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In 1931 Hermann Hesse and his third wife Ninon moved into the Casa Rossa in Montagnola, about 10 minutes walking from Palazzo Camuzzi. His friend and patron Hans C. Bodmer from Zurich had bought the land and had the house built for them as they wished, allowing them the right to live in the house for the rest of their life.
After 1931, watercolour painting becomes less important. Hermann Hesse is the landlord of a big piece of land where he grows vineyards, vegetables and flowers, and learns to appreciate the contemplative effect of gardening. In the idyll Stunden in Garten Hesse describes his feelings and thoughts aroused while taking care of the garden and tells about the magic meaning of fire and earth. His son Bruno, who often visited him in Montagnola, recalled that his father conceived the content of the work The Glass Bead Game during the time of gardening, in touch with the earth.
«I divide my day between studying and gardening, the latter is necessary for meditation and for the spiritual digestion, therefore it must be done in solitude.» From a letter to Carlo Isenberg, April 1934.
The Casa Rossa is nowadays private dwelling. Foto Martin Hesse © All rights reserved |