Karl Wolfskehl - “Exul Poeta” (Poet in Exile)

When Karl Wolfskehl arrived in New Zealand in 1938, aged 69, he had just one suitcase and a mistress half his age. But he carried a thousand years of European history with him - and he looked like it. 6 foot 3 inches tall, with long flowing hair, rolled cravat, and wide-brimmed hat, he seemed like a man from another age. And although the New Zealand Herald reported that a “German-Jewish poet and author” had arrived, few in the dominion had heard of the good Dr Wolfskehl. While the Herald called him a “visitor”, the truth was he was a refugee - a Jew in fear of his life who had fled the anti-semitic scythe spreading across Europe. And he was a man in mourning for his beloved homeland, Germany. “From the very day when the ship left the harbour in Europe, I knew it, I cried for it, I grieved for it, since then, every moment, everything I do is under the sign of despair”.

Photo by Kath Kingswood

Karl Joseph Wolfskehl was born in Darmstadt, Germany in 1869, into a wealthy Hebrew family of bankers whose forebears had come from Italy in the Middle Ages. Wolfskehl considered Italy his second home and thought of himself as a blend of Jew, Roman and German. Karl was a physically imposing figure but was very short-sighted from a young age. He did not have to work for a living so, like many wealthy young men of the time, he not only dabbled in writing poetry, he lived the life of a poet.

In 1898 he married his Dutch wife Hanna de Haan and they had two daughters: Judith (born 1899) and Renate (born 1901). When he fled Germany in 1933, fearing for his life along with many other writers, he left his non-Jewish wife and daughters safe in a mansion at the foot of the Black Forest.

He emigrated to Switzerland and then settled in Florence, where he began a relationship with a young Jewish intellectual named Margot Ruben (although he remained on good terms with his wife Hanna). They remained in Italy for 5 years until the rounding up of Jews began in Italy. Wolfskehl then got out an atlas and found the furthest place in the world from Europe (New Zealand).

For mainstream, short-back-and-sides New Zealand, the long-haired poet was a strange apparition. The sight of the tall, long-haired man being led along Queen St by the young attractive Margot prompted more than a few stares. To protect Margot’s good name they always took separate rooms and told anyone who asked that she was his niece.

According to Margot, Karl got along well with working-class Kiwis and delighted in living in a land of true democracy in which everybody is equal to another. He also developed a circle of friends among New Zealand writers and artists, becoming a close friend of Frank Sargeson. But by the mid-1940’s the near-blind, ailing poet began to rely on his friends too much which soured many of his friendships, including Sargeson‘s. Margot moved out of their flat in 1943, although she did stay loyal to him to the end.

After the war Wolfskehl made plans to return to Europe to see his wife and daughters again but was devastated to hear that Hanna had already died, of a blood clot. He never stopped loving her.

As his blindness and general health worsened, he became more bitter and lonely, but also more resigned to his fate. He died on the 30th June 1948 from an intestinal blockage caused by diverticular disease.

Margot died in 1980 aged 72.

Hebrew Division A, Row 2, Plot 101: Karl Joseph Wolfskehl (78) 1948 - Poet - intestinal blockage

Compiled by Geri Eccles - Discover Waikumete

Sources:
https://www.jewishonlinemuseum.net/karl-wolfskehl
https://www.waikato.ac.nz/news/archive.shtml?article=29
https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=pDo-_xpm-u4&fbclid=IwAR2wlXkCoaJtbxMWq1ibU6ObC-ta2FEL5fjR1duS2cH3NAGR05EWsLUvy7Q
https://www.noted.co.nz/culture/arts/the-prominent-poet-who-escaped-pre-war-germany-and-finally-found-his-voice-as-a-refugee-in-new-zealand/