Herbeck is the best-known poet among the Gugging Artists. Born with a speech disorder, which he referred to as his “disqualified mouth,” Herbeck found his voice in writing. Throughout his life, however, Herbeck wrote and drew only when prompted. The first thing he wrote—his poem “Der Morgen” (Morning)— was written in the early sixties and would later become one of his most-cited texts. Between 1960 and Herbeck’s death in 1991, an idiosyncratic and diverse body of verbal art would emerge in this way and secure a place for itself among the literature of the twentieth century. His writings were collected and printed, initially— as in the case of his first published text, from 1966— under the pseudonym the artist had chosen for himself: “Alexander.” The books then published under Herbeck’s own name include Alexanders poetische Texte (Alexander’s Poetic Texts, 1977), Bebende Herzen im Leibe der Hunde (Trembling Hearts in the Body of the Dogs, 1979, with drawings by Oswald Tschirtner), Alexander (1982), Im Herbst da reiht der Feenwind (In Fall, the Rows Alined by Fairy Wind, 1992) and, most recently, the anthology Ernst Herbeck: Der Hase!!!! (Ernst Herbeck: The Hare!!!!, 2013 and 2022). Ernst Herbeck’s poetry has found many admirers and advocates, particularly among authors and artists, such as W.G. Sebald, Gerhard Roth, Friederike Mayröcker, Ernst Jandl, Heinar Kipphardt, and André Heller. As a result, the story of the author’s life and his poetic oeuvre have also provided the material for multiple artistic, literary, and dramatic works. In addition to his writings, there are also drawings by Herbeck. Mostly postcard-sized, these sheets depict a variety of objects or animals and were primarily created during the first half of the seventies, which was also a very productive phase for his poetry.

Ernst Herbeck was born in Stockerau, Austria, on October 9, 1920. After the lower-level secondary school, he attended the first year of an intermediate secondary school for commercial trades. Herbeck was then employed by a shipping company and as an unskilled worker in a munitions factory. He was drafted into the German military in 1944 and was discharged as unfit to serve in April 1945. In 1946 he was committed to what was then the “Mental Health and Care Facility at Gugging.” Herbeck was accepted as a member of the Graz Authors’ Congress in 1978, and in 1981 he was able to secure the restoration of his legal autonomy based on the recognition accorded to his literary work. Herbeck also moved into the “House of Artists” in 1981 and remained there until his death in 1991.

Poem: Morning

In fall, the rows alined by
fairy wind
as in the snow the
manes are meeting.
Blackbirds are whistling briitly
in the wind and feeding.