Jena to Würzburg
Caroline and Schelling arrived in Würzburg in early November 1803 after traveling from Jena to Murrhardt in May, where Schelling’s father married them on 28 June 1803, and then to Munich and back during the early autumn of 1803 to confirm Schelling’s new position in Würzburg.
(Franz Ludwig Güssefeld, Neue und vollstaendige Post-Carte Durch ganz Deutschland [n.p. 1804]; Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Cartes et plans.)
Würzburg 1740
Würzburg much as Caroline would have seen it. The Schellings’ apartment was located in the building to the left of the largest church on the right in the illustration, the Neubaukirche with its signature cupola steeple. The lengthy rows of windows suggest that she enjoyed an airy, bright apartment. See the following image.
(Historisches Album der Stadt Würzburg. Zweiunddreissig photographische Ansichten, ed. V. Jos. Stahgel, introd. Franz X. Wegel [Würzburg 1867], illus. vii.3.)
Caroline’s apartment adjoining the Neubaukirche
Here an exterior view of the Neubaukirche and its tower to the right, the adjoining west wing with the windows of Caroline’s apartment to the left, third and fourth stories; Schelling’s auditorium was on the second story, the library on the ground floor.
(Historisches Album der Stadt Würzburg. Zweiunddreissig photographische Ansichten, ed. V. Jos. Stahgel, introd. Franz X. Wegel [Würzburg 1867], illus. 15.)
Caroline’s apartment adjoining the Neubaukirche
Essentially the same view as in the previous image, but almost a century earlier, approximately 25 years before Caroline lived on the third story to the left of the church.
(Vue perspective de l’Universite d’Augsbourg fondé par l’Eveque Julien), colorized copper engraving [Paris (ca. 1780)]; the view on the original engraving is reversed for viewing in an early version of a viewmaster.)
Würzburg 1832
The Schellings’ apartment was located in the triangular ensemble of buildings at center bottom. The royal residence is the large horseshoe-shaped structure at far right.
(Kreishauptstadt Würzburg: Gemessen durch Carl Handwerk im Jahre 1832; Bayerische Landesbibliothek.)
Caroline’s Apartment Location
The Schellings’ apartment was part of the Old University and was situated directly above the library. Their apartment is indicated in the wing at the left adjoining the Neubaukirche indicated at bottom left.
(Frontispiece to Otto Handwerker, Geschichte der Würzburger Universitaäts-Bibliothek bis zur Säkularisaation [Würzburg 1904], 66.)
Old University and Courtyard
The Schelling’s apartment was accessed through the front gate of the Old University building (center bottom), and then an entrance to the wing on the right located at the back right corner. The library arcades below their quarters can be seen on the ground floor at the right.
(Illustration: Historisches Album der Stadt Würzburg. Zweiunddreissig photographische Ansichten, ed. V. Jos. Stahgel, introd. Franz X. Wegel [Würzburg 1867], illus. v.)
Old library beneath Caroline’s apartment in Würzburg
Caroline writes in January 1804 about her quarters on the third floor:
“My own rooms — of which there are 4: a bedroom, living room, and 2 larger rooms for company, all in a single row connected by double doors with glass panes — are only just now being finished.”
This reading room in the original Würzburg library, located two stories directly below Caroline’s apartments and with the same elongated floor plan, precisely illustrates how such glass French doors (at the far end of the room) functioned connecting successive rooms in Caroline’s apartment.
(Frontispiece to Otto Handwerker, Geschichte der Würzburger Universitäts-Bibliothek bis zur Säkularisation [Würzburg 1904].)
Caroline’s Apartment in Würzburg
Here a view of the Schellings’ quarters in the Old University complex on the 2nd (auditorium), 3rd (Caroline’s quarters), and 4th (Schelling’s quarters) floors in the wing on the right. The library from the previous illustration is located on the ground floor.
Wilhelm Schlegel writes in a letter after visiting Caroline in May 1804:
“Her appearance seemed to me better and healthier than in Berlin [during the spring of 1802], and then she always knows how to dress flatteringly and to arrange her surroundings quite handsomely. She had set up the busts of Goethe and Auguste in a large salon, and had two large orange trees just inside the windows. In the living room, I saw the beloved portrait of Auguste again.”
(Anonymous photograph ca. 1900.)
Caroline’s Apartment in Würzburg
Here a nineteenth-century view of the three floors of the Schelling apartment as described above.
(R. Hick et al., Auf Deutschlands hohen Schulen [Berlin 1900], 359.)
Würzburg, Zell, Veitshöchheim 1806
Caroline writes in July 1804: “Since then as well, we have already had some great fun, in Zell, Veitshöchheim, the Aumühle, etc.”
All these locales represent essentially day excursions from Würzburg. Zell (with Unterzell) is located ca. 5 km northwest of Würzburg, Veitshöchheim ca. 10 km northwest along the Main River.
(C. F. Hammer, Charte von dem Grosherzogthum Würzburg, nebst den Fürstenthum Schwarzenberg [Nürnberg 1806].)
Upper Zell, Lower Zell on the Main River
Zell (with Oberzell and Unterzell, Upper and Lower Zell; Veitshöchheim is visible in the distance on the opposite side of the Main River), originally part of the Franconian Circle in the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation, had been ceded to Bavaria through secularization, though in 1805 it passed to Ferdinand Archduke of Toscana through the Peace of Pressburg, the same circumstances that ultimately prompted Caroline and Schelling to leave Würzburg for Munich during the spring of 1806.
At the time of Caroline’s visit, both Oberzell and Unterzell still had intact monastery complexes (that in Unterzell was destroyed during World War II).
(Zell am Main [1847], engraving after Fritz Bamberger, from Ludwig Braunfels, Die Mainufer und ihre nächsten Umgebungen [Würzburg 1847], plate following p. 264.)
Veitshöchheim Chateau
The outing to Veitshöchheim would have been pleasant indeed. The chateau, built in 1680–82 and originally the summer palace of the prince bishops of Würzburg, was expanded in 1753 to include lovely gardens with lakes, artificial water features, and sculptures. Here the chateau entrance on a postcard ca. 1900.
Veitshöchheim Gardens: Layout after 1760
Here the garden layout at Veitshöchheim after ca. 1760, much as Caroline would have experienced it.
(Illustration from Georg Karch, Der Königliche Hofgarten mit dem Schlosse in Veitshöchheim nach Platon’s Schule als folgerichtige Darstellung der bacchischen Weltseele u. des Falls u. der Erlösung der Einzelseelen [Würzburg 1873], final plate.)
Veitshöchheim Apollo Ensemble
Here a statue ensemble on a Veitshöchheim pond, by Ferdinand Dietz, Apollo, the Muses, and Pegasus triumph on Parnassus after the Flood, located at the center of the Large Pond at center/lower right on the preceding image (postcard ca. 1900).
The Aumühle
The Aumühle (Meadow Mill), driven by the Pleichach Brook and located just east of town, was one of the oldest mills in the Würzburg area. The complex of buildings can be seen at upper right, with Caroline and Schelling’s apartment in the Old University complex at lower left.
The popular tavern and dance hall alongside the mill were not built until 1806, just as Caroline and Schelling were leaving Würzburg, but it seems residents of Würzburg were already using the mill’s facilities for entertaining.
The new tavern would include a bakery, guestrooms, and an elegant dance hall. After 1806 the tavern became one of the locales frequented by Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany. The mill ceased operation in 1910, the tavern during the First World War, and the edifices were destroyed in 1945. The area, covered by roads today, was still quite rural in 1840; here its location,
(F. Harrach and F. v. Harscher, Würzburg mit Umgebung [Würzburg 1840]; Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Cartes et plans.)
The Aumühle
Here a lithography of the Aumühle tavern and dance hall ca. 1840 by Sebastian Hesselbach.
The Dürrbach Valley with Unterdürrbach
Caroline writes on 24 July 1804:
“We had a very pleasant evening in Dürbach, where we went on foot with considerable accompaniment, with only Herr Fuchs and the young Ysenburg on horseback. Schulz received us there quite hospitably in his little hut; the locale itself is completely enclosed by vineyards down in the hollow behind the Steinwein vineyard. We did not return until 11 o’clock amid the most tranquil moonlight.”
The Dürbach (Dürrbach) is a tributary to the Main River that is usually dry because of the porous river bed. The village of Unterdürrbach lies to the east along that tributary behind the Steinberg vineyard, source of the famous Steinwein grapes. Caroline is likely referring to the village of Unterdürrbach; the Schellings’ apartment in Würzburg is indicated at lower right.
(F. Harrach and F. v. Harscher, Würzburg mit Umgebung [Würzburg 1840]; Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Cartes et plans.)
Village of Unterdürrbach
The course of the Dürrbach Valley is clearly visible.
(Undated postcard.)
Theater location in Würzburg
Caroline writes on 19 August 1804:
“On Wednesday after your double departure, Marcus and his wife along with two girls from the Stengel family arrived quite unexpectedly just before the theater performance such that we saw them there for the first time.”
The Würzburg theater, in the former Convent of St. Anne in Würzburg, was located on the Graben thoroughfare in Würzburg (top) around the corner and past the Residence Castle from Caroline’s apartment (bottom).
(Carl Gottfried Scharold, Würzburg und die umliegende Gegend, für Fremde und Einheimische kurz beschrieben [Würzburg 1805].)
Würzburg Theater
The Würzburg theater in the former Convent of St. Anne in Würzburg.
Caroline continues on 19 August 1804:
“The theater is proceeding quite tolerably; when Iffland bores us with his morality at the theater, we indemnify [viz. refresh] ourselves in the loge, and from now on, for the entire week, we will be excellently regaled by Gern from the Berlin theater with the Water Bearer, Don Juan, The Magic Flute, and other such marvels.”
The new theater and theater company in Würzburg had debuted on Friday, 3 August 1804. Caroline is referring not to August Wilhelm Iffland’s personal appearance, but rather to his plays, several of which were performed in August 1804. Mozart’s Don Juan would not be performed until October. That said, the playbill at the theater was indeed full and varied during August 1804.
(Illustration: frontispiece to J. G. Wenzel Dennerlein, Geschichte des Würzburger Theaters von seiner Entstehung im Jahre 1803–4 bis zum 31. Mai 1853 [Würzburg 1853].)
Caroline’s dream about the deceased (December 1804) Ludwig Ferdinand Huber, February 1805.
“I was walking down a side street, past a window in which Huber was standing . . . the window was transformed into the glass door leading from my blue room into the smaller one. He was standing behind it and then came in . . . He came from the door and sat down across from me; we . . . spoke quite calmly with each other, though both he and I knew full well that he was dead. There was no mention of friendship. I asked him why he had grieved us so, and told him how gladly I would have changed places with him, for, ‘Huber,’ I said, ‘after all, I have more to seek in heaven than do you.’ I was thinking about Auguste, just as she is always quite present for me. He said — ‘If you are serious, then give me your hand’ — I gave him my hand across the table; his was quite warm, which I immediately noticed, since, after all, he was no longer alive. And then I woke up.”
(August Diezmann, “Bilder aus dem Leben deutscher Dichter: Nr. 4: Ein Dichter-Asyl,” Die Gartenlaube: Illustriertes Familienblatt [1860] 46:731–35, here 733; Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki, Lebt sie so nehme ich sie von der gewaltigen Hand Gottes an [1776]; Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum; Museums./Signatur DChodowiecki WB 3.21.)
Caroline’s Review of Chamisso and Varnhagen’s Musenalmanach
The beginning of Caroline’s review of the Musenalmanach auf das Jahr 1805, edited by Adelbert von Chamisso and Karl August Varnhagen von Ense, on 6 May 1805.
In early 1805, Caroline began publishing a series of editorially well-received reviews for the fledgling Jenaische Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung that continued well into 1806. That said, this review of the Musenalmanach of Adelbert von Chamisso and Karl August Varnhagen von Ense had a devastating effect on the circle of friends of the Musenalmanach itself. Indeed the very first lines of the review were enough to suggest that scant praise was to be expected from the reviewer:
“If it indeed be possible, for a time, to wreck something that in and of itself is good and excellent, such is wrought not by the shouters and faultfinders, who, if not supported by the Inquisition, have never managed such an accomplishment in any case. It is instead wrought by those who, after being seized by the mere surface features of what is good and excellent, next appropriate the words, the form, in reality: the mask, then also a few tones associated with real ideas, and a melody that imitates a coherent inner connection, and then try to present to the public in an uncommon fashion their wholly anemic talent and their insignificant striving, which they could certainly otherwise present in the most common fashion.”
Public Proclamation, Residence Square, Feb. 1806
Public proclamation of the new prince elector on Residence Square in Würzburg, 1 February 1806.
Baron von Hügel receives control of Würzburg from the French on 1 February 1806 in a ceremony on Residence Square in the name of the prince elector, Ferdinand, and his brother, the emperor
This proclamation, the consequence of the Treaty of Pressburg, left little doubt that Schelling would no longer have any real place at the university in Würzburg, which was again to become a traditional Catholic stronghold. Indeed, the Catholic bishop had already forbidden prospective seminary students from attending Schelling’s lectures. Schelling would leave for Munich in April 1806, Caroline in May after closing up their Würzburg household.
(Chronik des Churfürstenthums Würzburg, ed. Bonaventura Andres [Würzburg 1806], engraving following p. 16.)
Old Town Hall
Old Town Hall in Würzburg, nineteenth-century engraving.
Caroline writes to Schelling on 30 April 1806 concerning the preparations along the route to be followed by Ferdinand during his processional through Würzburg:
“The illumination will take place not tomorrow, but next week on his birthday. Today I saw all the preparations before the town hall — not even a saint of the church itself has yet been served so horribly and tastelessly. Moreover, the thing has been set up in the form of a high altar with several dozen wooden ‘virtues’ erected on it. It would be more appropriate for them to erect a colossal figure of Hope before the entry gate. With all these preparations, the town now looks like a second-rate theater by daylight.”
(Carl Heffner, Würzburg und seine Umgebungen: ein historisch-topographisches Handbuch [Würzburg 1871], 179.)
Route of Ferdinand through Würzburg
On 4 May 1806, at 9:00 p.m. Caroline, Martin Köhler, a certain Herr Schott, and the latter’s wife are in one of the 90 carriages trailing behind the new prince elector, Ferdinand, on a circuitous tour of Würzburg streets to view the myriad illuminations in the latter’s honor, an occasion for the residents of (predominantly Catholic) Würzburg to view and greet their new lord with countless cries of Vivat!.
Here an accurate and commensurately confusing indication of the circuitous route Prince Ferdinand followed through Würzburg for the processional. The lengthy processional and inclement weather seem to have been too much for Caroline.
At 10:00, she notes, “a slight gust of wind and a gentle spring rain quickly extinguished all the carefully but poorly prepared fun.” Caroline, opting not to finish the entire route of the processional, has her companions let her out when the processional reaches the gate at the Old University (triangular ensemble at center bottom) leading into the courtyard where her apartment is located.
(Map: Fr. Harrach, Plan der Kreis-Hauptstadt Würzburg [Würzburg 1845].)
Würzburg Fish Market
The Würzburg fish market street along the Main River was included in the processional of Ferdinand on 6 May 1806. After proceeding along this street, the processional crossed over the Main River before returning to the town proper.
(Illustration: Historisches Album der Stadt Würzburg. Zweiunddreissig photographische Ansichten, ed. V. Jos. Stahgel, introd. Franz X. Wegel [Würzburg 1867], illus. xiii.)
Caroline’s auction announcement
Because Schelling had traveled to Munich ahead of Caroline, it fell to her to close up their household in Würzburg.
The announcement appeared in the Würzburger Intelligenzblatt a mere two days before the auction:
“For Sale,” Würzburg Intelligenzblatt (1806) 55 (Wednesday, 14 May 1806), 467–68, here 467:
“(2) On Friday, 16 May [1806] and the following day, from 10:00 a.m. till noon, and from 3:00 till 6:00 p.m., various home furnishings will be publicly auctioned and immediately released upon cash payment in the second story of the university building above the library, such as: canapés [sofas, settees], divans, chairs, mirrors, commodes, desks, gaming tables, writing tables, dining and other tables, oven screens, bedframes, cabinets, etc.; also various household utensils such as a large washing roller, washing vessels, copper washing kettles, hanging and portable lanterns, glassware, a woven food cabinet, and various other kitchen utensils, similarly also an excellent piano made in Dresden and two antique, three-armed hanging lamps for lighting rooms.”
Location of Caroline’s Auction
Caroline’s auction was held in two rooms below Caroline’s apartment but above the library, i.e., the rooms that earlier served as Schelling’s auditorium.
(Illustration: Historisches Album der Stadt Würzburg. Zweiunddreissig photographische Ansichten, ed. V. Jos. Stahgel, introd. Franz X. Wegel [Würzburg 1867], illus. v.)
Auction ca. 1782
Caroline’s quips in a letter to Schelling that the prince elector himself, Ferdinand III of Tuscany, “got my tea table for 20 fl.”
(Schauplatz der Natur und der Künste, vol. 8 [Vienna 1782], plate 24.)
Wurzburg ladies 1805
Caroline writes to Schelling in Munich on 15 May 1806 concerning bringing a maidservant with her to Munich:
“An extremely charming creature has offered her services to me, but I am not yet entirely decided — yet another possibility is the chambermaid . . . but she is not as pretty and fresh as the other, who occasionally went for walks with the Hufelands’ children. If I do bring her, then there is one reproach that you can never again raise with me.”
Not the first time Caroline has teased Schelling with references to (pretty young) maidservants. Here in any case illustrations, precisely contemporary with Caroline (1805), of Würzburg women, in order: (1) a middle-class woman with a maidservant (cook), (2) a middle-class young woman, and (3) a children’s maidservant.
(Carl Gottfried Scwharold, Würzburg und die umliegende Gegend [Würzburg 1805], plates following p. 278.)
Caroline’s classified seeking a traveling companion
The entry “Mixed Announcements” on p. 472 in the same Würzburger Intelligenzblatt that contained Caroline’s auction announcement (Wednesday, 14 May 1806) mentions the wife of a certain Bavarian artillery captain Roppelt as the contact person for a “single individual” seeking a traveling companion to Munich:
“By the end of May or beginning of June, a single individual will be traveling alone to Munich; since a comfortable seat is still available in the conveyance, this individual would like to secure a traveling companion. For more details, contact the wife of Royal Bavarian Artillery Captain Roppelt in the Vornberger house across the Main River, no. 142.”
Caroline left Würzburg for Munich on 20 May 1806 and arrived in Munich on 25 May.