What was life in the United States like in the 1820s? A keen observer at the time compared the area around the Capitol in Washington DC with the vegetable fields surrounding Weimar and pondered: “Der Plan nach welchem Washington angelegt werden soll ist coloßal und wird nie ausgeführt werden; nach ihm könnte es eine Bevölkerung von einer Million Menschen faßen, während es jetzt gegen 13000 nur enthalten soll und schwerlich mehr bekommen wird.” (300; November 2, 1825; Italics here and throughout are original.)

We now have a splendid edition of one of the most detailed, visually minded and multiperspective accounts of North America in the early nineteenth century. Bernhard von Weimar (1792–1862), second son of Carl August Duke of Saxe- Weimar and officer in the Dutch army—who had fought in the Battle of Waterloo and, after the Congress of Vienna, became colonel of a regiment in the service of the Dutch king—had long wished to travel to the country of which Goethe famously wrote in Zahme Xenien, “Amerika, du hast es besser / Als unser Continent, das alte, / Hast keine verfallene Schlösser / Und keine Basalte.” He does find “ein sonderbares Stück Basalt, einem Menschenprofil ähnlich” on one of his first days in Boston (117; July 31, 1825). He notes in his entry dated July 26, 1825 about approaching Boston, that his arrival in the United States—he abbreviates “V. St.”—was one of the favorite memories of his life, and full of enthusiasm he calls the fight for independence “[die] heilsamste[] Revolution die je gewesen war” (121). He shares Goethe's sentiment when, about to depart, he names the United States “dieses glückliche Land” and Europe “veraltet[] und morsch[]” (628; June 16, 1826). He felt proud about covering “eine Distanz von 7135 Meilen” (630) and meeting his goal of careful reporting.

On most days of his sojourn in the US from July 1825 to June 1826, Prince Bernhard must have spent several hours with pen and paper. He filled more than a thousand pages with his observations and reflections, with his own family and Goethe's circle in mind, and he also added many drawings and sketches.