On the way to the summer residence of Baronesse von Stein, we passed on smooth roads "flourishing landscapes" that Chancellor Kohl once had promised to the residents of the GDR.
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| Freifrau von Stein in 1753. Oil painting by A. C. Meuser |
There are wild rumors about Goethe's relationship with the married Frau von
Stein. But first of all, how did the 26-year-old Frankfurter end up at the
Weimar Court?
It was astonishing that the Duchess Anna Amalia of Weimar chose the young Goethe as an educational companion, mentor, and conversation partner for her son Karl August. But she was an educated, enlightened princess who recognized that her small court in Weimar needed to raise its cultural and intellectual profile.
So when the author of "The Sorrows of Werther," famous throughout Europe, arrived in Weimar in 1775, he was just the right man for the job. And Crownprince Karl August, who had just come of age, was delighted, because he was not looking for dry instruction, but an intellectual role model, a comrade with stature.
Anna Amalia trusted that the intensive exchange with a creative mind like Goethe would shape the young prince into a modern, enlightened ruler.
Young Goethe's appeal lay in his blunt, direct, and mostly conventional nature, but this did not go down well at court.
This is where Courtlady Charlotte von Stein, seven years his senior, came into play. This educated, cultured, courtly, and socially adept mature woman encountered the talented, passionate, impetuous, but also somewhat uncouth young Goethe.
A close relationship developed in which Charlotte made Goethe's behavior socially acceptable and, above all, adjusted his relationship between emotion and reason. Not quite as his following poem dedicated to her shows:
However, there are rumors that Goethe wanted to flee Weimar with Charlotte and live "without status or name" in the free world. Despite her deep love for him, Charlotte had to refuse for quite rational reasons. So Goethe is said to have fled alone in 1786 to the land of all Germans' dreams, Italy. After his sudden disappearance, Charlotte was left frustrated, feeling he had abandoned her forever.
In Rome, Faustina, "a merry widow," is said to have "enlightened" the no longer young man:
Goethe visited his love frequently at her summer residence and tried his
drawing talent.
... sometimes urgently via messengers, "To Frau von Stein at Kochburg with a basket of fruit."
Before I left the exhibition, I hopped into a canopy swing offered by the Kochberg Museum.
It was astonishing that the Duchess Anna Amalia of Weimar chose the young Goethe as an educational companion, mentor, and conversation partner for her son Karl August. But she was an educated, enlightened princess who recognized that her small court in Weimar needed to raise its cultural and intellectual profile.
So when the author of "The Sorrows of Werther," famous throughout Europe, arrived in Weimar in 1775, he was just the right man for the job. And Crownprince Karl August, who had just come of age, was delighted, because he was not looking for dry instruction, but an intellectual role model, a comrade with stature.
Anna Amalia trusted that the intensive exchange with a creative mind like Goethe would shape the young prince into a modern, enlightened ruler.
Young Goethe's appeal lay in his blunt, direct, and mostly conventional nature, but this did not go down well at court.
This is where Courtlady Charlotte von Stein, seven years his senior, came into play. This educated, cultured, courtly, and socially adept mature woman encountered the talented, passionate, impetuous, but also somewhat uncouth young Goethe.
A close relationship developed in which Charlotte made Goethe's behavior socially acceptable and, above all, adjusted his relationship between emotion and reason. Not quite as his following poem dedicated to her shows:
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Why did you give us those deep insights? To look forebodingly at our future, Our love, our earthly happiness Never daring to hope for bliss? Why did you give us, fate, the feelings To see into each other's hearts, To get through all the unusual bustle To discern our true relationship? Ah, so many thousands of people, Drifting, barely knowing their own hearts, Floating aimlessly back and forth and running Hopelessly in unforseen pain; Re-cheering when an unexpected dawn Breaks on the quick joys. Only we, the two poor lovers Are denied mutual happiness, To love each other without understanding each other, To see in the other what he never was, Always setting out fresh on a dream of happiness And to waver even in the danger of dreams. Happy is he who is occupied by an empty dream! Happy is he whose foreboding is vain! Every moment and every glance confirms Dream and foreboding, alas, even more. Tell me, what does fate have in store for us? Tell me, how did it bind us so purely and precisely? Ah, you were in times long past My sister or my wife. You knew every trait of my character, You peered into the purest nerve, You could read me with a glance, Which mortal eyes can hardly penetrate. You dripped moderation into my hot blood, You steered my wild, errant course, And resting in your angelic arms The broken heart was restored; You held him bound with magical ease And beguiled him for many a day. What bliss was comparable to those hours of delight, When he lay gratefully at your feet, Feeling his heart swell against yours, He felt good in your eyes, All his senses brighten And calmed his rushing blood. And from all this, one memory remains Only around the uncertain heart, Feels the old truth eternally the same within, And the new state becomes painful to him. And we seem only half alive, The brightest day is dim around us. Happy that the fate that torments us Does not know how to change us. |
Warum gabst du uns die tiefen Blicke, Unsre Zukunft ahndungsvoll zu schaun, Unsrer Liebe, unsrem Erdenglücke Wähnend selig nimmer hinzutraun? Warum gabst uns, Schicksal, die Gefühle, Uns einander in das Herz zu sehn, Um durch all die seltenen Gewühle Unser wahr Verhältnis auszuspähn? Ach, so viele tausend Menschen kennen, Dumpf sich treibend, kaum ihr eigen Herz, Schweben zwecklos hin und her und rennen Hoffnungslos in unversehnem Schmerz; Jauchzen wieder, wenn der schnellen Freuden Unerwart´te Morgenröte tagt. Nur uns armen liebevollen Beiden Ist das wechselseitge Glück versagt, Uns zu lieben, ohn uns zu verstehen, In dem andern sehn, was er nie war, Immer frisch auf Traumglück auszugehen Und zu schwanken auch in Traumgefahr. Glücklich, den ein leerer Traum beschäftigt! Glücklich, dem die Ahndung eitel wär! Jede Gegenwart und jeder Blick bekräftigt Traum und Ahndung leider uns noch mehr. Sag, was will das Schicksal uns bereiten? Sag, wie band es uns so rein genau? Ach, du warst in abgelebten Zeiten Meine Schwester oder meine Frau. Kanntest jeden Zug in meinem Wesen, Spähtest, wie die reinste Nerve klingt, Konntest mich mit einem Blicke lesen, Den so schwer ein sterblich Aug durchdringt. Tropftest Mäßigung dem heißen Blute, Richtetest den wilden irren Lauf, Und in deinen Engelsarmen ruhte Die zerstörte Brust sich wieder auf; Hieltest zauberleicht ihn angebunden Und vergaukeltest ihm manchen Tag. Welche Seligkeit glich jenen Wonnestunden, Da er dankbar dir zu Füßen lag, Fühlt´ sein Herz an deinem Herzen schwellen, Fühlte sich in deinem Auge gut, Alle seine Sinnen sich erhellen Und beruhigen sein brausend Blut. Und von allem dem schwebt ein Erinnern Nur noch um das ungewisse Herz, Fühlt die alte Wahrheit ewig gleich im Innern, Und der neue Zustand wird ihm Schmerz. Und wir scheinen uns nur halb beseelet, Dämmernd ist um uns der hellste Tag. Glücklich, dass das Schicksal, das uns quälet, Uns doch nicht verändern mag. |
Goethe's revelation renders the typical male question, "Did he or didn't
he?" void.
However, there are rumors that Goethe wanted to flee Weimar with Charlotte and live "without status or name" in the free world. Despite her deep love for him, Charlotte had to refuse for quite rational reasons. So Goethe is said to have fled alone in 1786 to the land of all Germans' dreams, Italy. After his sudden disappearance, Charlotte was left frustrated, feeling he had abandoned her forever.
In Rome, Faustina, "a merry widow," is said to have "enlightened" the no longer young man:
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That is why Faustine makes me happy: She gladly shares her bed with me, And remains faithful to those who are faithful to her. |
Darum macht Faustine mein Glück: Sie teilet das Lager gern mit mir, Und bewahrt Treue dem Treuen genau. |
Later, Goethe sang of sensuality in his Roman Elegies:
After his return to Weimar, Goethe continued to live out his sensuality outside of marriage with Christiane Vulpius, his Bettschatz (bedmate), which not only upset Frau von Stein, but the entire Weimar court.
Even at the age of 66, he still learned, loved, and suffered, as the
following Christmas greeting to her proves.
Back to Kochberg Castle, the memorial to an unfulfilled love.
Kochberg's walls exude the spirit of Goethe ...
... and Frau von Stein.
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And so I sit, loving and beloved, on the lap Of my beloved, with one arm around her neck, I beat time with my finger, and sing the little song She learned from me and really enjoyed it. |
Und so sitz’ ich denn, liebend und geliebt, auf dem
Schoße Der Geliebten, und ein Arm um den Nacken geschlungen, Geb’ ich den Takt mit dem Finger und singe dazu das Liedchen, Das sie gelernt von mir und das ihr so gefallen. |
Although Goethe still struggled for Charlotte's love, dedicating her
his travel diary, he resigned himself to a "platonic love affair."
After his return to Weimar, Goethe continued to live out his sensuality outside of marriage with Christiane Vulpius, his Bettschatz (bedmate), which not only upset Frau von Stein, but the entire Weimar court.
It took several years for the two platonic lovers to find their way
back to each other, with Goethe saying that Frau von Stein's
influence had "educated" and "refined" him.
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| Secret Councilor Goethe, 76, as a porcelain figurine |
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That you were born on this day, together with the Holy Christ And August* too, the noble, slender one, For which I thank God in my heart, This gives me, in the depths of winter, The most welcome opportunity To greet you with a little sugar, To sweeten my absence, Who, as always, far from the sun, In silence, love, suffer, learn. on 25. Dec.1815 Goethe *August was Goethe's only son who turned 26 on December 25, 1815. |
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| Kochberg village and castle |
Kochberg's walls exude the spirit of Goethe ...
... and Frau von Stein.
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| Schloss Kochberg. Pencil, pen, and ink drawing by Goethe 1777/1779 |
When he was absent, he would send her notes ...
... sometimes urgently via messengers, "To Frau von Stein at Kochburg with a basket of fruit."
Before I left the exhibition, I hopped into a canopy swing offered by the Kochberg Museum.
For lunch, Red Baron refreshed himself with a touch of GDR nostalgia, enjoying carrot and apple soup and an LPG* cake.
*Landwirtschaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaft
(Agricultural Production Cooperative)
After lunch, the vast park of Schloss Kochberg invited our group.
A reminder that everything is temporary.
In the early evening, a treat awaited us.
Goethe's comedy "Die Mitschuldigen" (The Accomplices) was performed at Kochberg Castle in the small amateur theater that Charlotte's son Friedrich had built.
Goethe wrote the play in 1769 during his time in Leipzig. The plot is finely woven with witty dialogue, reminiscent of Molière's comedies, such as Tartuffe, with their double standards and hypocrisy. Lessing's bourgeois Enlightenment themes also influenced the young Goethe when he wrote the play.
All members of the family are morally guilty, whether through fraud, blackmail, deception, or self-deception. By showing the spectator that everyone is complicit, Goethe uses theater for the moral self-education of the audience.
Did he anticipate Schiller's maxim from 1784, "The theater is a moral institution"?
The long-lasting applause for the actors was well-deserved.
*
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