Lucka in 1949
Lucka in 1949, aerial view from a contemporary postcard with the Church of St. Pancras and main square. — Lucka was an extremely small village when Caroline was there from early August 1793 to early February 1794; it was here that she gave birth to her son Wilhelm Julius Krantz (Böhmer) on 3 November 1793. Although located at key trade route intersections, the village was so small that historical illustrations are quite rare. The building in front of the church is the earlier town hall and Ratskeller, which was demolished in 1972.
Lucka, 1912
Lucka, Altenberger Strasse, 1912, looking toward the town hall.
(1912 postcard.)
Lucka in 1962
Lucka on a postcard in 1962: Altenburger Straße, just around the corner (to the left) from Caroline’s residence.
Lucka in 1724
Lucka’s location on a map from 1724, approximately 30 km south of Leipzig, where Friedrich Schlegel was a student at the time and from which he regularly rode down on horseback to visit Caroline and Auguste. The village of Berndorf with its mill, to which Caroline took a pleasant walk in October 1793 (see below), is northeast of Lucka just across the border in Saxony.
Although part of Thuringia today, at the time Lucka was part of the principality of Altenburg, 15 km to the south, and located at its northernmost border with Saxony, just as today. The area is close to Weimar and Jena, where Caroline would live between 1796 and 1803.
(Johann Baptist Homann, Tabula geographica in qua…principatus Gotha, Coburg et Altenburg cum omnibus eorundem praefecturis tam in Thuringia quam Misnia et Franconia sitis ostenduntur [1724].)
Lucka in 1880
Lucka on a topographical map of 1880. — From early August 1793 till early February 1794, Caroline and Auguste lived upstairs in a complex of half-timber houses at what is today Hirtengasse 2, on a short, narrow side alley toward the edge of town; its approximate location is indicated to the right. The church and central market square are also indicated, to the left. The street leading out of town from the town square toward Caroline’s house is today the Altenburger Strasse. Hirtengasse forks off sharply from Altenberger Strasse towards the edge of town and then runs almost parallel for a short distance, but with houses only on one side, that is, across the alley from the houses on Altenburger Strasse.
(Map: Topographische Karte Sachsen [1880]; Sächsische Landesbibliothek, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden [SLUB], Inv.-Nr. SLUB KS 14891, Blatt 57; Deutsche Fotothek df dk 0000278, obj 70302464.)
Lucka Hometown Museum, Altenburger Strasse 50
The Lucka Hometown Museum was originally the domicile kept by the town for its hired shepherds, whence the street name Hirtengasse, Shepherd’s Alley, which ends just behind it. Caroline’s house was located at the other end of the alley, near it juncture with Altenburger Strasse; The house to the left of the Hometown Museum bears a Hirtengasse address. The museum house was recently restored and was extant when Caroline lived just behind it and further up the alley.
(Photo: Manuela Woyda, Hohendorf.)
Hirtengasse
The lower end of Hirtengasse in Lucka; the Hometown Museum in the previous photo is to at center. The alley now goes back toward its juncture with Altenburger Strasse and toward the center of town.
(Photo: Manuela Woyda, Hohendorf.)
Hirtengasse
The lower end of Hirtengasse in Lucka looking back up the alley toward Altenburger Strasse. Caroline’s house was located just around the bend and to the left (see following photos).
(Photo: Manuela Woyda, Hohendorf.)
Hirtengasse 1 and 2
Here at the opposite end of Hirtengasse from the previous photo, that is, where Hirtengasse forks off Altenburger Strasse and leads down toward the Hometown Museum, is where the complex of half-timber houses and garden stood where Caroline and Auguste lived. The final extant house from the complex was demolished sometime after 2007. The entire complex stood on the vacant lot to the right in this photo.
(Photo: Manuela Woyda, Hohendorf.)
Hirtengasse 2
The approximate location the complex of houses in which Caroline and Auguste lived.
(Photo: Manuela Woyda, Hohendorf.)
Half-timber house, 1808
Although this illustration from 1808 does not depict the house in which Caroline lived or even a house in Lucka, it does portray a representative half-timber house of the period in a setting remarkably similar to that in the previous image. Caroline and Auguste seem to have lived in one of the upper stories of such a house.
(Christoph Nathe, Weg mit Mauer und Fachwerkhaus [1808]; Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum; Museums./Signatur CNathe AB 3.10.)
After the considerable trouble Caroline went to to find a hiding place in which to bring her illegitimate child to term, she then learned that her secret had been divulged in any case. Friedrich Schlegel writes to Wilhelm in late August 1793:
“I just spent several extremely sad days in L[uck]a. I . . . brought her two letters from . . . Frankfurt. The first contained the words, “I know about your entire situation.” The second, which she opened first, “People know about it in Maynz . . .” She was fairly stunned with fright and pain, and for a long time could utter only single words. She suffered inexpressibly during those few days, indeed according to her own words more, far more than ever before in her life. — You doubtless have a better overview of the consequences . . . the loss of her widow’s pension, her mother’s grief . . . the persecution of [her in-laws] the Böhmer family, which may even result in her losing custody of her child. — . . . she crying out with the voice of the most profound suffering . . . “Oh, my mother!” and “My child! my child!” . . . though afterward it was her emotional breakdown that showed itself far more intensely . . . all amid the most vehement changes from sudden tears to utterly deranged thoughts to the joking and laughter of utter despair.”
(Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki, Mariane allein auf ihr Kämmerchen macht kummervolle Betrachtungen [ca. 1742–1830]; Herzog August Bibliothek; Museums./Signatur Uh 4° 47 [250].)
Hirtengasse 2
Another view of the location of Hirtengasse 2.
(Photo: Manuela Woyda, Hohendorf.)
Altenburgstrasse, Lucka
Altenburger Strasse, Lucka, looking from Hirtengasse back toward the town square and the church of St. Pancras. — Caroline writes to Friedrich Schlegel on 11 October 1793: “The beautiful weather enticed me outside yesterday, and I walked as far as Berndorf Mill — but then today, as a result, I am literally having to crawl around; it is enough to make even your sympathy laugh.” — From her rooms at Hirtengasse 2, Caroline would likely have walked directly up the street here toward the town square and church. The following photos trace her route to the mill.
(Photo: Manuela Woyda, Hohendorf.)
Lucka and Berndorf, 1710
Lucka and Berndorf (here “Berndorff”) in 1710 across from each other on the border between Saxony and Altenburger Land. The Berndorf Mill is located right at 1.6 km from Hirtengasse and is reached easily enough by foot; although the round trip is thus just over 3 km, Caroline was now over 8 months pregnant and had not had an easy pregnancy.
(P. Schenk, Land-Charte vom Fürstenthum Altenburg wie solches in seinen Enigegräntz, Bezirckegegen Unterschiedene Angräntzende situiret lieget [Amsterdam 1710].)
Altenburgstrasse
Moving from Hirtengasse toward the town square and Church of St. Pancras.
(Photo: Manuela Woyda, Hohendorf.)
Town Square, Lucka
The main town square in Lucka with the church of St. Pancras in the background and the Wettin Fountain in the foreground commemorating the battle of Lucka in 1307, at which the Wettin princes were victorious over forces from the House of Habsburg.
(Photo: Manuela Woyda, Hohendorf.)
Church of St. Pancras
The Church of St. Pancras on the main square in Lucka. The route to Berndorf leads out of town past the row of houses at the far right.
(Photo: Manuela Woyda, Hohendorf.)
Town Hall
The newer town hall in Lucka; the earlier town hall (in the first photo in this gallery) was on the main square but was razed in 1972.
Pegauer Strasse
After passing through the main square of Lucka, Altenburger Strasse merges into Pegauer Strasse leading out of town, circled in blue on the insert at left (as on the following photos). The Lucka town hall is at the left in the photo.
(Photo here, and all following: Manuela Woyda, Hohendorf. Topographical insert here, and all following: Topographische Karte [Messtischblätter] Sachsen, Borna [Leipzig, 1914]; Deutsche Fotothek df_dk_0010001_4840_1914).
Pegauer Strasse
At this intersection, the Pegauer Strasse splits into a state road (contemporary K7951, to the left) and a pedestrian-friendly path (to the right, in front of the row of houses) that leads through the heart of the village of Berndorf and to the Berndorf Mill on the far side of the village. Many of the following streets and paths were much the same in 1914, as attested by the accompanying inserts.
Pegauer Strasse
Pegauer Strasse at the border with Berndorf (and at Thuringia’s border with Saxony). The houses beyond the trees are in the village of Berndorf.
Berndorf
Berndorf (with various spellings on older maps), the village just north of Lucka, marking the boundary between Berndorf in the state of Saxony (marked on the street), district of Leipzig, and Lucka, state of Thuringia, district of Altenburger Land, which is why Berndorf once had a customs office at this border.
Berndorf
Proceeding through Berndorf toward the Berndorf Mill, presumably the footpath Caroline would have taken. The path in 1914 almost precisely matches the contemporary path.
Berndorf Pond
Berndorf Pond, on the way to Berndorf Mill. This pond shows up quite clearly on the map insert of 1914.
Electoral Saxon Postal Marker
An Electoral Saxon quarter-mile postal marker from the earlier, secondary postal route (hence the postal-horn illustration) between Borna and Zeitz through various smaller locales, including Hohendorf, the next village north of Berndorf. (“AR” = Augustus Rex, i.e., King August, Electoral Prince of Saxony and King of Poland.) Erected in 1722, it was originally located elsewhere and then relocated to the Berndorf postal route in 1934, ultimately landing at this location in 2007.
Berndorf
The foot path to Berndorf Mill continues through present-day Berndorf.
Berndorf
The path to Berndorf Mill continues through present-day Berndorf.
Berndorf
The path to Berndorf Mill continues through present-day Berndorf.
Berndorf
Berndorf. Close-up of the free-standing well-pump from the previous photo.
Berndorf
Berndorf Mill
The side path leading directly to Berndorf Mill in the distance.
Berndorf Mill
Moving closer to Berndorf Mill across the fields.
Berndorf Mill
The rear of Berndorf Mill across the field. The path turns to the right just ahead and crosses in front of the entrance to the mill complex.
Berndorf Mill
Berndorf Mill and the town church of Hohendorf in the background, in the next village north of Berndorf.
Berndorf Mill
Berndorf Mill, rear view of the L-shaped building on the map insert of 1914.
Berndorf Mill
Berndorf Mill, front view of the L-shaped building, here showing the water source that still flows beneath the building as shown in the map insert of 1914.
Berndorf Mill
Berndorf Mill, front entrance. The road continues to the left to Hohendorf, to the right back to Lucka. The complex consists of several buildings, most of which are indicated on the map insert of 1914 and are still extant today.
Berndorf Mill
Berndorf Mill, front entrance to the overall mill complex.
Berndorf Mill
Berndorf Mill, different view of the front building with the stream bed underneath.
Berndorf Mill
Berndorf Mill, front view with a millstone and, to the left, the peculiarly shaped linden tree, also known as the “tree house.”
Berndorf Mill “Tree House”
Berndorf Mill with its peculiarly shaped linden tree and “tree house” platform.
Berndorf Mill
Berndorf Mill, side view of the L-shaped building.
Berndorf Mill
Berndorf Mill, the second main building fronting the road at the entrance to the mill.
Thuringian-Franconian farmstead ensemble
Friedrich Schlegel recounts the day Caroline gave birth to her son Wilhelm Julius Böhmer in Lucka on 3 November 1793:
“She herself was so certain she was about to die that, amid severe pain, she had me help get her papers in order. . . . then I had to leave the room. Her pain was quite out of the ordinary and unbearably severe; I could hear her cries down in the courtyard, indeed even in the front of the house; they genuinely pierced me to the marrow.”
Caroline’s lived in an ensemble of buildings constituting a typical Thuringian farmstead such as the one in this illustration, viz., several buildings in some manner of polygon loosely connected and with an interior courtyard between them; Friedrich is referring to hearing Caroline’s cries while standing both in the courtyard and outside the ensemble in the street.
(“Thüringisch-fränkischer Bauernhof,” Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, 4 ed. [Leipzig, Vienna 1885–92], vol. 2, s.v. Bauernhaus, p. 0470a, fig. 8.)
After the birth of her child in Lucka, Caroline writes on 9 December 1793:
“Gustel [Auguste] is inordinately happy about the child, as if this is simply the way things are supposed to be. Those intent on establishing guilt here may not approach us, not in this small room — for here there is only innocent forgetfulness of all wrongs and all sins.”
(Etching by Phillip Zilcken after Josef Israels [1888].)
Lucka, Town Cemetery in 1880
Location of town cemetery in Lucka, just outside the central square (topographical map 1880; Caroline’s former residence indicated at right). — The child to whom Caroline gave birth in Lucka, Wilhelm Julius Krantz (real last name: Böhmer), was born on 3 November 1793 on Hirtengasse. Before she left Lucka for Gotha in early February 1794, however, Caroline put him in the care of foster parents, since she herself was not yet in a position to take him with her or, indeed, even to make his existence known to anyone outside a very tight circle of friends. — Julius, however, as she called him, died on 20 April 1795 and was buried on 23 April 1795 “quietly,” as the church register recorded it, presumably in the town cemetery. — As was often the case at the time, however, a child such as this, without means or family, likely had either a wooden marker or none at all, and over time, as the coffin decayed and collapsed, other deceased residents of Lucka were buried on top of him, until finally even the location of his burial place was forgotten (as happened to Auguste in Bad Bocklet).
(Map: Topographische Karte Sachsen [1880]; Sächsische Landesbibliothek, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Dresden [SLUB], Inv.-Nr. SLUB KS 14891, Blatt 57; Deutsche Fotothek df dk 0000278, obj 70302464.)
Lucka, Town Cemetery Entrance
Lucka, entrance to the town cemetery, where Caroline’s son Wilhelm Julius is buried in an otherwise unknown grave.
(All photos courtesy of Manuela Woyda, Hohendorf.)
Lucka, Town Cemetery and Church
Lucka, interior of the town cemetery. Church of St. Pancras in the background.
Lucka, Town Cemetery
Lucka, interior of the town cemetery.
Lucka, Town Cemetery
Lucka, interior of the town cemetery.
Lucka, Town Cemetery
Interior of the town cemetery.
Lucka, Town Cemetery
Interior of the town cemetery.
Lucka, Town Cemetery Exit
Lucka, town cemetery exit. — Caroline last saw her son Julius sometime in late January 1794, when she and Auguste left for Leipzig and thence for Gotha. She never saw him again, nor did she ever visit Lucka again to seek out his grave. When informed of his death, she could tell no one but Auguste, and could express no grief publicly. Friedrich Schlegel, who had taken care of many of Caroline’s needs while she was in Lucka and who was there for Julius’s birth and indeed witnessed his baptism, wrote on 20 May 1795 to his brother Wilhelm Schlegel: “Are you also aware that she has a new reason to feel aggrieved and depressed? — Julius died of miliary fever. There is much she can tell herself in the way of comfort and consolation, but nothing that can really help now. How agonizing must it be having to conceal such pain and grief?”