Sidonie Nádherná von Borutín

Sidonie Nádherná von Borutín (1 December 1885 – 30 September 1950; alternatively Sidonie Nádherný or Sidonie Nádherná z Borutína) was a Bohemian baroness known for hosting literary salons and her correspondence with Rainer Maria Rilke and Karl Kraus.

Sidonie Nádherná von Borutín
Sidonie Nádherná in 1917
Born(1885-12-01)December 1, 1885
DiedSeptember 30, 1950(1950-09-30) (aged 64)
Great Britain
Resting placeJanowitz Castle, Vrchotovy Janovice, Czech Republic
OccupationSalon hostess, correspondent
LanguageGerman
NationalityBohemian
SpouseMaximilian von Thun und Hohenstein (1920-1933)
PartnerKarl Kraus

Life

Sidonie Amálie Vilemína Karolína Julie Marie Nádherná von Borutín was the youngest child of landowner Karel Boromejský Jan Ludvík (1849–1895), Knight Nádherný of Borutín, and his wife Amalie Klein von Wisenberg (1854–1910), a daughter of the businessman Albert Klein von Wisenberg. Her older brothers were Jan Karel Ludvík Sidonius Adalbert Julius Otmar Maria and Karel Maria Ludvík Hubert Adalbert Nádherný von Borutín.

Nádherná gained literary fame through her friendship with the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, with whom she corresponded from 1906 until his death in 1926, and her friendship and later romantic relationship with the writer Karl Kraus. Nádherná met Kraus on September 8, 1913, in Vienna's Café Imperial. Their relationship, often filled with intensity and conflict, lasted until his death in 1936.[1] Kraus would likely have married her, but Rilke objected to Kraus' "unrepeatable difference" (a reference to his Jewish heritage).[2]

In 1914, Nádherná sought to make an influential marriage to a count that could have helped hinder World War I. She reconciled with Kraus in 1915, who wrote much of his drama The Last Days of Humanity at her residence, Janowitz Castle, but they separated again at the end of the war. In 1920, Nádherná married the Austrian physician Maximilian von Thun und Hohenstein (1887–1935) at Heiligenkreuz Abbey, but the relationship did not last.[3] They separated a year later, and divorced in 1933. Nádherná and Kraus reunited and split several more times, eventually reconciling one last time in 1927, although their relationship was no longer romantic.

Sidonie von Nádherná's correspondence with Rilke and Kraus, now published, reveals her significance as a discussion partner, "creative listener," and as a representative of late Habsburg culture.

Nádherná is not solely defined by her relationships with influential men; she was also an independent and culturally-invested woman. She organized many political and cultural salons at her family's estate near Prague. In addition to Rilke and Kraus, her circle also included the architect Adolf Loos, the writer Karel Čapek, the composer Dora Pejačević, and the painter Max Švabinský.

Janowitz Castle, ca. 1933

In 1942, Janowitz Castle was seized by German troops and converted into the SS-Truppenübungsplatz Böhmen, training grounds for the Waffen-SS. After the war, Nádherná tried to reclaim her family's property, but was unsuccessful. The castle continued to be used by the army, and in 1948 was confiscated by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Nádherná was briefly arrested before fleeing to Great Britain through Bavaria.[4] In 1950 she died impoverished while still in exile.

In 1999, Nádherná's remains were brought back to Janowitz Castle and buried on the grounds. The castle and its surrounding lands were restored between 2000 and 2007, in a cooperative effort between the Czech Republic and Germany. Today it has become a cultural and scientific meeting place, much as it was during Nádherná's lifetime.

Literature

Biography
  • Alena Wagnerová: Das Leben der Sidonie Nádherný. Eine Biographie. Europäische Verlagsanstalt, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-434-50543-1.

Correspondence
  • Elke Lorenz: 'Sei Ich ihr, sei mein Bote'. Der Briefwechsel zwischen Sidonie Nádherný und Albert Bloch, Iudicium, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-89129-742-4 (German / English).
  • Karl Kraus: Briefe an Sidonie Nádherný von Borutin. 1913–1936, 2 volumes, published by Friedrich Pfäfflin, Wallstein, Göttingen 2005, ISBN 978-3-89244-934-8.
  • Rainer Maria Rilke – Sidonie Nádherný von Borutin, Briefwechsel 1906–1926, published by Joachim W. Storck in collaboration with Waltraud und Friedrich Pfäfflin, Wallstein, Göttingen 2007, ISBN 978-3-89244-983-6.
  • Friedrich Pfäfflin, Alena Wagnerová (ed.): Gartenschönheit oder Die Zerstörung von Mitteleuropa: Sidonie Nádherný – Briefe an Václav Wagner 1942–1949 Wallstein, Göttingen 2015, ISBN 978-3-8353-1618-8.
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References
  1. Alexandra Pontzen: Retuschen am Bild der Geliebten from literaturkritik.de, March 2006
  2. Rainer Maria Rilke – Sidonie Nádherny von Borutin: Briefwechsel 1906–1926, ed.
  3. Thun-Hohenstein from Genealogie.eu retrieved on 20.
  4. Beatrice von Matt: Vertrieben aus der Mitte der Welt.
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