Check out what I found: Yes, I know, the source isnçt exactly scholarlyŸ

http://www.astrodatabank.com/ASWater_TblExcess.htm

[German writer whose popularity extended well beyond his lifetime. He was best known for "The Glass Bead Game," "Steppenwolf" and "Siddhartha." These works and others earned him the Nobel prize in 1946. He was considered a guru to the youth from 1905 until his death, and beyond.
An alcoholic, Hesse was afflicted with bouts of hypochondria, depression, and thoughts of suicide.
Died of Leukemia on 8/09/1962, Montagnola, Switzerland.]

Best,
Duke

Hesse enjoyed a glass of good wine but was never an alcoholic. If he had been, I wonder where he would ever had the discipline to create his impressive work, to survive in a positive way the great stresses he was under, and to keep his mind as earnestly, sharply, and soberly as he did on the great issues of this and past centuries and those to come. You are quoting one of those unfortunate labeling statements of "Hesse in a nutshell" which are usually written by people who do not know much about him and his work.

P.S. The wine Hesse drank probably helped him reach his rich old age, at least according to the American Medical Association.

Gunther