Stories. Schloss Neubeuern.
Homage to Hugo von Hofmannsthal
01.02.2024
Writer, poet, founder of the Salzburg Festival and an important pioneer for the nature of our school. All of this makes Hugo von Hofmannsthal a historical shining light for Schloss Neubeuern. Above all, he was a loyal and important friend to the lords and ladies of the castle at the time – Julie and Jan von Wendelstadt and Ottonie von Degenfeld-Schonburg. This is evidenced by numerous correspondence and quotes from the memoirs of Marie-Therese Miller von Degenfeld-Schonburg – heiress to the castle and founder of our school – this uniquely magnificent place.
On 1 February 2024, Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s 150th birthday was celebrated. Apart from Schloss Neubeuern, there was probably no other place in his life “where the relationship between dwelling, landscape and inhabitants had such a constant, pleasant interaction”.
For Hofmannsthal, conviviality and solitude were not opposites, but necessary basic conditions for his poetic work. In 1911, he wrote to our school founder Julie von Wendelstadt “… You come from a distance, are together, breathe one air for weeks, leave again. People have given you something that is hard to say how tender and precious it is, the atmospheres have crossed, the very life of life has mingled …“ His correspondence with OttonieCountess of Degenfeld-Schonburg is probablyone of the most beautiful of the 20th century. .
From mid-June, Neubeuern Castle will commemorate its famous guest in its historic library and in the museum in the market square. On 3 October, the Frankfurt’s Goethe Housewill hostthe major exhibition“Hofmannsthal. Scenes“opened.
