That day, 14 August 1892, on Assumption Eve, Meyrink, twenty-four years old, was allegedly standing at his table with a gun at his head, determined to shoot himself. Meyrink described it in the autobiographical short story 'The Pilot'. In Prague an event occurred which played a providential role in Meyrink's life. In 1889, together with the nephew of poet Christian Morgenstern, Meyrink established his own banking company, named 'Meier & Morgenstern'. Meyrink lived in Prague for twenty years and has depicted it many times in his works. He then stayed in Hamburg for a brief time, until his mother relocated to Prague in 1883. Until thirteen years of age Meyrink lived mainly in Munich, where he completed elementary school. Meyrink was not, despite the statements of some of his contemporaries, of Jewish descent – this rumour arose due to a confusion of his mother with a Jewish woman of the same name.

He was the illegitimate son of Baron Karl von Varnbüler und zu Hemmingen, a Württembergian minister, and actress Maria Wilhelmina Adelheyd Meier. Gustav Meyrink was born with the name Gustav Meyer in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (now Austria) on 19 January 1868. He has been described as the 'most respected German language writer in the field of supernatural fiction'. Novelist, dramatist, translator, and banker, most famous for his novel The Golem. Gustav Meyrink (19 January 1868 – 4 December 1932) was the pseudonym of Gustav Meyer, an Austrian author, Karl von Varnbüler and Maria Wilhelmina Adelheyd Meier. He worked as a translator and translated in German 15 volumes by Charles Dickens while working on his own novels.Īmong his most famous works are Der Golem (1914) and Walpurgisnacht (1917).Sibylle Felizitas Böhler (1906), Harro Fortunat Meyrink (1908) Meyrinck founded his own bank but was accused of fraud for which he spent 2 months in prison. His son committed suicide at the same age with success.

He unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide at the age of 24.

The city of Prague is present in most of his work along with various religious, occult and fantastic themes. The illegitimate child of a baron and an actress, Meyrinck spent his childhood in Germany, then moving to today's Czech Republic where he lived for 20 years. Among his most famous works are Der Golem (1914) and Walpurgisnacht (1917). He worked as a translator and translated in German 15 volumes by Charles Dickens while working on his own novels. Curious facts: He unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide at the age of 24.

Der golem gustav meyrink