• 234. Dorothea Veit to Caroline in Jena: Berlin, 20 April 1799 [*]
Berlin, 20 April [17]99
|534| Despite all my ruminations, I simply cannot decide whether I should write Henriette in Jena or Leipzig. [1] — hence I will simply leave it in abeyance altogether for now and ask you instead, my dear Caroline, to tell her something for me or write to her about it if she is in Leipzig. If my wishes have had any effect, she is now there in Jena itself! — with you! and should such be the case, then let me wish her luck.
The poor girl had a horrible time of it in Leipzig and even on the journey there; I certainly hope she has recovered from it all. She lamented with a great deal of wit that she could not be witty; her letter truly delighted us, [1a] though we would like to have learned with more certainty whether she traveled on to Jena. Friedrich will doubtless be writing her as soon as he knows where she is; he cannot be persuaded simply to send a letter out amid such uncertainty. Will you be so kind as to relate all this to her, my dear friend? along with my own request that she herself not be lazy in writing, and that I am impatiently expecting a letter from her even now. [1b] —
But am I not to be granted the possibility of seeing you in Jena, and of living amid the wonderful circle there? You can easily imagine how this news has disquieted and worried us. [2] —
Let me simply come out and acknowledge that all the disrupted plans are what sadden me most. Fichte himself, I think, will find it less disadvantageous than anyone. [3] And the good |535| cause? — Only now will it finally emerge victorious; those who are good will now finally recognize one another and stick together even more tightly. But what about our plans, our wonderful time together? —
What will now become of Friedrich’s wish to visit you this summer? [4] I am also worried about that. He wants me also to tell you that in two weeks Mademoiselle Levin will know for sure whether she can travel to Jena and that she will then immediately write to you, and that he will be traveling with her if it works out. —
I need to conclude this letter quickly. More soon. Many warm regards to Schlegel. Regards to Auguste as well, also from Friedrich.
Dorothea
Everything I still have to tell you concerning Lucinde and non-Lucinde (here I am referring to Madam Unger) can wait till later. [5]
Please also tell Henriette that Brinckmann will have no peace and quiet until he has her address; he is writing almost daily asking for it. [6] She should also write and tell me what the situation is with Sister Meyer, who asked for tooth powder from me from the old emigrée. [7] — Please do not be annoyed at these confused requests — please, please!
Notes
[*] Also in KFSA 24:276–77, with extra material from a copy of the original manuscript (included here). Back.
[1] Dorothea is unaware that Henriette Mendelssohn has already left for Vienna by way of Dresden and was in Jena at most very briefly, possibly but not certainly on 17 April 1799 (W. R. Shepherd, Historical Map of Central Europe about 1786 [1926]):
Concerning the complicated chronological questions, see Henriette’s letters to Dorothea on 16, 18, 19 April 1799 (letters 230c, d, e); see esp. the editorial note to Henriette’s letter to Dorothea on 16 April 1799 (letter 230c) and her letter to Dorothea on 19 April 1799 (letter 230e), note 1; also the editorial note to Friedrich Schlegel’s undated letter to Auguste after mid-April 1799 (letter 230f). Back.
[1a] Henriette’s letter to Dorothea from Leipzig on 16 April 1799 (letter 230c). Back.
[1b] Henriette had already written to Dorothea from Dresden on 18 and 19 April 1799 (letters 230d, 230e). Back.
[2] That is, the news about Fichte’s dismissal. See Friedrich to Wilhelm Schlegel in April 1799 (Walzel, 416 with note 2):
The thing with Fichte is, of course, extremely important to us as well. The most immediate consequence will be that Jena will sink into the chaos of universal flaccidity. [Concerning subsequent problems at the university in Jena, see supplementary appendix 377c.1.] It is also necessary to avoid dealing with Satan in any fashion that is acquiescent, which is why your own bellicose disposition is quite proper [see Wilhelm to Friedrich von Hardenberg on 12 January 1799 (letter 215a): “Valiant Fichte is actually fighting for us all, and if he is vanquished, the pyres have once more advanced uncomfortably close”].
You seem to think it appropriate that I compose a pamphlet for Fichte, and indeed I already feel one brewing inside me. It goes without saying that I will not be getting mixed up with anything to do with the administration. I will quite modestly demonstrate how Fichte’s merit consists precisely in his having discovered religion, and how his teaching is nothing other than true religion in the form of philosophy. — There will, I hope, be no dearth of rhetorical power. But do you believe that those in Weimar will nonetheless hold it against me? — I mention this beforehand solely because all these plans for coming to Jena and staying there now again appear quite uncertain and unreliable.
Walzel, ibid., 416n2, remarks that “Friedrich seems to be referring here to Fichte’s dismissal decree of 29 March [1799].” Friedrich did not publish anything on Fichte’s behalf, though a fragment of such an initiative does still exist (KFSA 18:522–25). — Concerning Fichte’s atheism dispute, see supplementary appendix 215a.1.
Dorothea’s remarks and disposition here are interesting insofar as they reveal how closely she understands Fichte to be an integral part of the Jena “circle.” Back.
[3] Fichte would move to Berlin in early July 1799, where he arrived on 3 July after leaving his family behind in Jena for the time being; he would return to Jena to accompany them to Berlin in early 1800. Back.
[4] Friedrich did not visit Jena during the summer of 1799; he arrived instead in early September, though then to stay. It is unclear why Fichte’s departure should have prevented him from coming. Back.
[5] Over the course of the spring of 1799, both Friedrich and Dorothea had written at length about the problems Friederike Unger was creating with respect to securing lodging for Wilhelm and Caroline during their anticipated visit to Berlin. See Friedrich’s letter to Caroline in early March 1799 (letter 224c); Dorothea to Wilhelm and Caroline on 9 March 1799 (letter 224e); Friedrich to Caroline in late March 1799 (letter 225); and Dorothea to Caroline on 26 March 1799 (letter 225a); also Auguste’s irritation with Friederike Unger in her verse-letter to Friedrich and Ludwig Tieck (letter 232). Back.
[6] Brinckmann was in Paris at the time. Back.
[7] Uncertain allusion. Back.
Translation © 2013 Doug Stott