Rainer Maria Rilke

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Lore & Background

Rilke was born in Prague, then capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia under Austria-Hungary. His father Josef Rilke was a railway official after an unsuccessful military career; his mother Sophie Entz came from a well-to-do Prague family. Her mourning for an infant daughter who died within one week colored Rilke's childhood—she treated him as a girl, making him wear 'fine clothes' and act as 'a plaything, like a big doll.' His parents separated in 1884. He attended a military academy in Sankt Pölten from 1886 to 1891, leaving due to illness, then entered a trade school in Linz. Expelled in May 1892, he returned to Prague, passed the university entrance exam in 1895, and studied literature, art history, and philosophy until 1896, when he moved to Munich. In Munich in 1897, Rilke met Lou Andreas-Salomé, who urged him to change his first name from René to Rainer, finding it more masculine and Germanic. In 1900 he stayed at the artists' colony Worpswede, meeting sculptor Clara Westhoff, whom he married in 1901; their daughter Ruth was born in December 1901. Rilke moved to Paris in summer 1902 to write a monograph on Auguste Rodin, later serving as Rodin's secretary. His Paris period produced *Neue Gedichte* (New Poems, 1907), *Der Neuen Gedichte Anderer Teil* (1908), two 'Requiem' poems (1909), and the novel *The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge* (completed January 1910). He also spent extended periods in Ronda, Spain from December 1912 to February 1913. From October 1911 to May 1912, Rilke stayed at Castle Duino near Trieste, home of Princess Marie of Thurn und Taxis, where he began the *Duino Elegies*. The outbreak of World War I surprised him in Germany; unable to return to Paris, he spent most of the war in Munich. He was called up in early 1916, undertook basic training in Vienna, and was discharged on 9 June 1916. In 1919 he moved to Switzerland, eventually settling at Château de Muzot in Veyras, Valais in mid-1921. There, in February 1922, he completed the *Duino Elegies* and rapidly wrote both parts of *Sonnets to Orpheus* (55 sonnets). His patron Werner Reinhart bought and renovated Muzot in May 1922 so Rilke could live rent-free. Rilke died on 29 December 1926.

Reader's Guide

Rilke's significance lies in his transformation of German poetry through a blend of subjective experience and mystical undertones. His work, particularly the *Duino Elegies* and *Sonnets to Orpheus*, is considered a high point of 20th-century literature. Critics and scholars note his exploration of disbelief and the inner self, often citing his 'thing-poems' from the Paris period as a shift toward objective observation influenced by Rodin. His only novel, *The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge*, reflects his difficult early years in Paris. Posthumously, *Letters to a Young Poet*—a collection of ten letters—gained wide readership. In the later 20th century, his work found new audiences through citations by self-help authors and frequent quotations in television shows, books, and motion pictures. Rilke also wrote in French, though he is best known for his German-language contributions.

Did You Know?

• Rilke changed his first name from René to Rainer at the urging of Lou Andreas-Salomé, who thought the name more masculine, forceful, and Germanic.
• His mother treated him as a girl after the death of an infant daughter, making him wear 'fine clothes' and act as 'a plaything, like a big doll.'
• Rilke completed the Duino Elegies and both parts of Sonnets to Orpheus in a single intense creative period in February 1922.
• He served as secretary to sculptor Auguste Rodin in Paris, which influenced his shift to 'thing-poems' through objective observation.
• Rilke's patron Werner Reinhart bought and renovated Château de Muzot in May 1922 so Rilke could live there rent-free.