Rilke's Venice The City in Eleven Walks by Birgit Haustedt

 Rilke's Venice

The City in Eleven Walks by Birgit Haustedt is a new, captivating and romantic book by Haus Publishing; this time this cultured book mixes Venice, literature and Rilke's trips in the city.

The existence of Rilke was absolutely particular.

I was bewitched by him when I read his Notebook of Maltes Laurids Briggs.

With this book, a literary trip in eleven walks, we will follow pretty closely the steps of the poet and writer in the city, understanding much more his passions, special friends, and we will have the priviledge of observing Venice with Rilke's eyes.

Rilke travelled continuously during his existence and didn't have an address, or a house, or furniture; nothing; he loved to buy and to bring with him wherever he went lot of books, pencils, pens, but not much else.

Venice was the city he was more in love with.

Rilke could be a man in love for luxury when he could afford it; he also loved cheap choices when he could not do anything different; most of the time spent his trips to Venice in the house of the Princess Marie von Thurn und Taxis - Hohenlohe in the Grand Canal. 

The princess was more than happy of helping this young friend, very different from the person he had imagined (he was so young! confessed the princess) sharing with him her apartment and more, introducing him to his friends and men of letters and artists located in Venice. 

When he could, Rilke stayed also in luxury hotels of the city located in the Grand Canal, appreciating it; in the Grand Canal there was also the house of the Princess; the Lido was another beloved place where Rilke loved to swimming in, adoring the beach at the same time; he also rented a capanno at the lido; he was in love for Piazza San Marco, sometimes over-crowded, complained the beloved poet. 

Yes, Rilke would have wanted Venice just for himself being in love for the city!

Venice, although we are at the beginning of the 1900 became to be over-populated by tourists; they annoyed him a lot, like also the presence of children playing close to his window and so disturbing his concentration when he was creating something.

Being vegetarian thanks to a friend of him, diligently Rilke researched restaurants where they served food for these kind of people, but at that time it was a sort of lost battle; although it was hard and difficult, Rilke maintained his habits.

Once a friend of him suggested a place, the Romanelli's little pension where he would have found a lot of peace in Venice, spending a cheap soum of money. The premise was fantastic! 

The arrival, traumatic! 

The Romanelli pension was a shock for the poet; at the beginning there was, with his arrival a lot of embarassment, because this little reality was owned by two sisters and a maid; they were waiting for a lady, and they saw that the lady was, realistically a young and beauty man; Rilke, at the same time, waited for a cheap place, but Romanelli was less than what he had imagined. 

But... Surprise! at the end Rilke fell in love for the youngest sister Romanelli and his creativity increased incredibly in the following months. 

The relationship with ms. Romanelli, although powerful, at the end ended. 

She continued to love the poet for all her existence, although ms.Romanelli was kept by him at a proper distance. Rilke continued to follow ms. Romanelli and her personal events, helping her when he could, but then decided to move on and not meeting her anymore.

A place fascinated him a lot was the Venetian Ghetto. Created centuries before, when Rilke was in Venice, just some people, still many, the poorest part of the community, continued to live there; the other ones, rich, became part of the city of Venice. The ghetto was born for keeping at distance jewish people arrived and considered dirty; Venetians realistically were very similar at Jewish people, real business men; Venetians  "presented" them the dirtiest place of the city; but that ghetto became for the fertile Jewish community their strength and power because although isolated they created an unique and strong reality with their creativity. 

Rilke was bewitched also by Tintoretto and the little island of San Giorgio Maggiore, recommended by the poet at his friends, the church ai Gesuiti, the Doge's Palace, and many more other corners. Each walk is followed or integrated with some poems Rilke dedicated to the city, or letters written for explain some parts of the city at some of his friends. 

His last trip to Venice in 1920 was lived more conflictually because at lot of things changed in the while: war was over, the pandemic spanish flu was over, but the city in the while, with these traumatic events, changed; Rilke was changed as well. There were frictions.

Rilke left behind him, in Venice, many estimators of his poems and his production.

What did to Rilke mean travelling?

Travelling to Rilke meant fascination and thanks to this fascination he could create his poems. Rilke was in love for Venice because of its richness of artistic creations and literature and because of its unicity. 

Rilke loved to walk and covered miles and miles when in the city, because when visited "La Serenissima" stayed for several weeks or months every time.

He was a great traveler; Russia, the Nile; Paris was another of his favorite places where to live in.

Rilke loved to write letters and also in these letters is visible his love and passion for this city; letters were indispensible to him and they remain all a little piece of art. Rilke, more than any other poet was in grade of let us see in words, feelings, sentiments, emotions, and places.

Very centered and stimulating book, everyone should have this special literary travel guide when in Venice!

Highly recommended.

I thank Haus Paublishing for the physical copy of the book.

Anna Maria Polidori