Now all roads lead to France and heavy is the tread
Of the living; but the dead returning lightly dance.
Edward Thomas, Roads

Thursday, November 4, 2021

Munich–7 November 1918–Revolution

 As Described by Rainer Maria Rilke



Rene Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke was born on 4 December 1875 in Prague, then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now in the Czech Republic. His father was Josef Rilke and his mother Sophie Entz. Living in Germany at the outbreak of the First World War, Rilke was called up in 1916.  After basic training, influential friends ensured that he was given a desk job at the War Records Office.  He was discharged from the Army in June 1916.  He was present in Munich when revolution came. Rilke died on 29 December 1926.



Demonstration on Theresienwiese in Munich on
7 November 1918

Sources: Lost Poets of the First World War and the Bavarian State Archives

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