 In 1910, Rilke had completed writing the loosely autobiographical novel, Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge (The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge) in which a young poet is terrified by the fragmentation and chaos of modern urban life. After completing the work, Rilke experienced a severe psychological crisis that lasted for two years. In 1912, still facing this severe depression and despair, Rilke was invited to Duino Castle by Princess Marie von Thurn und Taxis (1855 – 1934) (born Princess Marie zu Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst) whom he had met a few years before. The princess (who was twenty years older than Rilke) and her husband Prince Alexander (1851 – 1939) enthusiastically supported artists and writers.
