Hermann Broch studied mathematics, philosophy and physics. The trilogy of novels “Die Schlafwandler” (The Sleepwalkers) (1930–32) established him as an author. From the outset, processes of dissolution and moral decline, human rights and totalitarianism formed the central themes of his poetic and essayistic work. In 1937, he wrote the story “Die Heimkehr des Vergil” (The Return of Virgil), which he later turned into his novel “Der Tod des Vergil” (The Death of Virgil), as well as a League of Nations resolution, with which he sought to implore the organisation to act against the terror in National Socialist Germany.

On 13 March 1938, the day of the annexation of Austria, the author was arrested. He managed to flee to Great Britain, where he arrived penniless in June 1938. A few months later, he was able to emigrate onward to the USA with the assistance of Thomas Mann and Albert Einstein. He continued working on his Virgil material, supported in part by a scholarship from the Yaddo artist residency, where he stayed at the same time as Richard A. Bermann in the summer of 1939. In collaboration with the American Guild for German Cultural Freedom and the Emergency Rescue Committee, Broch worked to help support other colleagues.

In the summer of 1942, the author moved from New York to Princeton to work on his mass psychology research at the university there. However, this work was never completed, and neither was his last novel “Die Verzauberung” (The Enchantment).

Selected works:
Die Schlafwandler (Novel Trilogy, 1930-32)
Völkerbund-Resolution (Pamphlet, 1937)
Der Tod des Vergil (Novel, 1945)
Die Schuldlosen (Novel, 1950)

Further reading:
Kessler, Michael/Lützeler, Paul Michael (Hg.): Hermann-Broch-Handbuch. Berlin: DeGruyter 2016.