Malwida Von Meysenbug's Memoirs of an Idealist. Translation of Memoiren Einer Idealistin Monte Gardiner

Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive All Theses and Dissertations 1999-03-25 Malwida von Meysenbug's Memoirs of an Idealist. Translation of Memoiren einer Idealistin Monte Gardiner Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the German Literature Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Gardiner, Monte, "Malwida von Meysenbug's Memoirs of an Idealist. Translation of Memoiren einer Idealistin" (1999). All Theses and Dissertations. 6662. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6662 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. This thesis is copyrighted material, and is used by written permission of the author. Fair usage laws apply. The text was edited and prepared by Taylor Profita and Kurt Buhanan, Brigham Young University MALWIDA VON MEYSENBUG'S MEMOIRS OF AN IDEALIST TRANSLATION OF MEMOIREN EINER IDEALISTIN by Monte Gardiner A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages Brigham Young University April 1999 Sophie Journal Gardiner Copyright © 1999 Monte B. Gardiner All Rights Reserved Sophie Journal Gardiner ABSTRACT MALWIDA VON MEYSENBUG'S MEMOIRS OF AN IDEALIST TRANSLATION OF MEMOIREN EINER IDEALISTIN Monte B. Gardiner Germanic and Slavic Department Master of Arts The following translation is the first full-length rendering of Malwida von Meysenbug's two-volume autobiography Memoiren einer Idealistin/Eine Reise nach Ostende into English. Meysenbug, who boasts ties to Nietzsche, Wagner, Herzen, and Saffi, was forerunner to a long line of female social democrats. She was an eyewitness to the tumultuous political events surrounding the German Revolution of 1848, and is remembered as a pioneer in education and gender issues. Meysenbug's memoirs depict nineteenth-century Europe in a dynamic state of transformation. This is a time of opposition and contradiction, when emerging philosophies and political movements vie for power with existing structures. European governments are forced to implement social reforms in an effort to avert insurrections and political catastrophe. In Germany, the influence of organized religion begins to wane, giving way to a generation of free-thinkers who combine elements of the German Sophie Journal Gardiner classical and romantic periods with Marxist and other materialist world views. Sophie Journal Gardiner Introduction Several days after the German National Assembly convened in St. Paul's Church in Frankfurt am Main, Malwida von Meysenbug found herself watching the proceedings from a precarious hiding place. Peering out from her perch on the pulpit, she watched as Friedrich Hecker, leader of the radical republicans, "a Christ figure with long, blond hair and a rapturous, enthusiastic expression" ended his formal boycott of the negotiations and entered the church to resume his position on the podium. As the speeches and debates continued below her, the euphoric Meysenbug was aware that her presence was incongruous for two reasons: first, women had been excluded from the assembly; and second, her enthusiasm for the Revolution of 1848 directly contradicted her aristocratic and religious upbringing. Meysenbug's memoirs describe the religious struggles of her formative years and offer explanations for these apparent contradictions. In a larger sense, Meysenbug's personal evolution is a microcosmic reflection of cataclysmic changes in the world around her and is characterized by a rejection of Christian orthodoxy and movement toward a broader search for meaning. In drawing upon various philosophical sources (Kant, Goethe, Schiller, Hölderlin, Fichte, and Marx), she aligned herself with the social democratic movement, which promised social reforms in favor of the oppressed working classes. Her calling into question of nineteenth-century gender perceptions gained her a host of enemies among men and women alike who were Sophie Journal -1- Gardiner repulsed by a female who "pretended to have her own opinions." Meysenbug also took issue with existing notions of education, was a staunch advocate of Fröbel's kindergarten method, and helped pioneer the first women's college in Germany. She was intimately acquainted with Alexander Herzen, Richard Wagner, Friedrich Nietzsche, and many others who played a major role in shaping our modern age. In her dealings and correspondences, we trace the political and philosophical development of a fragmented Europe violently striving to liberate itself from centuries of absolutist rule and institutional oppression. In order to avoid offending the persons named in her autobiography, Meysenbug first published the work in Switzerland in French. Eight years later in 1876, Memoiren einer Idealistin appeared in Stuttgart. Schuster & Loeffler assumed publication rights in 1899. The following translation represents the first full-length rendering of this work into English. Sophie Journal -2- Gardiner PART I CHAPTER ONE EARLIEST RECOLLECTIONS It would be difficult to find a better situated house in the middle of a sizeable city, than the one in which I was born and spent my early childhood. The house stood in the city of Cassel and was one of a number of houses lining a street that had appropriately been dubbed Bellevue, for on the opposite side there weren't any houses; instead, one could take in the glorious view of beautiful garden- and park grounds sloping terrace-like into a fruitful plain, through which the Fulda, one of Germany's larger rivers, flows. I was the second youngest of ten children, who were all healthy and sound of mind. My parents were still young when I was born. They lived in the happy medium between abundance and necessity in which most of the ingredients for domestic happiness can be found. My childhood was a decidedly happy one, though I vaguely recall it. Only three distinct memories stand out in my mind. The first of these memories is my mother's parlor, with its painted tapestries containing landscapes with palm trees, high reeds and exotic-looking buildings. My childhood imagination flourished in this fantastic world. In addition, a friend of the family used to tell me fairy tales: for example, that one of these wonderful little houses was the dwelling place of a magician by the name of Blumenbach, to whom nature itself was subject. Near the house was a great stork, with long, stiff legs, its head and long beak lowered over its breast. "That's Blumenbach's servant," my friend would tell me, "he stands there steadfastly and awaits the commands of his master." The second of these memories is that of an evening on which my nurse told me that my little sister, born not all too long before, had died. Though my mother had forbidden it, she let me look through a glass door into a room, wherein stood a black box. In this box lay my little sister sleeping, white as snow and covered with flowers. The third memory is in connection with the old prince who ruled the Electorate of Hessen, the small German state which I claim as my home. His carriage drove past our house each day; two runners dressed in livery ran in front of the carriage. In the carriage sat an old man wearing a uniform tailored after the manner popular in Frederick the Great's day, with a three-cornered hat on his head. His white hair was braided in back in a pigtail, and a horrible tumor covered his cheek. That was the ailment which lead to his death. I did not attend his funeral, but my old nurse related a description of it to me on countless occasions. He was not buried in his ancestral crypt. In accordance with his wish, he was interred in the chapel of his summer residence at Wilhelmshöhe, which he had caused to be built and which had been his favorite retreat. The funeral took place at night by torchlight, in accordance with ancient custom. A knight in black armor on a black horse had to ride directly behind the funeral coach. This knight was always selected out of the ranks of the upper aristocracy, but had to pay for this honor, as legend had it, with his life. And in this case, superstition was not disappointed. The player in this nocturnal drama. a young nobleman full of vigor and health, was snatched away by a fever Sophie Journal -3- Gardiner three weeks after the funeral. Was this fever the consequence of a cold caught in the icy iron-clad armor during the long nocturnal procession? The Volk could not conceive of such a possibility, and my childish imagination sided with popular belief. A secret trembling took possession of me whenever I visited that summer residence with my parents and saw, resting atop a black wooden horse in the armory, the black armor which the unfortunate cavalier had worn on that night. Sophie Journal -4- Gardiner CHAPTER TWO PUBLIC AND PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS The death of the old lord was the cause of great changes, not merely in my family, but signaled, if you will, the end of an entire epoch in the history of my little homeland. The ruling family to which he had belonged was extremely old and included ancestors who had distinguished themselves through their bravery and greatness of character. But the most recent generations had degenerated. They had increased their personal fortunes in a shameless manner by selling their subjects to foreign powers for use in distant wars. Mistresses had governed the land for quite some time. The last regime had been subject to peculiar vicissitudes. The old prince's character had retained a certain dignity, despite all his flaws: with the coming of the all-powerful conqueror of our century,1 he left his principality voluntarily, since he most likely foresaw that he was powerless to defend it and wanted to protect his subjects from unnecessary bloodshed.

Load more