page_title: Karl Wolfskehl
hierarchical_section_title: Karl Wolfskehl
caption_attribution_description: English: Group portrait with (from left to right): Karl Wolfskehl, Alfred Schuler, Ludwig Klages, Stefan George, Albert Verwey. Photo by Karl Bauer. Collection Amsterdam University Library [HS. XLI F 88] (1902)
context_page_description: Karl Wolfskehl was a German Jewish author and translator.
  He wrote poetry, prose and drama in German,
  and translated from French, English, Italian, Hebrew, Latin and Old/Middle High German into German.
  Karl Wolfskehl was born in Darmstadt, Germany, the son of the banker and politician Otto Wolfskehl. He studied
  Germanic philology and a range of humanities courses in Giessen, Leipzig and Berlin. Under Otto Behaghel, he gained a PhD with a dissertation on a topic in German mythology.
  In 1898 he married Hanna de Haan, daughter of the Dutch conductor Willem de Haan at the court theatre in Darmstadt. They had two daughters, Judith and Renate.
  He defined himself by pride in his Jewish heritage as well as in his German cultural roots. He developed a lasting friendship with the poet Stefan George and was a leading figure in the poet's circle of friends and followers. With the philosopher Ludwig Klages and the archaeologist Alfred Schuler Wolfskehl formed the short-lived so-called Munich Cosmic Circle around 1900. His father's wealth allowed Wolfskehl to pursue an independent career devoted to his literary, intellectual and art related interests.
context_section_description: Karl Wolfskehl (17 September 1869 – 30 June 1948) was a German Jewish author and translator. 
  He wrote  poetry, prose and drama in German, 
  and translated from French, English, Italian, Hebrew, Latin and Old/Middle High German into German.
  Karl Wolfskehl was born in Darmstadt, Germany, the son of the banker and politician Otto Wolfskehl (1841–1907). He studied 
  Germanic philology and a range of humanities courses in Giessen, Leipzig and Berlin. Under Otto Behaghel, he gained a PhD with a dissertation on a topic in German mythology.
  In 1898 he married Hanna de Haan, daughter of the Dutch conductor Willem de Haan at the court theatre in Darmstadt. They had two daughters, Judith (born 1899) and Renate (born 1901).
  He defined himself by pride in his Jewish heritage as well as in his German cultural roots. He developed a lasting friendship with the poet Stefan George and was a leading figure in the poet's circle of friends and followers. With the philosopher Ludwig Klages and the archaeologist Alfred Schuler Wolfskehl formed the short-lived so-called Munich Cosmic Circle around 1900. His father's wealth allowed Wolfskehl to pursue an independent career devoted to his literary, intellectual and art related interests. Holding a jour fixe at his house in Schwabing Wolfskehl became a central personality in the literary life of Munich in the first two decades of the 20th century. Amongst his friends and associates were Rainer Maria Rilke, Thomas Mann, Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc, Paul Klee, Alfred Kubin and Martin Buber. 
  In 1915, he bought an estate in Kiechlinsbergen at the Kaiserstuhl to which the family moved in 1919 after Wolfskehl had lost most of his fortune due to the war and the ensuing inflation. He was forced to earn a living as a tutor in Italy and as editor, cultural journalist and translator in Munich.
  In 1933 appalled by Hitler's rise to power, Wolfskehl left Germany for Switzerland the day after the Reichstag fire, moving on to Italy in 1934. In 1938, due to the rapprochement between Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, he moved to New Zealand with his partner Margot Ruben (1908–1980).
  He lived in New Zealand, where he was granted citizenship after World War II, until his death in 1948.  There he became a staunch friend of the conductor Georg Tintner, also a refugee from Austria.
caption: Group portrait with (from left to right): Karl Wolfskehl, Alfred Schuler, Ludwig Klages, Stefan George & Albert Verwey. Photo by Karl Bauer (1902)
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