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{{Short description|Austrian writer}}
{{Multiple issues|{{More citations needed|date=July 2014}}
{{Expand German|topic=bio|date=October 2009}}}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image = Barbara Niggl Radloff, Heimito von Doderer, 1959 (cropped).jpg
| caption = Heimito von Doderer in 1959
| party = [[Nazi Party|NSDAP]] (1936-1945)
| other_party = [[German National Socialist Workers' Party (Austria)|DNSAP]] (1933)
| occupation = Writer
| spouse = Gusti Hasterlik (1930-1938)<br>Emma Maria Thoma (1952-1966)
| birth_date = {{birth date|1895|9|5|df=y}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1966|12|23|1895|9|5|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Hadersdorf-Weidlingau]], [[Austria-Hungary]]
}}

'''Franz Carl Heimito, [[Ritter (title)|Ritter]] von Doderer''', known as '''Heimito von Doderer''' ({{IPA|de|haɪ̯ˈmiːto fɔn ˈdoːdəʁɐ}}; 5 September 1895{{dash}}23 December 1966), was an Austrian writer.

== Family ==
[[File:Doderer-Gedenkstein.jpg|thumb|Memorial at Doderer's birthplace]]
Heimito von Doderer was born in [[Weidlingau]], which has been part of the 14th [[Districts of Vienna|District of Vienna]] since 1938, in a forester's lodge where his family stayed while his father, the architect and engineer {{Interlanguage link|Wilhelm Carl Gustav von Doderer|de|3=Wilhelm Carl Gustav von Doderer|lt=Wilhelm Carl (Gustav), Ritter von Doderer}} (1854, [[Klosterbruck]] ({{langx|cs|{{Interlanguage link|Loucký klášter|cs}}|}}), [[Znaim]] {{ndash}} 1932, Vienna) worked on the regulation of the [[Wien (river)|Wien]] River. The lodge was not preserved; today a memorial marks the site. Wilhelm Carl Doderer also worked on the construction of the [[Tauern Railway]], the [[Kiel Canal]] and the [[Wiener Stadtbahn]] public transport network. His brother Richard (1876{{ndash}}1955) and his father {{Interlanguage link|Carl Wilhelm Christian von Doderer|de|3=Carl Wilhelm Christian von Doderer|lt=Carl Wilhelm (Christian) Ritter von Doderer}} (1825, [[Heilbronn]] {{ndash}}1900, Vienna; ennobled in 1877) were also noted architects and industrialists. Carl Wilhelm's wife Maria von {{Interlanguage link|Greisinger|de}} (1835{{ndash}}1914) was related through her mother to the Austrian poet [[Nikolaus Lenau]].

Doderer's mother, Wilhelm Carl's wife Louise Wilhelmine "Willy" von Hügel (1862{{ndash}}1946), was the daughter of the established [[German Empire|German]] building contractor [[Heinrich von Hügel]] (1828{{ndash}}1899), who had worked with her later husband on several railway projects. Her sister Charlotte married {{Interlanguage link|Max von Ferstel|de|3=Max von Ferstel|lt=Max Freiherr von Ferstel}} (1859, Vienna {{ndash}} 1936, Vienna), son of [[Heinrich von Ferstel]], architect of the Vienna [[Votive Church, Vienna|Votive Church]]. Max von Ferstel designed the plans for the Doderer family home in the Vienna [[Landstraße]] district.

Until [[World War I]], the Doderer family ranked among the wealthiest industrial dynasties of the [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian monarchy]]. Heimito was the youngest of six children. His unusual first name was a German phonetic spelling of the Spanish name ''Jaimito'', a diminutive of ''[[Jaime]]'' (James). As Louise Wilhelmine was [[Protestant]], her children likewise were baptised Protestant, although they grew up in a mainly [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] environment.

== Life and work ==
Heimito von Doderer spent most of his life in Vienna, where he attended the [[Gymnasium (school)|gymnasium]] (secondary school) with moderate success. He spent his summers in his family's retreat in [[Reichenau an der Rax]]. The adolescent entered into a [[Homosexuality|homoerotic]] romantic affair with his home tutor and gained [[Bisexuality|bisexual]] and [[Sadomasochism|sadomasochistic]] experiences as a frequent brothel visitor. In 1914, he narrowly passed his [[matura]] exams and enrolled to study law at the [[University of Vienna]]; however, in April 1915 he joined the [[dragoon]] regiment No. 3 of the [[Austro-Hungarian Army]] and served in the mounted infantry at the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Eastern Front]] in [[Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria|Galicia]] and [[Bukovina]]. On 12 July 1916 (during the [[Brusilov Offensive]]) he was captured as a [[prisoner of war]] by the [[Imperial Russian Army]] in the area of [[Tlumach]].

A long way from home, in a [[Russian Far East]] camp for officer POWs in Krasnaya Rechka near [[Khabarovsk]], he decided to become an author and began writing. Upon the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]] he was released by the [[Bolshevik]] government but had to make his way back to Austria through the [[Russian Civil War]]. Stranded in [[Samara Oblast|Samara]], Doderer and his comrades again turned to the East, finding refuge in a [[International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement|Red Cross]] camp near [[Krasnoyarsk]], cared for by [[Elsa Brändström]]. Many men had died from [[typhoid fever]] during their flight. Doderer stayed in [[Siberia]] until his eventual return to [[First Austrian Republic|Austria]] in 1920; he finally reached Vienna on 14 August.

His first published work, the book of poems ''Gassen und Landschaft'' ("Streets and countryside"), appeared in 1923, followed by the novel ''Die Bresche'' ("The breach") in 1924, both with little success. A second novel, ''Das Geheimnis des Reichs'' ("The secret of the empire"), was published in 1930. In the same year he married '''Gusti Hasterlik''', but they separated two years later and were divorced in 1938.

In 1933 Doderer joined the Austrian section of the [[Nazi Party]] (NSDAP) and published several stories in the ''Deutschösterreichische Tages-Zeitung'' ("German-Austrian Daily"), a newspaper closely linked to the party and promoting racism and the [[Anschluss|incorporation of Austria]] into [[Nazi Germany]]. In 1936 he moved to [[Dachau, Bavaria|Dachau]], Germany, where he met '''Emma Maria Thoma''', who would become his second wife in 1952. In Germany, he renewed his NSDAP membership (the Austrian Nazi Party had been banned since 1933). He returned to Vienna in 1938, sharing a flat with the celebrated painter [[Albert Paris Gütersloh]]. In that year his novel ''[[Every Man a Murderer|Ein Mord, den jeder begeht]]'' (''Every Man a Murderer'') was published. He converted to [[Catholicism]] in 1940 as a result of his reading of [[Thomas Aquinas]] and his alienation from the Nazis, which had been growing for some years. Also in 1940, Doderer was called up to the [[Wehrmacht]] and was later posted to [[German military administration in occupied France during World War II|German-occupied France]], where he began work on his most celebrated novel ''[[The Strudlhof Steps (novel)|The Strudlhof Steps]]'' (the name refers to the [[Strudlhofstiege]], an outdoor staircase in Vienna). Due to ill health, he was allowed in 1943 to return from France, serving in the Vienna area, before a final posting to [[Oslo]] at the end of the war.

After his return to Austria in early 1946, he was [[Denazification|banned from publishing]] until 1947. He continued work on ''The Strudlhof Steps'', but although he completed it in 1948, the still-obscure author was unable to get it published immediately. However, when it did finally appear in 1951, it was a huge success, and Doderer's place in the post-war Austrian literary scene was assured. Doderer subsequently returned to an earlier unfinished project, ''''[[The Demons (novel)|Die Dämonen]]'' ("The demons"), which appeared in 1956 to much acclaim. In 1958 he began work on what was intended to be a four-volume novel under the general title of ''Roman Nr. 7'' ("Novel No. 7"), to be written as a counterpart to [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]'s [[Symphony No. 7 (Beethoven)|Seventh Symphony]]. The first volume ''[[The Waterfalls of Slunj|Die Wasserfälle von Slunj]]'', appeared in 1963; the second volume, ''Der Grenzwald'', was to be his last work and was published, incomplete and posthumously, in 1967. Doderer died in Vienna of intestinal cancer on 23 December 1966.

== Bibliography ==

=== Novels ===

*''Die Bresche'' (1924). ''The Breach''
* ''[[The Secret of the Empire|Das Geheimnis des Reichs]]'' (1930). ''The Secret of the Empire'', trans. John S. Barrett (1998)
*''[[Every Man a Murderer|Ein Mord, den jeder begeht]]'' (1938). ''Every Man a Murderer'', trans. [[Richard and Clara Winston]] (1964)
* ''Ein Umweg'' (1940). ''A Detour''
*''[[The Lighted Windows|Die erleuchteten Fenster oder die Menschwerdung des Amtsrates Julius Zihal]]'' (1951). ''The Lighted Windows'', trans. John S. Barrett (1999)
* ''[[The Strudlhof Steps (novel)|Die Strudlhofstiege oder Melzer und die Tiefe der Jahre]]'' (1951). ''The Strudlhof Steps'', trans. [[Vincent Kling (translator)|Vincent Kling]] (New York Review Books, 2021)
*''[[The Demons (novel)|Die Dämonen. Nach der Chronik des Sektionsrates Geyrenhoff]]'' (1956). ''The Demons'', trans. Richard and Clara Winston (Knopf, 1961)
*''[[The Merowingians (novel)|Die Merowinger oder die totale Familie]]'' (1962). ''The Merowingians'', trans. Vinal Overing Binner (1996)
* ''[[The Waterfalls of Slunj|Roman Nr.7/I. Die Wasserfälle von Slunj]]'' (1962). ''Novel No. 7/I: The Waterfalls of Slunj'', trans. [[Eithne Wilkins]] and [[Ernst Kaiser]] (Harcourt, Brace & World, 1966)
*''[[The Border Forest|Roman No. 7/II. Der Grenzwald]]'' (1967, posthumous). ''Novel No. 7/II: The Border Forest''

=== Novellas and short stories ===

* ''[[The Last Adventure: A Tale of Knighthood|Das letzte Abenteuer]]'' (novella) (1953). ''The Last Adventure''
* ''Die Posaunen von Jericho'' (novella) (1958). ''The Trumpets of Jericho''
* ''Die Peinigung der Lederbeutelchen'' (short stories) (1959). ''The Torment of the Leather Purse''
* ''Unter schwarzen Sternen'' (short stories) (1966). ''Under Black Stars''
* ''Meine neunzehn Lebensläufe und neun andere Geschichten'' (short stories) (1966). ''My Nineteen Curricula Vitae and Nine Other Stories''
*''Frühe Prosa: Die Bresche; Jutta Bamberger; Das Geheimnis des Reichs'' (early prose) (1968, posthumous)
*''Die Erzählungen'' (collected short stories) (1972, posthumous)
*''The Writing of Heimito von Doderer: Including First English Translations of The Strudlhof Steps, The Trumpets of Jericho, Under Black Stars'' (1974). Translations by Vincent Kling in ''Chicago Review'', vol. 26, no. 2<ref>{{Cite web|title=Vol. 26, No. 2, 1974 of Chicago Review on JSTOR|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/i25303137|access-date=2021-11-26|website=www.jstor.org|language=en}}</ref>
*''A Person Made of Porcelain and Other Stories'' (2005). Selected compilation of short stories translated by Vincent Kling.
*''Seraphica; Montefal'' (two early stories) (2009, posthumous)

=== Poetry ===
*''Gassen und Landschaft'' (1923). ''Streets and Countryside''
*''Ein Weg im Dunkeln'' (1957). ''A Path in the Dark''

=== Essays, diaries and letters ===
*''Der Fall Gütersloh'' (monograph on the painter [[Albert Paris Gütersloh|Gütersloh]]) (1930)
* ''Grundlagen und Funktion des Romans'' (essay) (1959). ''Principles and Function of the Novel''
* ''Tangenten: Tagebuch eines Schriftstellers 1940 – 1950'' (diaries) (1964)
*''Repertorium. Ein Begreifbuch von höheren und niederen'' (1969, posthumous). ''An ABC of Ideas and Concepts''
*''Die Wiederkehr der Drachen'' (essays) (1970, posthumous). ''The Return of the Dragons''
*''Commentarii 1951 bis 1956: Tagebücher aus dem Nachlaß'' (diaries) (1976, posthumous)
* ''Commentarii 1957 bis 1966: Tagebücher aus dem Nachlaß'' (diaries) (1986, posthumous)
*''Heimito von Doderer / Albert Paris Gütersloh: Briefwechsel 1928 – 1962'' (letters) (1986, posthumous)
*''Die sibirische Klarheit'' (early texts from years in Russia) (1991, posthumous). ''Siberian Light''
*''Tagebücher 1920 – 1939'' (diaries) (1996, posthumous)
*''Gedanken über eine zu schreibende Geschichte der Stadt Wien'' (essay) (1996, posthumous). ''Thoughts About an Unwritten History of Vienna''
*''Von Figur zu Figur'' (letters to [[Ivar Ivask]]) (1996, posthumous)

== Decorations and awards ==
* 1954 Literature Prize for Prose from the Cultural Committee of German Business within the Federation of German Industries
* 1957 [[Grand Austrian State Prize for Literature]]
* 1961 Literary Prize of the City of Vienna
* 1966 [[Wilhelm Raabe Literature Prize|Wilhelm Raabe Prize]]
* 1966 Ring of Honor of the City of Vienna

== See also ==

* [[List of Austrian writers]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |last= Luft|first= David S. |date= 2003|title= Eros and inwardness in Vienna : Weininger, Musil, Doderer |location= Chicago |publisher= University of Chicago Press|isbn= 9786613150790}}
*{{cite thesis |last= Wolpaw|first= Frances Rickel|date= 1979|title= Studies in obsession Otto Weininger, Arthur Schnitzler, Heimito von Doderer |location= New Haven|publisher= Yale University}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070202140407/http://www.austria.org/jul96/doderer.html Comprehensive page on the author]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20051216163520/http://www.doderer-gesellschaft.org/english/ www.doderer-gesellschaft.org – The Heimito von Doderer Society's website with information on the author, translations of his works into English etc.]
* [http://voyager.library.uvic.ca/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=2109604 Heimito von Doderer collection] at University of Victoria, Special Collections

{{Heimito von Doderer}}
{{German literature}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doderer, Heimito von}}
[[Category:1896 births]]
[[Category:1966 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Austrian novelists]]
[[Category:Austrian male novelists]]
[[Category:Austrian military personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Nobility in the Nazi Party]]
[[Category:20th-century Austrian nobility]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Grand Austrian State Prize]]
[[Category:Austrian Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Writers from Austria-Hungary]]
[[Category:Austrian people of Moravian-German descent]]
[[Category:Austrian people of German descent]]
[[Category:People from Penzing]]
[[Category:Austrian LGBTQ novelists]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people in the Nazi Party]]
[[Category:Nazi Party members]]
[[Category:LGBTQ nobility]]
[[Category:Austrian Nazis]]
[[Category:20th-century Austrian male writers]]
[[Category:Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:Austro-Hungarian prisoners of war in World War I]]
[[Category:World War I prisoners of war held by Russia]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Austria]]
[[Category:German Army officers of World War II]]
[[Category:Members of the German Academy for Language and Literature]]

Heimito von Doderer - Revision history

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