Brüder, Geister und Fossilien

This collection of essays is interdisciplinary in approach and examines areas of the life and work of Eduard Mörike (1804-1875) that have hitherto been largely neglected: his complicated relationship with his brothers, his relationship with Justinus Kerner and his activities as an amateur geologist toward the end of his career as a preacher. Close examination of the role played by occultism, facets of everyday life and the history of geology open up new perspectives for research on Mörike. Pointing up the connections between mostly well-known but largely neglected details extends our knowledge of Mörike's biography and the genesis of his works and provides new approaches to interpretation. The unavoidable by-product of the undertaking is that one or two staple Mörike legends stand revealed as devoid of any substance.