Leopold von Andrian 1875 - 1951

The edition "Leopold von Andrian (1875-1951). Korrespondenzen, Notizen, Essays, Berichte" includes an extensive selection of largely unpublished texts from his literary bequest, which is located in the Deutsches Literaturarchiv in Marbach am Neckar. The opening and working up of the collection, which contains over 7000 documents and was mainly used for analysis in the field of literature much so far, was financed by the Austrian Science Foundation, under two research projects which started in April 1996. The edition of texts aims for presenting the author and diplomat Andrian as an actor in different fields - the diplomatic, the literary and the politico-cultural field. In literature Leopold von Andrian has been primarily seen and recepted as the author of "Der Garten der Erkenntnis", a famous book of the Viennese Fin de Siècle, as poet and one of the creators of an "Austrian idea" by publishing his book"Österreich im Prisma der Idee". Historians concentrated upon the analysis of Andrian`s diplomatic strategies in Varsovia, where he tried to put through the political interests of the Habsburg Monarchy as representative of the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Office at the German military administration in Poland during the First World War. Beyond that the edition offers a variety of texts, which demonstrate Andrian`s position as manager of the Imperial Court Theatre during the last months of the Habsburg Monarchy, his politico-cultural work in the twenties and thirties, his monarchistic commitment and the years in the Brazilian exile, just as his efforts to republish his texts after 1945 - within the context of the national conceptions in postwar Austria. His diaries reflect his conversations with the last emperor Charles I. and his analysis of the personality of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, they document Andrian`s futile attempts to overcome homosexuality, his lifelong problem. The correspondence with his parents illustrates how diplomatic careers could be strategically planned. The texts are arranged in a chronological order from 1888 to 1950. The chapters are introduced by explanations, which should not only describe the respective historical and geographical contexts, but also facilitate the readability and relieve the annotation parts. As Andrian played his roles on different stages in his position on the so called second level of political actors, he was a sensitive observer of politico-cultural strategies and analyzed very well the conjunction between politics and culture within an economical and political context. Surpassing the personality of Leopold von Andrian the edition makes new sources accessible for studies on Austrian history, exile, diplomatic and cultural studies.