Müller, Robert (Author)
(10/29/1887, Vienna - 8/27/1924, Vienna)
The youthful years and other periods of the life of this on-the-go expressionist, who worked as a narrator, essayist, publisher and literary manager, remain largly unknown. His first publications were in the magazines Der Brenner and Der Ruf . Starting in 1911, he was one of the most fascinating figures on the Viennese literature and cultural scene. In 1914, the lampoon “Karl Kraus or Dalai Lama. The Dark Priests. A Nerve Deadening.” appeared. Until 1914, he functioned as the literary director of the “Academic Federation of Literature and Music in Vienna”, and was friendly with the likewise engaged Erhard Buschbeck. On his instigation, Müller passed a Trakl poem to Der Brenner publisher Ludwig von Ficker with his enthusiastic recommendation, which led to a May 1912 publication of the “Surburb in Foehn.” Whether Müller and Trakl ever personally met is unknown.
In 1915, he published the novel: “Tropics. The Myth of the Journey. Documents of a German Engineer. Issued by Robert Müller,” which received extensive attention. As an enlistee, he spent WWI in the news service, later failed at the establishment of a publishing house, and took his own life in 1924. The culture-imperialistic and sometimes fascistic-like parts of Müller's asthetic avant-guardism must not go unmentioned.
