Frisch, Efraim, 1873-1942

Born in Stry, Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine) on March 1, 1874, Efraim Frisch studied at the Universities of Vienna, Berlin, and Kiel, and settled in Berlin around 1900. He was a writer, dramatist, and journalist, and was editor of Der Neue Merkur from 1914 to 1925. Frisch emigrated to Switzerland in 1933 and died in Ascona, Switzerland, on November 29, 1942.

From the guide to the Efraim Frisch Collection, 1904-1990, bulk 1935-1955, (Leo Baeck Institute)

Efraim Frisch was born on March 1, 1873 in Stryj, a small town in the southeast Austro-Hungarian Empire. The city is located in what is today Poland. His father, a merchant and a very devout orthodox Jew, offered him a traditional religious education. Frisch also gained knowledge about western culture by studying philosophy, history of art and literature in Berlin. This duality of cultures was always a main topic in his work. " Das Verlöbnis," one of Frisch's earliest short stories, is about a young boy, whose dream is to travel to Vienna and to escape the constriction of the shtetl in Eastern Europe, where he's living.

As a publisher, author and theater critic, Frisch played an important role in the literary and cultural life of German-speaking Europe. He was chief editor of the journal Monatsschrift für geistiges Leben, in which he had published the writings of the brothers Heinrich and Thomas Mann, Gottfried Benn, Robert Musil and Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Before World War I, he was also involved in Berlin's theater scene, as a dramatic adviser for Max Reinhard and a critic for theater journals.

In 1912 he became an editor of the Georg Mueller Verlag and was in charge of publishing the most famous German-speaking authors, such as Mann and Musil. In 1914 to 1916 and 1919 to 1925, he published the literary journal Der neue Merkur, which is the focus of this collection. After his work for the Neue Merkur he wrote for the feature pages of the Frankfurter Zeitung and from 1930 onward he directed the literary section of the Europäische Revue . In 1933, he emigrated to Tessin in Switzerland where he lived until his death in 1942.

Der Neue Merkur

The literary and political journal Der neue Merkur appeared in Germany between 1914 and 1925. This magazine is typical of Weimar Germany, whose literary landscape was partially formed by literary and intellectual magazines. The authors of Der neue Merkur were a small but select group, who wrote more for prestige reason rather than pay. The journal was addressed to an intellectual elite and it had an immense appeal to Europe's most famous authors and public figures.

In its first, quite short lived appearance, Der neue Merkur was published by the Georg Mueller Verlag with Efraim Frisch as editor. After an interruption of the publication for three years, Frisch had the opportunity to take over the magazine from the Georg Mueller Verlag and publish it autonomously. He would acquire Wilhelm Hausenstein, one of the magazine's regular contributors in the past, as his co-editor.

This collection is based on the correspondence of the magazine from 1919 to 1925, which Frisch brought with him when he left Germany in 1933 for Switzerland. Fega Frisch, his widow, donated more than 9,000 letters to the Leo Baeck Institute in New York City after his death.

Through reading this journal, one is able to gain insight into the various literary movements in Germany and other European countries, such as France and England. The magazine and the accompanying editorial letters can also be seen as a barometer for the cultural and political climate in Weimar Germany, especially among the intellectual circles. This correspondence reveals the hopes and fears of its makers in this uncertain time of political upheaval in Germany. This post-war period was marked by the economic instability of alternating inflation and deflation. It was also characterized by political instability. There was a local Communist revolution, a short-lived fascist government and the upcoming National Socialist movement with Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch. In essence, the collection becomes a witness for this time.

Efraim Frisch, a German-speaking Jew and Wilhelm Hausenstein built up a productive and successful collaboration. Hausenstein was a famous author of travel literature and literature about art, as well as an art sociologist, art historian and art critic. He would later become ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to France. This collection gives an impressive insight into the collaboration between these two men.

From the guide to the Der Neue Merkur Collection, 1919-1925, (Leo Baeck Institute)