About Travel

Hermann Hesse

The Early Works of Hermann Hesse 第 5 冊 · Marchen Press

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Hesse’s essay „Über das Reisen“ was published in the Viennese journal Die Zeit on 30 April 1904. In it he portrays the “ideal” traveler as one who readily makes the foreign “freundlich vertraut” and who keeps an eye out for what is genuine and valuable. Such people, Hesse says, are those who have “im Leben überhaupt einen Sinn erkannt” and know how to follow their guiding star In his view they carry a deep homesickness for the sources of life (“starkes Heimweh nach den Quellen des Lebens”) and a yearning to unite with all that is living, creative and growing. This longing, he writes, becomes “ihr Schlüssel zu den Geheimnissen der Welt,” which they pursue not only on journeys to distant lands but also in the rhythms of everyday life. In this essay, sometimes translated "On Travel" or "On Traveling", Hesse critiques the superficiality of modern tourism, lamenting its commodification and the disconnect between travelers and the essence of their destinations. He contrasts the hollow pursuit of trends—exemplified by tourists flocking to fashionable locales like Berchtesgaden or Sankt Blasien without genuine curiosity—with the transformative potential of immersive travel. Hesse advocates for a deeper engagement with foreign cultures, urging travelers to learn local languages, stay in non-international accommodations, and seek emotional and intellectual connections to landscapes and communities. He argues that true travel demands humility and openness, transforming fleeting encounters—like conversations with villagers or solitary moments in nature—into enduring "seelischen Besitz" (spiritual possession). The essay critiques modernity’s alienation from authenticity, framing travel not as escapism but as a means to enrich one’s understanding of humanity and the interconnectedness of the world. Hesse goes on to argue that the true Poesie des Reisens lies in the way travel naturally integrates new experiences. Travel, he claims, “organisch angliedert” our newly acquired impressions and deepens our understanding of unity within diversity (“Verständnis für die Einheit im Vielfältigen”). In other words, journeys help us weave together the great web of earth and humanity and rediscover old truths in completely new settings. Travel thus becomes a poetic, unifying process of learning and connection – a theme very much in line with Hesse’s broader humanistic and romantic outlook in this period.

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Herman Hesse (1877-1962) navigated a life shaped by psychological turbulence that fundamentally transformed his literary vision following his pivotal encounter with Carl Jung's analytical psychology. After suffering a severe breakdown in 1916 amid his crumbling first marriage and the ravages of World War I, Hesse underwent intensive psychoanalysis with Jung's student J.B. Lang and later with Jung himself, sessions that would profoundly alter his creative trajectory. This Jungian influence became evident in his subsequent works, particularly "Demian" and "Steppenwolf," where the protagonist's journey toward individuation—Jung's concept of integrating the conscious and unconscious aspects of personality—emerges as a central theme. Hesse's correspondence with Jung continued for decades, their intellectual relationship deepening as Hesse increasingly incorporated Jungian archetypes, dream symbolism, and the notion of the shadow self into his narratives of spiritual seeking. The writer later acknowledged that Jung's therapeutic methods had not only rescued him from psychological collapse but had fundamentally reshaped his understanding of human consciousness, enabling him to transmute his personal suffering into the allegorical quests for wholeness that characterized his most enduring works.RetryClaude can make mistakes. Please double-check responses.