Hans Carossa

Hans Carossa (15 December 1878 in Bad Tölz, Kingdom of Bavaria – 12 September 1956 in Rittsteig near Passau) was a German novelist and poet, known mostly for his autobiographical novels, and his "innere Emigration" (inner emigration) during the Nazi era. He studied medicine, working as a field surgeon from 1916 to 1918. He was awarded the Swiss Gottfried Keller Prize in 1931, and the Goethe Prize in 1938. The Carossas were originally of North Italian stock; but by 1878, when Hans was born, they no longer spoke Italian and were considered simply Upper Bavarian Germans. Hans' father was a well-known lung specialist, who had published some significant research in his field. He had a calm humanitarian outlook, which endeared him to the local Catholic population in spite of his cool relationship with the Church. Carossa explains in the first volume of his autobiography, Eine Kindheit: Carossa's mother, on the other hand, was a devoutly Catholic and quite sensitive person. The young couple had just settled in the south Bavarian resort town of Bad Tölz when Hans was born. They then lived in several Bavarian hamlets. These moves left a feeling of insecurity in the mind of their sensitive and introspective son. Although Hans had a younger sister, Stephanie, a close relationship with her is not evident. He attended the Volksschule in Pilsting, the Gymnasium in Landshut, and the Hochschule in Munich. Hans' interest in poetry began when he was quite young, but it was soon rivaled by the family tradition of medicine. The disparity between the impractical, otherworldly realm of the poet and the very down-to-earth life of a medical doctor haunted him for most of his life. He studied medicine at three universities, Munich, Würzburg, and Leipzig. Practically all of his spare time, however, was spent in literary circles. Just after the turn of the century the twenty-four-year-old Carossa began medical practice in the south-east Bavarian border city of Passau. In 1907, the successful young doctor married a patient, Valerie Endlicher, and moved to the country.