Gustav Meyrink

The Profile

Austrian author (1868–1932) celebrated for esoteric and fantastic fiction. Closely linked to Prague’s mystique, he is best known for Der Golem (1915), alongside The Green Face, Walpurgis Night, The White Dominican, and The Angel of the West Window.

Der Golem was serialized in Die Weißen Blätter (1913–1914) and published in 1915; it became his greatest success. Film versions were directed by Paul Wegener (1915, 1920). He engaged deeply with Kabbalah and esoteric traditions and published influential short stories and novels between the 1900s and 1932.

These reviews spotlight Meyrink’s esoteric core: Der Golem’s dreamlike Prague, its Kabbalistic undertow, and Expressionist echoes. Bats gathers visionary tales of awakening and doubles, with late pieces up to 1932. The White Dominican is framed as his most spiritually dense novel, steeped in Taoist motifs. A Zothique special maps the criticism, iconography, and unpublished stories. Overall tone: admiring, well-sourced, and collector-friendly.