Hermann Grab (May 6, 1903 – August 2, 1949) was a Bohemian German-language writer, critic and musician. He is known for writing Der Stadtpark in 1935 and Hochzeit in Brooklyn, which was published in 1957 after his death.

Early years

Hermann was born into a wealthy aristocratic family of Jewish origin in Prague,

Bohemian Kingdom The Kingdom of Bohemia (), sometimes referenced in English literature as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe. It was the predecessor state of the modern Czech Republic. The Kingdom of Bohemia was an Im ...

(an old name of today's Czech Republic). Although his parents were formally Jewish, Hermann and his brother were educated as Catholics. Hermann studied at the German Gymnasium Na Prikopech (Prague) and then entered

German Charles-Ferdinand University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

. Later he studied at

universities A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

and

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. ...

. In 1927, he received a PhD in philosophy in Heidelberg and in 1928 a PhD in law in his home-town Prague.

Life in Prague and writer work

After short juridical praxis, Grab became a music teacher and music-critic of Prager Montagsblatt. In 1934, he published the first of his short stories in Prague magazines and in 1935 his first book, ''Der Stadtpark'', a Prague novel, for he was said to be 'Prague

Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French language, French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Pas ...

' (Joseph Strelka).

Exile in the United States and death

After the occupation of his country by

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

between 1938 and 1939, Grab escaped to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. When Hitler's armies defeated France, he escaped (and lost all his manuscripts) through France, Spain, Portugal, and finally to the USA. Hermann settled in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and established a small music school, married a Belgian exile and wrote his second book, ''Hochzeit in Brooklyn''. Serious illness prevented him from returning to Prague after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Hermann was diagnosed with cancer in 1946. He died of cancer fully invalid in 1949 in New York and was buried at

Flushing Cemetery Flushing Cemetery is a cemetery in Flushing in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. History Flushing Cemetery has several predecessors. In 1789 (64 years before the cemetery was founded), George Washington had crossed the East Ri ...

Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places Netherlands * Flushing, Netherlands, an English name for the city of Vlissingen, Netherlands United Kingdom * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in Cornwall, England * The Flushing, a building in Suffolk, England ...

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

Works of Hermann Grab

*''Der Stadtpark'' (Town Park), novel published in Prague 1935. Prague's pre-World War I life seen by a teenager. *''Hochzeit in Brooklyn'' (Marriage in Brooklyn), a book of excellent short stories, written in 1940s, published posthumously in Vienna 1957. Some of them with a Prague theme, others with New York and Lisbon theme.

Secondary Literature

* "Das neue Weihnachtsbuch. Thomas Mann über ein neues Prager Buch". In: ''Prager Montagsblatt'' 57 (1934), No.50 (10. 12. 1934), p. 8. * Haas, Willy: "Pražský Němec 1935". German of Prague 1935. In: ''Literární noviny'' iterary Review7 (1935), No. 4, p. 3. * Mann, Klaus: "Hermann Grab, Der Stadtpark". In: ''Die Sammlung'' 2 (1935), No. 7, p. 387 – 389. * C. S. .i. Carl Seelig "Der Stadtpark von Hermann Grab". In: ''Neue Zürcher Zeitung'' 156 (1935), No. 770, Beilage * Politzer, Heinz: "Hermann Grab: Der Stadtpark". In: ''das silberboot'' 1 (1935/1936), fasc. 1, p. 46 – 47. * Strelka, Joseph P.: "Ein österreichischer Proust". In: ''Strelka: Brücke zu vielen Ufern.'' Wien, Frankfurt, Zürich 1966, p. 119. * Härtling, Peter: "Hermann Grab: Der Stadtpark". In: Härtling: ''Vergessene Bücher.'' Stuttgart 1966, p. 143 – 150. (2nd ed. Munich 1986, p. 197 – 205.) * Becher, Peter: "Schreiben am Abgrund. Hermann Grab – ein Erzähler aus dem Prager Kreis". In: ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' 41 (1985), Nr. 117 (22. 5. 1985), S. 13. * Bonsen, Peter: "Zweifelhaftes Glück. Der Exilautor Hermann Grab – eine Wiederentdeckung". In: ''Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung. Heidelberger Nachrichten'' 41 (1985), No. 183. * Weinzierl, Ulrich: "Der kunstvoll gedämpfte Schrecken". In: ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' 1985, No. 98 (27. 4. 1985). Beilage Bilder und Zeiten – Literatur, p. 5. * Unger, Karl: "Planvoll beschädigte Novellen. Der Stadtpark, Erzählungen von Hermann Grab". In: ''Deutsche Volkszeitung'' 1985, Nr.31 (2. 8. 1985), S. 12. * Adler, Jeremy: "Hermann Grab: Der Stadtpark". In: ''Times Literary Supplement'' 84 (1985), No. 4306 (11. 10. 1985), p. 1146. * Adler, H. G.: Der Stadtpark und andere Erzählungen. In: Literatur und Kritik 21 (1986), fasc. 205 – 206, p. 273 – 275. *

Theodor W. Adorno Theodor W. Adorno ( ; ; born Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund; 11 September 1903 – 6 August 1969) was a German philosopher, musicologist, and social theorist. He was a leading member of the Frankfurt School of critical theory, whose work has com ...

: "Hermann Grab". In: Theodor Adorno, ''Gesammelte Schriften'', Suhrkamp, Frankfurt/M. * Theodor Adorno: ''Vermischte Schriften'', 1986, S. 465 f. * Karl Hobi: ''Hermann Grab. Leben und Werk'', PhD Thesis, Fribourg (Switzerland) 1969. * Ernst Schönwiese: "Hermann Grab" In: ''Wort in der Zeit'' 4 (1958), S. 257 ff. * ''Handbuch österreichischer Autorinnen und Autoren jüdischer Herkunft 18. bis 20. Jahrhundert''. Band 1. Hrsg. Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Wien. Redaktion: Susanne Blumesberger. Saur, München 2002, S. 452, . * Lucy Topol’ská: ''Hermann Grab. Biographie'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grab, Hermann Czechoslovak short story writers Writers from Prague Jewish Czech writers Burials at Flushing Cemetery 1903 births 1949 deaths Pupils of Eduard Steuermann Czechoslovak novelists Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States