BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF 1891 S^..^5.s.f^.3>ei 6;\k\aVu... Cornell University Library PT 2077.B9R32 Mother of Goethe 3 1924 026 176 036 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924026176036 THE MOTHER OF GOETHE THE MOTHER OF GOETHE : ; "FRAU AJA" : : BY MARGARET REEKS WITH A PHOTOGRAVURE FRO~NTISPIECE ^ SEVENTEEN OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS LONDON : JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD • NEW YORK : JOHN LANE COMPANY MCMXI K.^S'S^^'io PREFACE Frau Aja's claim on the interest of the British Public lies, first and mainly, in her relationship to her great son ; having established this claim, she will be liked for her own hearty sake. The author of this sketch has borrowed largely and often literally from Goethe's Wahrheit und Dicktung, more guardedly and with the reservation necessary when dealing with Bettina von Arnim from Briefwechsel mit einem Kind. Other sources drawn from are C. Heinemann's Goethe and Goethes Mutter, Goethe s Mother by A. S. Gibbs, Die Briefe der Frau Rath, Koster, and lastly the publications of the Goethe-Gesell- schaft, so ably edited by Herr Suphan, must be thankfully mentioned, since without them the present work could never have been contemplated. It is universally allowed that the subtle beauty of Goethe's poetry eludes translation, being dependent for its rare charm so greatly on grace of form, it is as a jewel torn from a fine setting when presented in a foreign language. Margaret Reeks 1911 CONTENTS Chafi. I. Childhood—Girlhood ILLUSTRATIONS Toface page I. Elizabeth Goethe {Photogravure) Frontispiece 3. Frankfukt-am-Main , 4 3. The R6MER, Frankfurt 18 4. The Goethegeburtshaus, before Rebuilding {after Drawing by Reiffenstem) 30 5. View from Frau Aja's Garden-Room (after Drawing by Reiffenstein) 36 6. The Goethe House, after Rebuilding 56 7. Herr Rath Goethe 64 8. FRAN501S de Th£as, Count de Thoranc {from Schubart's " Goethes Kiinigs Lieutenant ") 80 9. Scene of the Altercation Between the Herr Rath and Count de Thoranc {after Drawing by Reiffenstein) 92 10. Katharina Elizabeth Goethe (/row iJeMe/fty Me^cWor) 100 II. Hatschelhans 104 12. "Frau Aja" (Sttto«e«e) 154 13. " Dr. Wolf " {from Painting of Goethe by May) 163 14. The Dowager-Duchess Anna Amalia {A rtist unknown) 206 15. Johann Heinrich Merck 226 16. Frau Aja's Pump 346 17. The Rossmarkt, Frankfurt, Present Day 370 18. The Judengasse (Jew's Street), Frankfurt 376 6 THE MOTHER OF GOETHE CHAPTER I CHILDHOOD—GIRLHOOD Doch ist Frau Aja auserkohrn in einem guten Zeichen gebohrn. Kennt brave Leute desz ist sie froh, und singt In dulci Jubilo.* Frau Aja. is a fact, worth consideration, that each ITgeneration has clasped the living hand of the is one that went before ; yet, though there no gap in this human contact, the genuine portraits in the gallery of History are few and far between. Dimly we discern the colossal image of Job, roughed out from human character as by the hand of a Michelangelo. There is the more finished portrait of David. There is the clear- cut cameo of Socrates, Plato's faithful handiwork. The perfect beauty of the Divine portrait we have from the evangelists. Cicero, in one tiny, pathetic, unstudied sentence, * The stars did bless Frau Aja's birth, And gave her cause for joy and mirth. Many good folk she knows and so, She sings In dulci Jubilo. : The Mother of Goethe * " Quid TuUiola mea fiet ? " addressed to his dead daughter, shows us a more intimate glimpse of himself than in his polished orations or in that long homily to his less-loved son. Homer's features are lost to us ; Shakespeare's are hardly recognisable. In later times, Pepys, with broad, coarse touches and unmistakable likeness, has drawn his own shrewd countenance. Boswell, by minute accuracy, has made his huge hero live. Goethe's portrait of himself, notwith- standing a trace of artificiality—which he has indicated by the Dichtung of his title—is true and lifelike. But, in the shadow of these masterpieces, some- times an exquisite sketch is revealed. Beside the portrait of David, we may discern, though not so vividly, Jonathan. Beside the Divine portrait is that most human sketch of Saint Peter ; and there is another sketch, very similar to this, seen with the portrait of Goethe—that of Frau Aja, his mother. Goethe himself was an adept at character- drawing. Take, for example, this thumb-nail sketch of Lavater " On Sundays, after the sermon, it was his duty as minister to hold the little short-handled velvet bag towards those going out, and to receive the charitable donations with a blessing. This Sunday, for instance, he set himself the task of " * " What will become of my little TuUia ? — Childhood—Girlhood looking at no one, but of taking note only of hands and construing their shape. But not alone did he observe the form of the fingers, the very expres- sion of them as they dropped in the gift did not escape his attention ; he had much to say to me about it afterwards. How instructive and stimu- lating must such conversations be for me—me who was qualifying as a painter of men." This is indeed characteristic of the single- minded Lavater, not less characteristic of the mentally versatile Goethe, watching sympatheti- cally, and above all, never forgetful of self-culture. Goethe, the son she so loved, has put in the first touches of his mother's portrait : she has finished it with her own true hand. To make a flattering ideal of it would be doing her scant justice ; only would we reproduce the wise, strong, tender features, because they are good and pleasant to look upon. Germany, of course, also France and America possess literary sketches of Goethe's mother. England alone has hitherto published none. Frau Aja (how she obtained this name will be explained hereafter)* was one of those precious souls take cheerily whatever Life offers I who I its good things heartily, its buffets in brave I ! silence. f. ! "I know no fear," she says: "let that come * Seep. 155. 3 The Mother of Goethe which I cannot hinder—enjoy the present—and, since I cannot check the spokes of the great wheel, it would be but foolishness to grizzle because one feels oneself too weak." A very simple, yet very sufficing philosophy, this is the keynote of her whole existence—submission to, nay, cheerful acquiescence in, the inevitable. Frau Aja, or, to give her actual name, Katharina Elizabeth Textor, was born in the year 1731. Her parents were citizens in good position, of that old-world, time-honoured city, Frankfurt-am-Main. Rich in historic memories was Frankfurt. It had never sunk below the stream of events, but, maintaining a sturdy independence, had always floated on the top of the tide of time. Since 1 147 the scene of the imperial elections, by suc- cessive emperors it had been wooed with many privileges and immunities. In 1 562 it was chosen as their Kronungstadt, or coronation town. The very names of some of its inhabitants recalled the past. The name Textor was in fact a Latin sub- stitute for Weber, handed down from the affecta- tions of the fifteenth century, from the days when Gerrard was exchanged for Erasmus and bluff Swartzerde took the Greek form Melancthon. It is, perhaps, not to be regretted that we have no record of Elizabeth's childish sayings and doings, since, in this biographical age, the childish 4 Childhood—Girlhood sayings and doings of celebrities are becoming somewhat trite. Nevertheless, if we accept the very plausible supposition of Eric Smith that the opening con- versation in Goethe's Erwin and Elmire was merely his mother's account of her own up- bringing, we can form some notion of her childhood. Olimpia tells her daughter : " When I was young we knew nothing of all these fine ways, just as we knew nothing of the parade that children are accustomed to nowadays. They let us learn to read and write, and for the rest of the time, all was freedom and joy in our first years. We mixed with children of a lower class without injury to our manners. We were allowed to run wild. Our mothers were not afraid for our frocks, we had no furbelows to tear, no lace to soil, no ribbons to rumple, our cotton frocks could soon be washed. No thin German- French governess followed us about, venting her bad temper on us, presuming to make us as stiff, vain and foolish as herself. It always makes me miserable to see the little wretches of to-day dragged about the streets. It is just like the men at the fair, with whips driving their dogs and apes about on two legs, in troops, dressed up in hooped petticoats and frippery, and paying them out by hard blows, when Nature asserts herself and just for once they drop down and run d, leur aise on all fours. " Elmire. I must say, mamma, you are unfair, S ! ; The Mother of Goethe you exaggerate, and won't see the good side. What advantages modern education gives us ! " Olimpia. I am glad to hear it ! advantages ? I thought the greatest advantage in the world was to be contented. We were when we were young. We played, sprang, made a noise, and were quite big girls when we still enjoyed swinging and playing at ball.