed, and many of its inhabitants, including some of Gräser's family, were killed or sent to
internment camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simp ...
in 1936. Gräser managed to avoid capture by fleeing to Munich, living in seclusion in fellow poets' attics, and wrote some of his most acclaimed pieces including ''Siebenmah'' and ''Wunderbar. After continuing his travels through Germany, Gräser died in 1958 in Munich. His unpublished poetry was saved before the destruction of his home and preserved in the Municipal Library in Munich.


Works

*Efeublätter. Gedichte. Wien 1902. *Ein Freund ist da – mach auf! Flugschrift, Berlin 1912. *Winke zur Genesung unsres Lebens. Sprüche und Gedichte. Ascona 1918. *Zeichen des Kommenden. Sieben Steindrucke mit Textblättern. Dresden 1925. *Notwendwerk. Zeichnungen und Gedichte. Steindruckmappe. Dresden 1926. *Bucheckern. Eine Druckschrift. Berlin 1930. *Wortfeuerzeug. Sprüche und Gedichte. Berlin 1930. *Tao. Das heilende Geheimnis. Büchse der Pandora, Wetzlar 1979, , und Umbruch-Verlag, Recklinghausen 2008, . *AllBeDeut. Unsere Sprachlaute – heimliche Schlüssel zum Aufschluss unsrer Welt. Deutsches Monte Verità Archiv Freudenstein 2000. *Erdsternzeit. Eine Auswahl aus dem Spätwerk. Herausgegeben von Hermann Müller. Umbruch-Verlag, Recklinghausen 2007 und 2009, . *Gedichte des Wanderers. Herausgegeben von Frank Milautzcki. Verlag im Proberaum 3, Klingenberg 2006. *Der Liebe Macht. Ölgemälde im Museum Casa Anatta auf dem Monte Verità, Ascona


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graser, Gustav German artists 1879 births 1958 deaths People from Brașov People associated with Lebensreform