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Hugo Von Hofmannsthal and the Speyers: A Report on an Unpublished Correspondence
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 December 2020
Extract
In the summer of 1896 or ‘97 Hugo von Hofmannsthal and his father, Dr. Hugo Hofmannsthal, were sitting in a train bound for Bad Fusch, a small resort in the Austrian Alps and the favorite vacation spot of the Hofmannsthals. Sitting in the same compartment with them were four attractive young ladies whose pleasing demeanor prompted the poet's father to exclaim, in English: “Nice girls!” “Yes,” answered the poet, “but there are too many of them!” The Hofmannsthals’ attempt to be discreet was unsuccessful; the girls' blushes and giggles attested to their proficiency in English. Introductions and a lengthy conversation followed; they marked the beginning of a long acquaintance between the Hofmannsthal family and the four daughters of Hofrat Dr. Albert Speyer.
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- Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1958
References
1 This anecdote, as well as other useful information, was kindly furnished me by Professor Herbert Steiner, editor of the collected works of von Hofmannsthal.
2 The 1st letter is dated 9 Sept. 1897; the 2nd, though bearing no date line, was manifestly written in Oct. 1897. A reference to Hugo's stay in the Briihl valley (near Mödling) establishes the date.
3 One of the sisters, Julia Speyer-Wassermann, reminisces about this period in her life in her book Jakob Wassermann uni sein Werk (Wien und Leipzig: Deutsch-Österreichischer Verlag, 1923), p. 28: “Die Förderung der Individualität hatte in diesem [Speyerschen] Hause eine wahrhaft ideale Richtung. Die Begabungen für Musik, Malen, Philosophie und Literatur wurden durchaus undilettantisch, aber ebensowenig im Hinblick auf matérielle Ergebnisse gepflegt. Hugo von Hofmannsthal und Arthur Schnitzler verkehrten freundschaftlich im Haus, und ihre Anregungen waren sicher für den Bildungsgang der Mädchen ein entscheidender Faktor.”
4 Jakob Wassermann in his Hofmannsthal der Freund (Berlin: S. Fischer, 1930), p. 51, remarks on this character trait: “Er war sehr anhänglich; viele durch ihre Sensibilität preisgegebenen Naturen haben diese Form der Anhänglichkeit, bringt doch der geringste Bruch neue Belastung und fordert neue Lebensordnung.”
5 The biographical details concerning Agnes Ulmann were kindly provided by her daughter, Mrs. Doris Ulmann-Maier, who also graciously put the Hofmannsthal correspondence at my disposal.
6 The “Maler” is the painter Hans Schlesinger (1875–1932), Hofmannsthal's brother-in-law. Their rendezvous is also mentioned in Hofmannsthal's Briefe: 1890–1901 (Berlin: S. Fischer, 1935), pp. 228–229, 232; subsequently referred to in this article as Briefe.
7 “Der Dichter,” i.e., Hofmannsthal, had apparently given a wrong reference in previous correspondence or conversations with the Speyer sisters. It seems that he had confused 2 books by the art historian Heinrich Brunn: Griechische Kunstgeschichle (Vol. ii of which had just been published posthumously) and the earlier Griechische Götterideale in ihren Formen erläulert.
8 A jocular reference to the fact that he was forced, by lack of space, to conclude his letter on the same page on which he had begun.
9 See Wassermann (n. 4 above), p. 21: “Sogenannte Geselligkeit war ihm unleidlich, redete ihn jemand vertraulich an, den er bloß oberflächlich kannte und der ihm noch dazu mißfiel, so benahm er sich als sei man ihm auf den Fuß getreten und er verbeiße den Schmerz, solang der Vorrat von Geduld und Artigkeit reichte.”
10 Hofmannsthal's father (1841–1915) died 5 months later.
11 Roller's designs subsequently appeared in book form. He makes no mention of Agnes Ulmann. See his Die Frau ohne Schatlen; Skizzen für die Kostüme und Dekorationen (Berlin: Fürstner, 1919).
12 The “little girl” is Doris Ulmann, daughter of Agnes. “Die Tage dort” refers to the bloody street fights in Munich, coming in the wake-of the leftist revolt in Bavaria which culminated a week later in the proclamation of a communist republic (Räterepublik). Mrs. Ulmann-Maier recalls that some of the street fighting centered around her house, a fact which probably prompted Hofmannsthal's remark.
13 OL.G.R. = Oberlandesgerichtsrat, i.e., Emil Ulmann, Agnes' husband.
14 The address, entitled “Schrif ttum als geistiger Raum der Nation,” was delivered on 10 Jan. 1927 in the Auditorium Maximum of the Univ. of Munich. The première of Der Tarm took place on 4 Feb. 1928 at the Prinzregententheater in Munich.
15 Leopold Freiherr von Andrian (1875–1952), Austrian writer and close friend of Hugo von Hofmannsthal.
16 The identity of the work as the Bergwerk is established by a letter to Hermann Bahr of 17 July 1899 in Briefe, p. 288. The same source lists Marienbad, Vahrn, and Venice as the locales where the work was written (p. 349). The above-quoted letter by Dr. Hofmannsthal also supplies the date of 7 Sept. as one of the working periods in the writing of the Bergwerk, thus complementing the chronology of Walther Brecht in his “Über Hugo von Hofmannsthal's Bergwerk zu Falun,” Corona, iii (Dec. 1932), 222 f.
17 Hofmannsthal himself reports this depression to Hans Schlesinger in Briefe, p. 326: “Vor vierzehn Tagen war ich unwohl, nur ein paar Tage mit Fieber, aber nachher so erstaunlich deprimiert wie noch selten.”
18 As the next letter shows, the author finished the prologue in time for the performance on 14 Feb.
19 Dora is Dora Speyer, sister of Agnes. Poil de Carotte, a play by Jules Renard, was translated by Hofmannsthal. The première took place in the Wiener Burgtheater on 2 Feb. 1901. The author himself comments on the bad reviews in a letter: “Poil de Carotte ist in Wien sehr unfreundlich aufgenommen worden” (Briefe, p. 328).
20 Rodaun became the permanent residence of the Hofmannsthals.
21 Hofmannsthal's feuilleton “Sommerreise” had appeared a week earlier (18 July) in the Neue Freie Presse.
22 Apparently Hofmannsthal was readying the first act of this drama for publication, since it appeared in the Neue Rundschau of Nov. 1904.
23 Hofmannsthal had to report for maneuvers in Olmütz in Nov. of that year.
24 Before going on maneuvers, the author undertook a trip to Venice, apparently going via Misurina, a small village in the Dolomites.
25 The first Viennese performance had taken place in the same month (April 1911). See Reinhard C. Muschler, Richard Strauss (Hildesheim: Borgmeyer [1924]), iii, 482.
26 The “Mysterienspiel” is Jedermann; the première under Reinhardt took place about 7 months later, on 1 Dec. 1911, in the Zirkus Busch in Berlin. The trip to Paris was carried out as planned: a letter dated 4 May 1911 bears a Paris date line. See Hofmannsthal, Briefe der Freundschaft: Eberhard von Bodenhausen (Berlin: Diederichs, 1953), p. 127.