"A friendly star, a good spirit" - Adele Gundert and Hermann Hesse

Lecture by Regina Bucher

It is largely unknown to this day that Hermann Hesse had an intense relationship with his older sister, which not only influenced his biography but also served as inspiration for his literary work. The contrasts between the siblings could not be greater at first glance: here is the self-sacrificing daughter, dutiful housewife, and responsible wife of a pastor, who spends most of her life in the southern German provinces; there is the rebellious youth and later crisis-ridden writer who becomes famous and a public figure. Yet, between the two siblings, there exists a lifelong, unusually intense emotional bond, as evidenced by the extensive, mostly unpublished correspondence from 1885 until Adele's death in 1949. Adele and Hermann exchanged more than 1,700 letters throughout their lives. For Adele, Hermann takes on the role of the younger brother, whom she cares for maternally and unconditionally supports in difficult times. Over the years, after the death of both parents and with Hermann Hesse's increasing success as a writer, he also becomes an authority for his sister, “a piece of father.” Hermann Hesse finds security in Adele and is grateful for her support and dedication, which never disturbs or irritates him. He admires many things about her: managing a large household with many visitors, keeping the far-flung Hesse and Gundert families together and maintaining contacts, doing remarkable social work, enduring the hardships of two world wars without complaint – all while also working as a book editor and expressing her talents in painting, drawing, and music. Hermann Hesse himself refers to Adele in a memorial note as his “most enduring love” and characterizes his sister with the following words: “She regarded me as what in truth she herself was: the genius of the family.” Regina Bucher entertainingly describes a touching sibling relationship and illustrates it with partly unpublished photographs.

Regina Bucher studied special education at the University of Hamburg and completed her second state examination in Berlin. She taught in Berlin and later in adult education in Zurich and Lugano. She holds a diploma as a tourism manager (Academy Bad Harzburg). From 1998 to 2022, she was the director of the Hermann Hesse Museum in Ticino and from 2000 to 2022 also the director of the Fondazione Hermann Hesse Montagnola. She is an editor and author of publications and catalog contributions (including "With Hermann Hesse Through Ticino," Insel Verlag Berlin) as well as a curator of numerous exhibitions and staged readings both domestically and internationally. She holds the position of vice president of the International Hermann Hesse Society and is a member of the board of the Udo Lindenberg Foundation. For information and registration, please contact the Tourist Information Gaienhofen at 07735/9999123 or info@gaienhofen.de.