Category: October 1875

Visit from good Dean Dittmar [1], who chats long with me; in the afternoon our dear friend Feustel is to make his exposé with R. A fine day, a walk with R.; Fidi ever playing at railway: “If you are not a genius, you will at least be an engineer.”…

A good, quiet night for R. He drafts the circular [1] to the singers; I have household matters and business letters to attend to, and renewed French lessons for the little ones. In the evening R. reads to me Holtzmann’s [2] preface to “Celts and Germans”, and “Geraint and Enid”…

Journey home with Siegfried, who wins all hearts. For diversion: “The Prince Robber” by Triller, [1] most entertaining, and a number of the Deutsche Rundschau. [2] – At one o’clock reunion with R.! He tells me he dreamt in the night that we were together in a dancing-hall; my partner…

Morning and afternoon, orthopedic examinations and exercises—great caution needed. The Minister, Herr von Gerstenberg, benefactor of the little land, visits me; a most agreeable conversation. In the evening to the theatre. A wretched piece by Herr Schweitzer [1] (a Socialist!), coarse and foolish. – Yet the children, for whom it…

An intimate breakfast, touched with the sorrow of parting. At one o’clock R. brings me to the station; I take Fidi with me to Altenburg. – The “Farewell, wife”, with its intense, repressed anguish, brings vividly before me all that has influenced and determined my life. At seven in the…

“Short and good, from lowest to highest, my dear nephew above all, remain well-disposed toward me!” R.’s toast to Kurt Kessinger. We take a heartfelt leave of our relatives. Gloomy, dreary weather—in the evening in the golden salon, no reading save a travel account of Prof. Haeckel: [1] Brussa. [2]…