(1) Martin Luther, Der kleine Catechismus [ca. 1799]); (2) “For I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments”; (3) the right of infant baptism.
Auguste writes to Cäcilie Gotter on 6 November 1799: “I am now also to be confirmed at Easter, and you cannot imagine how much I fear it! so soon, so unexpectedly, I would have thought I still had at least a couple of years yet.”
Auguste, who was already reading Herodotus in Greek, had been living at the center of the erudite, witty, avant-garde circle of early German Romantics who were anything but staunch orthodox Lutheran Christians, and was now faced with what Caroline originally anticipated being six weeks of grim and dreary catechetical preparation:
“You yourself . . . realize that I cannot have you confirmed here under [pastor Christian] Oemler, since you would surely perish in the process.”
Friedrich Schlegel tries to assuage her by remarking: “Just do not be afraid of it. I myself was once confirmed and can assure you that it passes quickly.”
What follows are the illustrations from this 1799 printing accompanying the austere and sometimes ominous reading material Auguste was facing, including:
“What do you deserve from God for your sins? Answer: His wrath and disfavor; temporal death and eternal damnation.”
The Ten Commandments
(1) You shall have no other gods before me; (2) you shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God; (3) remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy.
(This and following biblical text cited from NRSV.)
(1) Honor your father and your mother; (2) you shall not murder; (3) you shall not commit adultery.
(1) You shall not steal; (2) you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor; (3) you shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
(1) You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor; (2) first article of faith: On creation; (3) second article of faith: On redemption.
(1) Third article of faith: Belief in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting; (2) Lord’s Prayer: Our Father in heaven; (3) hallowed be your name.
The Lord’s Prayer
(1) Your kingdom come; (2) Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven; (3) Give us this day our daily bread.
The Lord’s Prayer
(1) And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors; (2) And do not bring us to the time of trial (into temptation); (3) but rescue us from the evil one..
The Sacraments
(1) Baptism; (2) the Eucharist; (3) marriage.
Auguste’s confirmation and catechism episode, however, were not entirely grim. Louise Seidler fondly recalled being confirmed together with “charming Auguste.”
“I do, by the way, well remember a tragicomic event from the time when I was confirmed. The residence of the venerable superintendent [Christian Oemler] who was to prepare us for the holy sacrament was located directly across from the former town moat, where the dear street urchins were wont to engage in their cheerful games. Especially during the winter, when parts of the moat were frozen solid, there was no end to the sliding. It was with secret envy that I watched all this fun that my grandmother had hitherto strictly forbidden me; I would have given my very life to try out my skill on the smooth ice. But I was just too ashamed — until one day Auguste Böhmer, to whom I had confided both my profound longing and my reservations, facilely dispensed with the latter through one joke or other. So I tried my hand at what I had never before dared to do, and rushed out to the slippery iceway; unfortunately, unpracticed as I indeed was, I fell flat onto the ice, tall and gangly, with my Bible, hymnal, and catechism books flying everywhere. When I finally scrambled back onto my feet, blushed with embarrassment, I saw to my horror the grave teacher standing at his window, in rapt astonishment, both hands clasped over his head.”
(Erinnerungen und Leben der Malerin Louise Seidler. Aus handschriftlichem Nachlass zusammengestellt und bearbeitet von Hermann Uhde, ed. Hermann Uhde [Berlin 1874; 2nd ed. 1875], 11–12; illustration of town moat from Jena und Weimar von alter zu neuer Zeit [Jena 1908], following p. 64; portrait of Christian Wilhelm Oemler by Daniel Beyel (artist) and Johann Gottfried Schmidt (engraver); Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig, Porträtstichsammlung, Inventarnummer:37/43; self-portrait of Louise Seidler.)
Church of Saint Michael, Jena.
Auguste and Louise Seidler were finally confirmed in December 1799 in the Church of Saint Michael in the center of Jena (at center, no. 15 on the illustration).
(Frontispiece to Carl Schreiber and Alexander Färber, Jena von seinem Ursprunge bis zur neuesten Zeit [Jena 1850].)
Protestant communion service, 1774.
The two girls were confirmed not at Easter 1800, however, but in December 1799; here an illustration of a typical Protestant confirmation service in Germany at the time.
(Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki, Historische Vorstellungen: Eine Kommunion, wie sie bei einigen Protestanten gehalten wird; from the Kupfersammlung zu J[ohann] B[ernhard] Basedows Elementarwerke für die Jugend und ihre Freunde: Erste Lieferung in 53 Tafeln. Zweyte Lieferung in 47 Tafeln von L bis XCVI [Leipzig, Dessau, Berlin 1774], plate LXXXIV b.)
Confirmation Ceremony 1792
(Thomas Stothard, Confirmation [1792]; Herzog August Bibliothek; Museums./Signatur FBartolozzi V 3.223.)