Rilke, Rainer Maria | A letter sent after the author's arrival at Duino Castle

Rilke, Rainer Maria

Autograph letter signed ("R. M. Rilke") to Heller

In German, 3 pages on bifolium (182 x 146 mm), Duino bei Triest, 20 November 1911, to Heller; horizontal fold, light stain at lower margin of first page.

Rilke writes one month after his arrival at Duino Castle. In 1911, Princess Marie von Thurn und Taxis invited the poet to stay at her castle in Duino, near Trieste, allowing him to have the solitude he needed to write and reflect. He stayed from October 1911 to May 1912. He began his celebrated Duino Elegies here and the place is still inextricably tied to his poetry.

In this letter to "Heller," he writes of the wintry weather in Duino and mentions that he is reading a book by Kierkegaard as well as Kassner's Von den Elementen der menschlichen Größe. "… zwar, ja, ich bin auf österreichen Boden für eine Weile, aber mir liegt daran, diesen Winter in keiner Weise hervorzutreten; so habe ich schon mehrere Vortraganfragen abgeleht und wir müssen auch den Abend bei Ihnen hinausschieben."