Wolfskehl's family had a long history in Germany. During the 10th century, one of his ancestors, a rabbi, had emigrated to Germany from Italy with the
Holy Roman Emperor Otto II. Wolfskehl's ancestors then settled in
Mainz, where they lived for the next thousand years. Karl Wolfskehl was born in
Darmstadt, Germany, the son of the banker and politician . He studied
Germanic languages and
philology and a range of humanities courses in
Giessen,
Leipzig and Berlin. Under
Otto Behaghel, he gained a PhD with a dissertation on a topic in
German mythology. In 1898 he married Hanna de Haan (1878-1946), daughter of the Dutch conductor at the Grand Ducal court theatre at Darmstadtf. They had two daughters, Judith (born 1899) and Renate (born 1901). He defined himself by pride in his
Jewish faith and heritage as well as in his roots in
German literature and
culture. He developed a lasting friendship with the poet
Stefan George and was a leading figure in the poet's circle of friends and followers. With the philosopher
Ludwig Klages and the
archaeologist Alfred Schuler, Wolfskehl formed the short-lived so-called
Munich Cosmic Circle around 1900. His family's wealth allowed Wolfskehl to pursue an independent career devoted to his literary, intellectual, and art related interests. Holding a jour fixe at his house, Wolfskehl became a central personality in the
literary bohemia in
Munich's borough of
Schwabing during the last two decades of the
German Empire. Amongst his friends and associates were
Rainer Maria Rilke,
Thomas Mann,
Wassily Kandinsky,
Franz Marc,
Paul Klee,
Alfred Kubin and
Martin Buber. In 1915, Wolfskehl bought an estate at
Kiechlinsbergen an der Kaiserstuhl, in the
wine country of the
Grand Duchy of Baden. He and his family moved there in 1919 after he lost his family fortune due to the First World War and the ensuing inflation. He was forced to earn a living as a tutor in Italy and as an editor, cultural journalist and translator in Munich. In 1933 appalled by
Hitler's rise to power, Wolfskehl left Germany for
Switzerland the day after the
Reichstag fire. Following Stefan George's death on 3 December 1933, Wolfskehl and fellow Jewish member of the
George-Kreis Ernst Morwitz were informed and attended the Master's funeral in
Minusio, Switzerland. Wolfskehl moved on to Italy in 1934. During his years as a refugee, Karl Wolfskehl became a central figure in the
anti-Nazi literary movement with German literature known as
Exilliteratur. In defiance of what Peter Hoffmann calls the
Nazi Party's "absurd efforts" to exclude him from the
German people, Wolfskehl often said that wherever he was, there was the German
Geist ("Spirit"). Also in 1934, Wolfskehl published a collection of poems titled,
Die Stimme Spricht ("A Voice Speaks"), in which he affirmed his belief in
Judaism and warned of the impending dangers posed by the Nazis. Some fellow members of the
George-Kreis, however, feared that Wolfskehl's denunciations of
Nazism might put every other member of the Circle in very real physical danger. In 1938, due to the rapprochement between Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, he moved to New Zealand with his partner Margot Ruben (1908–1980). There he became a staunch friend of the conductor
Georg Tintner, also a refugee from
Nazi Austria. He was granted New Zealand citizenship after World War II and remained there until his death in 1948. == Works (selection)==