Top 10 Facts about Rainer Maria Rilke

Top 10 Facts about Rainer Maria Rilke

Poetry and literature are considered the artists tool of expression. The melodic, lyrical and clever use of language has been used to spark important conversations and even stir activism.

One such renowned poet was Rainer Maria Rilke, an Austrian poet born in December 4^th 1875.

His father Josef Rilke was a railway official who had an unsuccessful career in the military while his mother Sophie (Phia) Entz was from a wealth family in Prague. His parents separated in 1884.

Rilke’s mother went back to Vienna to be close to her rich family. Growing up in this middle class family, he constantly felt ashamed and was forced to join the military at a young age to try to give grace to his family. This was despite his feminine nature due to his upbringing by his mother who treated him as a girl.

He died of leukemia on December 29, 1926. His reputation has grown steadily since his death, and he has come to be universally regarded as a master of verse.

1. Rainer’s mother dressed him as a girl

He was an only child to his parents. He had a sister who died after a week. His mother was devastated by this and treated him as a girl, dressing him up as a doll and in fine clothes. His mother was not happily married as she felt she married below her class.

2. Rainer briefly joined the military

At the age of 10, he went to military school in 1886 to try to fix the social standing his father failed to achieve (according to his mother). Despite this, Rainer did not last long; he dropped out after 5 years miserable years.

He was then enrolled in a German school but was expelled a year later. At 20, he studied literature, art history and philosophy at Charles University in Prague.

3. After university Rainer finds a passion for poetry

After graduating from University, Rilke was certain that he wanted a career in literary work. It was then that he published his first work in 1895 a volume of poetry called Life and Songs (Leben und Lieder).

He published two more books that were much different in terms of views from work that he published later on in life.

4. Rainer first found fame from his book about his struggles in Paris

Rainers’ claim to fame was the novel Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge (Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge, 1910). This novel told of his hardships in Paris in his early days.

He also wrote correspondence on issues affecting the society such as anxiety and solitude. Through his literary work, he was considered to be a link between the traditional and modernist writer.

5. Rainer had 2 important loves in his life

In 1897 aged 22, Rainer fell in love with Lou Andreas Salome aged 36 while studying in Munich. She was the daughter of a Russian general and a German mother. She was very influential in his life and exposed him to a lot of travel to Russia.

Salome suggested that Rene change his name to Rainer which she found to be more German and forceful. Their relationship lasted until 1900, but they kept in touch until Rainer’s death in 1926. He later got into a relationship with Baladine Klossowska after separating with his wife. Their relationship lasted until his death.

6. Rainer’s travels to Russia inspired his poems

While travelling through Russia, he got inspired and influenced by the Russian and Bohemian culture. It played a part in his poetry that he later said marked the true beginning of his serious work. There, he found an external reality that he saw as the ideal symbol of his feelings, his inner reality.

Russia for him was imbued with an elemental, almost religiously moving quality. The culture there solidified his mystical, spiritual and humanitarian leaning.

7. For 8 years Rainer suffered writer’s block

Source: Unsplash

Between 1911-1919 Rainer experienced a sense of lack of creativity. He therefore travelled across North Africa and Europe in search of inspiration.

This, however, did not spark any creativity in him. At one point he got invited by a princess, Marie of Thurn Und Taxis. It is here that he got inspired and began writing the book Duino Elegies although he took longer to finish it.

8. Rainer rediscovered his creativity in Germany

On his second trip to Germany, Rainer stayed at Worpswede. The place is well known for a close-knit artist community.

It is here that he went back to writing poetry and publishing a couple of his work which is less known.

9. Rainer became August Rodin’s secretary

Rainer got married in the year 1901 to Clara Westhoff, a young sculptor from Bremen who had studied with Auguste Rodin.

They had one daughter in December of the same year. Soon afterward the two decided on a friendly separation to be free to pursue their separate careers. Rainer was a catholic, and although not practicing, could not divorce his wife.

He later worked for Mr. Rodin as his secretary; Rainer admired Rodin’s sculpting work because it leaned on modernism and realism.

10. Rainer was a socialist

Rainer was a socialist and supported the 1917 Russian Revolution. He was very vocal at the beginning but later went silent about his political views.

Due to the World War 1, young men were required to join the military. Rainer had no interest in the military and had a difficult time at the camp.

Through his influential friends, he was able to be discharged six months later, and he returned to Munich.

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Rainer was a religious man having grown up in a religious environment. He wrote poems about the life of Mary and the birth of Christ. He also wrote on humanitarianism through Christianity, he addressed one of his works to the saint Francis of Assisi appealing on him to help alleviate poverty among the poor. At the time of his death in 1926, his work was intensely admired by many leading European artists, and he was considered the greatest lyrical poet.