Casanova Official Museum
Between 1785 and 1798, Giacomo Casanova withdrew to Dux, Bohemia, as librarian to Count Waldstein. Far from the European salons, he experienced isolation, marginality, and physical decline. It was precisely this suspension that led him to turn experience into memory, starting the Histoire de ma vie: a work that resists time and preserves a disappearing world.
Between 1785 and 1798, Giacomo Casanova lived in Dux, Bohemia, far from Europe’s major cultural centres. It was here, during a period of isolation and declining health, that his Histoire de ma vie took shape, becoming one of the most significant autobiographical works in Western literature. Dux became the place where experience turned into memory and life was transformed into writing.
This article is based on the scholarly contributions of our historians, adapted by the museum’s editorial team for online publication.
Beyond the Myth: Casanova in Dux
The Arrival in Dux: a necessary refuge
Isolation and marginality
Writing as resistance
Dux as a place of transformation
When Giacomo Casanova’s name is mentioned, images of travel, European salons, and romantic adventures immediately come to mind. Over time, his image has become closely associated with that of the tireless libertine, a symbol of the brilliant and cosmopolitan eighteenth century. Yet this familiar portrait reveals only part of his story.
One of the most significant chapters of his life unfolded far from the great European capitals: his years in Dux, between 1785 and 1798. This period, marked by the end of his adventurous life, isolation, and reflection, would prove central to the development of his literary legacy.
Casanova arrived in Dux in 1785, under the protection of Count Joseph Karl von Waldstein, who appointed him librarian at his family castle. His decision to settle there was driven less by ambition than by necessity.
Following another exile from Venice, a series of financial setbacks, and declining health, Casanova was weary and vulnerable. Dux was neither Paris nor Venice: it was a remote place, far from the major centres of European cultural life. This isolation weighed heavily on him and marked a profound change in the way he perceived himself.
In Dux, Casanova experienced a new form of social marginality. He often felt misunderstood and was sometimes ridiculed by the castle staff. He also struggled with the loss of the recognition and social standing he had once enjoyed.
His former fame, once a source of prestige, now risked becoming a grotesque mask, a caricature of his past. In this difficult environment, a new awareness gradually emerged: writing could offer him a means of preserving his identity and giving meaning to his experiences.
It was in Dux that Casanova began working on his Histoire de ma vie. Writing was not merely an attempt to celebrate his past achievements, but also an act of resistance against the passage of time, illness, and oblivion.
Through storytelling, Casanova could revisit the Europe of the Ancien Régime: its aristocratic courts, the culture of conversation, and a world shaped by travel and intellectual exchange. Memory thus became a way of confronting the passing of time and transforming personal loss into narrative.
Dux was not merely the final chapter of Casanova’s life, but a place of profound transformation. Here, the man of action became a man of memory, and lived experience was transformed into literature.
The isolation he experienced at Dux played a crucial role in the creation of the Histoire de ma vie. It provided the circumstances in which Casanova could look back on his extraordinary life and transform his memories into a lasting literary work. Dux thus represents the decisive transition from lived experience to writing, securing Casanova’s place not only in history, but also in the enduring world of literature.
He arrived in Dux under the protection of Count Joseph Karl von Waldstein, who offered him a position as librarian. It was a move dictated by necessity, after exiles, financial troubles, and increasing physical weakness.
Dux was a remote place, far from Europe’s cultural centers. Casanova experienced isolation and social marginality, receiving little recognition and sometimes even mockery from the castle staff, which caused a rupture in his sense of identity.
The work took shape during his years in Dux, between 1785 and 1798. It was not conceived as a celebration, but as a response to illness, the passage of time, and the threat of oblivion, turning memory into a means of survival.
Writing allowed him to still inhabit the Europe of the Ancien Régime: courts, conversations, travels, and worldly intellect. The act of storytelling became a strategy to turn loss into narrative and give continuity to his life.
In Dux, the man of action became a man of memory: lived experience became literature. Forced isolation and the suspension of public life created the space for his work, granting Casanova a place in the endurance of literature.
Between 1785 and 1798, Giacomo Casanova lived in Dux, Bohemia, far from Europe’s major cultural centres. It was here, during a period of isolation and declining health, that his Histoire de ma vie took shape, becoming one of the most significant autobiographical works in Western literature. Dux became the place where experience turned into memory and life was transformed into writing.
This article is based on the scholarly contributions of our historians, adapted by the museum’s editorial team for online publication.
Beyond the Myth: Casanova in Dux
The Arrival in Dux: a necessary refuge
Isolation and marginality
Writing as resistance
Dux as a place of transformation
When Giacomo Casanova’s name is mentioned, images of travel, European salons, and romantic adventures immediately come to mind. Over time, his image has become closely associated with that of the tireless libertine, a symbol of the brilliant and cosmopolitan eighteenth century. Yet this familiar portrait reveals only part of his story.
One of the most significant chapters of his life unfolded far from the great European capitals: his years in Dux, between 1785 and 1798. This period, marked by the end of his adventurous life, isolation, and reflection, would prove central to the development of his literary legacy.
Casanova arrived in Dux in 1785, under the protection of Count Joseph Karl von Waldstein, who appointed him librarian at his family castle. His decision to settle there was driven less by ambition than by necessity.
Following another exile from Venice, a series of financial setbacks, and declining health, Casanova was weary and vulnerable. Dux was neither Paris nor Venice: it was a remote place, far from the major centres of European cultural life. This isolation weighed heavily on him and marked a profound change in the way he perceived himself.
In Dux, Casanova experienced a new form of social marginality. He often felt misunderstood and was sometimes ridiculed by the castle staff. He also struggled with the loss of the recognition and social standing he had once enjoyed.
His former fame, once a source of prestige, now risked becoming a grotesque mask, a caricature of his past. In this difficult environment, a new awareness gradually emerged: writing could offer him a means of preserving his identity and giving meaning to his experiences.
It was in Dux that Casanova began working on his Histoire de ma vie. Writing was not merely an attempt to celebrate his past achievements, but also an act of resistance against the passage of time, illness, and oblivion.
Through storytelling, Casanova could revisit the Europe of the Ancien Régime: its aristocratic courts, the culture of conversation, and a world shaped by travel and intellectual exchange. Memory thus became a way of confronting the passing of time and transforming personal loss into narrative.
Dux was not merely the final chapter of Casanova’s life, but a place of profound transformation. Here, the man of action became a man of memory, and lived experience was transformed into literature.
The isolation he experienced at Dux played a crucial role in the creation of the Histoire de ma vie. It provided the circumstances in which Casanova could look back on his extraordinary life and transform his memories into a lasting literary work. Dux thus represents the decisive transition from lived experience to writing, securing Casanova’s place not only in history, but also in the enduring world of literature.
Want to discover the palace where Casanova actually lived? Visit the permanent museum dedicated to Giacomo Casanova at Palazzo Zaguri.
