Swanilda Arms for War/Swanilda's Dowry

My first word in this free Imperial German city was a quarrel with a French Aristocrat. While we were getting out of our carriage at the Rotes Haus, we saw that people were sitting down at the table d'hôte; thus we entrusted our wagon to an old faithful waiter, and joined the bright and merry company. Hardly had I sat down, that one of my neighbors said to me in French: "It is remarkable, that the common folk outside are staring at us so curiously through the glass doors!" I replied: "Perhaps they believe that they will see some French princes (quelques princes françois) among us. Then he said very strongly: "there are no French Princes" (il n'y a point des princes françois). I thought that he meant to say that there were none at the table d'hôte, and said: I certainly believe that you are as little a French Prince as I am; but-"No, sir," he continued, "there are no French Princes anywhere; Princes of royal blood (princes du sang), but no princes françois." Then I noted for the first time, that I had used the new constitutional appellation for the peculiarly privileged Princes of the Blood, and said to him, smiling: "Excuse me, sir; the more accurate new appellations have already become so customary among us, that I heretofore had not once noticed your old error. He looked at me, and became so deathly pale, as he previously had been fiery red, and fell silent; probably, because the French here in Frankfurt were viewed very unsympathetically, and, in as much as possible, removed through various ordinances of the magistrate. Thus they scarcely dare to admit themselves for what they are, and much less, to be impertinent, as in Mannheim and Mainz. A few minutes later the same Man, who, as we later learned, was a French officer with the newly established Witgensteinschen Corps war, had an even more entertaining scene with a man, who sat opposite us. Half wrapped up in a green fur, the man was sitting still, without paying attention to the conversations on all sides. My neighbor, who seemed to have had enough of me, and whose other neighboring man did not speak French, was telling this one freely: the Emperor is already letting three regiments, which previously were on duty in Prague, march to the assistance of the French émigré princes. The other asked for the names of the regiments, and the former named one for him off hand. That is probably not possible, the other responded. Nothing is more certain, the former assured him. Then the latter unbuttoned his fur, showed his Imperial uniform, and said: I serve in this regiment, am on leave, and have not yet receieved any order to come back. The French man then said with the greatest credibility: that has nothing whatsoever to do with the matter; I assure you, the regiment is on the march. There were several French officers at the table, who, however, were clever enough not to mix in at all to the loud conversation of their lively comrades. They only generally agreed that it was a foolish enterprise to journey to France now, since ones life was not safe on any highway, on any road, which one might choose, one ran the risk of coming between two armies in combat, and that one could not be safe one night any French city from it being set on fire on all four corners. I got along very well in this conversation, and chimed in with jokes and mutual exaggerations, as was appropriate. With regard to W***'s fine stature and fresh blood they had a powerful eye; with him they received, however, an even poorer response than with me. Among the remaining Germans no one took part in such conversations. An old baron from Courland had already been frightened off from his trip to Paris by these well-calculated gasconades; he had already decided to spend the winter in Frankfurt, and so the matter no longer disturbed him. We had been very surprised to find so few people on our journey here who took an interest in the matter of France, and were properly informed about it. It was even more unexpected to find true connoisseurs and zealous friends of the French constitution only among princely persons. The Duke von G**, and the Prince A von G, so warmly beloved by all those who know him, are the most zealous and warmest friends of the Constitution. Duke H * * himself can be included here; it is simply that he expresses himself less on this matter. The L*** of H***-H***, whom so few men really know, but who is deeply honored by these few, has a comprehensive view of the matter, and judges it with his natural, just, and deep sensibility, like every free-spirited person, who has had the time and the leisure sufficient to become fully familiar with it. L*** is entirely taken with it. Pr. Ch. Von D*** has an entirely fair and reasonable view of it.-With all these German princes, and other, the French émigrés, with their hot air and their und theatrical cries of lamentation have not made the least headway, and one has even sought to hinder their appearance at the Court as much as possible. In Gotha I learned of a delicacy and courtesy of the court, to distinguish the conservatively minded noble émigré from that crowd, which touched me. Chevalier Boufflers, who also is known in Germany as a fine pleasant author, traveled a few months ago through Gotha on horseback, in order to go to Prince Heinrich von Preussen in Rheinsberg. He wished to travel through Gotha unrecognized, and let it be thought that he was a merchant. A person from the court recognized him, however, and since it was known how well he had done during the Revolution, and that he had not departed as an enemy of his fatherland, so he was urgently invited to come to the court. His apology that he, like a poor knight, was traveling without all the necessary equipment proper for the court, helped him not at all. He was received very politely, and was treated for several days with the attention and courtesy, that a man who is meritorious in the whole educated world may expect. And further it was said at the court, with great sympathy and respect, that this Chevalier Boufflers, who was a member of the first National Assembly, and who through the violent abolition of the nobility and the confiscation of spiritual properties had lost his entire revenue (over 100,000 livres); that he now had so little property, that he could make the long journey from Lyons to Rheinsberg in no other way than with his own two horses and a groom; that he carried his entire fortune with him in a little traveling case-that this Chevalier Boufflers had spoken with great respect and cordial support of the French Constitution, and had foreseen a felicitous end for it as well. Here, in contrast, an extremely characteristic word from a cavalier at a little German court. The talk was regarding an emigrated French nobleman, who now wanted once more to impose the whole moral plague once again on his fatherland by force, with its old perishable existence, which had just, through its horrible and highest eruption, caused such beneficial clearing of the air through its (admittedly late) results. After much that was good and enlightening on the matter had been said regarding the unwise and unworthy behavior of the French court nobility four years earlier, the court functionary had his turn, and said: one can, however, not blame people for struggling so eagerly for their honor. Honor is the only think that man brings with him into the world, and takes with him once more when he leaves! SECOND LETTER. Frankfurt, January 10, 1792. Here we have made an extremely interesting acquaintance with Doctor Ehrmann. He is from Strasburg, and has three brothers there, who hold notable military and civilian positions of honor according to the new form. He is enthusiastic for the French Constitution, and I believe, if he did not have such a dear wife and such dear children, he would still go before the fifteenth, to give his blood in the first battle from freedom. In his opinion, the enthusiasm of the National Guard in Strasbourg is too great for it to be held back from invading the neighboring German states if the French emigrés allow themselves to be bent further. He has once more stimulated my desire to be in Strasbourg on the fifteenth. During my presence here, through everything that I have heard about on the right and the left, and through what I have read in terms of court decrees from Trier, Pfalz and Mainz, and other circulars, which the French princes have sent around to German courts, I have been reinforced in my opinion that the German courts, through these printed orders, which are not followed, simply calm down and put the the French ambassadors, and through these the generals in command, to sleep, and thus give time for the first French fire to burn down. Trier, according to first appearances, seems to have been very eager to put down all armed assemblies and all real preparations for war by the French emigrés, and thus it would be highly unworthy and petty, if such orders were to be given without counting on positive intentions regarding compliance with them. One knows, however, how things usually go with the poor so-called ruling lords. A minister, upon whom responsibility falls on the bad end of things, easily obtains a signature for such a command, which is far too broadly and confusedly written for the reigning lord to have the time and inclination to read it; and so the minister is personally out of danger. For the ones entrusted with the carrying out of such an order to comply strictly with its language is something that cannot be demanded of them, or at least is not demanded of them; and for these folk, who usually only belong to the common people, there are already fortresses, gallows and the wheel, and the fine and princely prerogative to pardon a poor sinner condemned according to judgment and justice, which a human, Christianly-minded Lord, who in this case must once again rely on the reports of the minister, cannot, to his honor, overuse. And the finance...

Neohelicon, 2019

A surprisingly large number of late medieval German verse narratives are deeply occupied with conflicts in love due to the commodifying nature of the relationship established by the male wooer or his beloved lady. Instead of pursuing love in accordance with the ideals and norms of courtly culture, in these texts from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries we observe that suddenly contracts are set up either to force the woman to grant her body to the wooer, or to block the lover from imposing himself upon the lady. Late medieval poets such as Jans Enikel, the anonymous author of Mauritius von Craûn, or Dietrich von der Gletze/Glezze present increasingly problematic cases where love is substituted by contractual conditions, bartering, and exchange commercializing and perverting the erotic aspect altogether.

Austrian Studies (U.K.) Austria and France Issue Vol. 13 , 2005

Manuscript of the Month, 2021

At the age of 35, Börne writes to Jeanette Wohl - once again. The two of them have been good friends for many years; amorous sparks are still flying between them, but, so far, their wedding plans are little more than dreams. Börne writes this letter-beginning on 8 December 1821 and finishing on 10 December-having looked forward to her reply for several days in vain; and the most recent delivery is still not the desired reply. This letter is a perfect example of written communication at the start of the nineteenth century, although Börne uses it to air his frustration in a highly individualized way: He punishes Jeanette Wohl with a very unusual style of letter.

German Life and Letters, 2007

When Prussia and Austria invaded France in 1792 in an attempt to defeat the revolutionary army, Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832) accompanied his sovereign Carl August on the campaign. Almost thirty years later, Goethe recorded his version of the defeat and catastrophic retreat of the allied forces. Goethe's account embraces the perspective of a privileged observer, who enjoys the relative comfort afforded by his social class. In contrast, the memoirs of Friedrich Christian Laukhard (1757-1822), a failed academic turned common soldier, who also participated in the campaign, are written from the vantage point of the experienced grunt. While Goethe's Campagne in Frankreich (1822) is often considered a minor accomplishment in a major oeuvre, Laukhard's Begebenheiten, Erfahrungen und Bemerkungen während des Feldzuges gegen Frankreich, which forms part of his autobiography Leben und Schicksale von ihm selbst beschrieben (1796), has received little scholarly attention. 1 In spite of these different valuations, both Laukhard's and Goethe's texts have been subject to severe criticism. Laukhard's Begebenheiten has been disparaged because of its failure to turn experience into art, while Goethe's account was condemned for its failure to represent war truthfully. Clearly, Goethe's and Laukhard's texts are different in style, structure, and ideology, and yet there is one fundamental premise on which they agree. Both Goethe's Campagne in Frankreich and Laukhard's Begebenheiten, Erfahrungen und Bemerkungen während des Feldzuges gegen Frankreich are radically opposed to the concept of war as a sublime experience that many of their contemporaries endorsed and advocated. Laukhard's text offers a scathing critique of aristocratic abuse of power and deconstructs the notion of war as sublime through a focus on 'the body in pain' (Scarry). Goethe's text, on the other hand, which has often been accused of an uncritical stance towards the war, rejects the notion of war as a creative and ennobling force. Instead, Goethe traces war's destructive effect on the web of rules and habits that govern the peaceful working of society. Laukhardt records the horrors of war, Goethe seeks to delineate a grammar of peace amidst the terror of war. 2

Daphnis, 2010

Jacob Balde was in close contact with important persons such as the palatinate Maximilian I and the French diplomat D’Avaux. The latter was an influential participant of the Westphalian peace negotiations. Balde showed his political commitment by the dedication of the ninth book of his Silvae to D’Avaux. This article tries to put the publication of Silvae 9 in its historical context. Furthermore, it provides the first integral and literal translation as well as a commentary on Silvae 9.26 — the last political poem of that collection. This poem bears witness to Balde’s desire for peace, for it summons the negotiators, after a fictitiously concluded peace, not to set off fireworks, but to burn all the armaments of the war.

Love letters during the Napoleonic wars were largely framed by concepts of love which were promoted through novels and philosophy. The standard texts, so to speak, which were written by major authors who inherited this Enlightenment bearing, responded to the emerging concepts of love found in novels and philosophical essays. Love among this Napoleonic coterie is unique because it demonstrates the reciprocal relationship between the love letter and the romantic novel. Germaine de Staël, Juiette Récamier, Chateaubriand, Benjamin Constant, Lady Emma Hamilton, Napoleon Bonaparte and his brother, Lucien Bonaparte, were the authors and recipients of some of the most passionate love letters of this period. They were also avid readers of the newly emerging genre of the romantic novel, and many of them were also authors of such works where they projected their personal romances onto the characterization of their fictional heroes and heroines. In addition, these authors had lived through the recent French Revolution and the Terror. Imprisoned during the Revolution, or branded as emigrés upon their return to Paris, their mature adult lives were spent in the shadows of the Napoleonic wars in which they shifted political loyalties as the specter of Napoleon’s powers grew from First Consul to Emperor of Europe. The looming threat of war ignited the depths of their passions and inspired their intellectual analysis of love, happiness and suicide. Their evolving concept of love was a romantic, all-consuming passion which gripped the lovers in fatal embraces. This book’s analysis of their love letters and romantic novels reveals the emerging political landscape of the period through extended metaphors of love and patriotism.

Nineteenth-century art worldwide, 2018