Who is informed about Gusto Graeser, Hesse's friend and spiritual guide from Monte Verit¦, the model of Demian and all the following master figures in Hesse's work? If not read 'Mountain of Truth' (1986) by Martin Green or mail to me:
Gustomueller@web.de

Hermann

Hello,

I can give you some more informations about Gusto Graeser by citing well-known Hesse-biographers.

Joseph Mileck characterizes him as "a long-haired, shaggy-bearded poet, sculptor, painter, nature lover, pacifist, and vagabond-outsider, a self-styled social critic and prophet in tunic and sandals".

Let me continue with Ralph Freedman: "He had all the appearance of a 'guru' wearing Indian garb who acted out the opposition to established society that Hesse mostly implied. His appearance in Hesse's life ... must have been electrifying. As his friend Finckh tells it, Hesse caught fire when he saw four strange-looking creatures with 'long hair, sandals, and bare legs' walk through the village (of Gaienhofen), and followed them at once to their settlement in Ascona."

I'll continue in a second post. So long! Hermann

Hello,

Let me continue about Hesse's guru Gusto Graeser.

Martin Green explains: "Ascona was a place of refuge for men who avoided military service in their native countries, and boasted of doing so. The most picturesque example was the Naturmensch, Gusto Gríser, who had gone to jail for his beliefs."

Once more Ralph Freedman: "'Demian' was written at a time when Hesse evidently renewed some of his contacts with the 'guru' Gustav Gríser. This man and his commune had by then drawn the fire of the authorities not only in Germany but in neutral Switzerland for their active involvement in antiwar activities. ... Hesse, looking everywhere for assistance, would have found in Gríser and his group welcome support. ... Something of the strangely tense bond between Sinclair and his guiding daemon probably relates to that episode. ...

Gríser had destroyed his work, disposed of his posessions, and had actually become the footloose pilgrim Hesse always wanted to be. ... He was a more radical apostle of peace and the natural life, and it is in this function as a subterranean 'guru' that he seems to have crossed Hesse's path on several crucial occasions."

For more look up the index of the HHP for "Gríser". This link will lead you to a web-site with some pictures of him and more biographical details (in German).

All the best, Hermann