The first real rehearsal; Mr. Bilse gives a speech, and the orchestra seems to be ashamed. As always, there were some very competent people present who instilled a sense of duty in the others. It goes very well right from the start; R. jokes and teases the people about the Day of Repentance.[1] Without too much fatigue, it proceeds smoothly. We head home and have breakfast; R. rests, then goes for a walk, observing “spring, wrapped in linen, entering Berlin,” referring to large trees being transplanted for the gardens. At 5 o’clock, Lothar Bucher comes for dinner with us; we discuss the misery in Germany—everywhere deceit and poor work, the rich have all their furniture shipped from Paris; our friend traveled to London to have clothes made.
He tells us about Bismarck, saying that he wanted to launch all the attacks on the Catholic clergy at once, but he had such trouble with all the powers that he had to, as he put it, “cut off the dog’s tail piece by piece.”
R. says that four years ago, he recommended the Jesuits, and now he recommends the Jews! “They’ll devour us”, says Bucher, adding that now even an Israelite (Friedland)[2] is a minister!
In the evening, Scholz,[3] Dohm[4], and Niemann come over; I meet them again when I return home from the opera house, where “Die Makkabäer” was performed. A strange impression of this opera; one can definitely only make an effect now if writing in the Wagnerian style.
[1] As a period of penance, the Church originally only recognised the Advent and Easter fasts; later, four quarterly fast days were added, which became a tradition of penance in the Protestant Church. By the 19th century, this was reduced to two days a year, with only the November one remaining in the 20th century.
Refers to Rudolf Friedenthal (1827–1890), who was the Minister of Agriculture from 1874 to 1879.
[3] Wilhelm Scholz (1824–1893), a notable figure involved with “Kladderadatsch” in Berlin since 1848.
[4] Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Dohm (1819 – 1883), editor, writer and translator, editor-in-chief of Kladderadatsch, grandfather of Katja Mann.
Revised English translation by Jo Cousins.