Tag Archives: geschichte

Leuthen – C.F. Scherenberg

22 Friday Jul 2022

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Another acquisition this month; Leuthen (Gedicht) by Christian Friedrich Scherenberg.

I have yet to read it all, but the first verse seems to fit well with the famous painting of Fritz after the battle of Kolin.

In Nimburg am Brunnen, die Schatten über sich,
Auf einem alten Röhrstamm sitzt König Friedrich,
Von seiner Zeit schlechtweg der König titulirt,
Wiewohl noch mancher König zu seiner Zeit regiert,
Und malt mit seinem Krückstock, der aller Welt bekannt,
Versunken in sich selber, Figuren in den Sand.

Or indeed the one below, which I’ve never seen before, both painted before the book was written (1852).

To finish, a Zungenbrecher:

Der Leutnant von Leuthen befahl seinen Leuten nicht eher zu läuten, bis der Leutnant von Leuthen seinen Leuten das Läuten befahl.

Does anybody still say this after all these years?

Noth= und Hülfsbüchlein – Widmung

09 Thursday Dec 2021

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My “new” original copy of “Noth= und Hülfsbüchlein für Bauersleute“, with which I am extremely pleased, also has a delightful dedication inside. Undated unfortunately but obviously old, note not just the handwriting but also the spelling of words such as “Theilen” and “zugestellet”. I presume the second part mentioned is “Arzneybüchlein für Menschen und Vieh“, which I’ve yet to find a decent copy of.
I wonder who Georg Scheidemann was, there’s a bookplate of his on the inside cover too.

Georg Scheidemann

Dieses Noth und Hülfsbüchlein
welches aus 2 Theilen besteht,
ist gar schön zu lesen, und
es stehen viel nützliches
Sachen darin, ich habe es
dem bzl. Vorsteher
Speckl mit dem Bitte zu =
gestellet, es einen jeden
in Orte zu leihen, welcher
es zu lesen wünscht, und
Zeit, und Lust dazu hat;
Die Bücher müßten nun
nicht beschmutzt, und zer=
rißen werden.

This Essentials and Aid Booklet, which consists of two parts, is delightful to read and contains many useful things. I’ve provided it to the relevant Superintendent (Mayor?) Speckl with the request to lend it to each of those in the town, who wish to read it, and have the time and inclination to do so. The books must not be dirtied or torn.

Noth- und Hülfs-Büchlein für Bauersleute

29 Thursday Jul 2021

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I’m having great fun reading “Noth- und Hülfs-Büchlein für Bauersleute” from 1788, only a 1980 Taschenbuch at the moment but I think I’ll have to get an original copy.

I became aware of it’s existence after reading Pfarrer Köhler’s account of meeting the author in 1813/14 (Tagebuchblätter eines Feldgeistlichen), apparently in the late 18th Century it was second only to The Bible in popularity in Germany. It’s easy to see why.
Little anecdotes such as the Hauptmann’s wife’s grisly fate and the vicar keeping the elders out of the pub after Church by reading the book aloud (to the disgust of the landlord and delight of their families) are quite wonderful to read a couple of hundred years later by a foreigner like me, they must have seemed amazing at the time.

I wonder if the fate of the Hauptmann’s poor wife, buried alive in the crypt, inspired von der Marwitz’s fear of being buried alive? The book would no doubt have been known to him, or perhaps it was just a common fear before modern medicine got better at detecting these things? Much better I hope.

On a slightly lighter note, I loved the little poem about Beer and Wine, together with it’s charming illustration, particularly appropriate to me after the pubs here opened again last weekend.

Triumph des jahres 1813

05 Saturday Jun 2021

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Triumph des jahres 1813. Den Deutschen zum neuen Jahr

I was amused by Dr. Köhler’s description of caricatures of Napoleon in Tagebuchblätter eines Feldgeistlichen from 13th December 1813:

Unter allen Karikaturen, die ich gesehen habe, ist die gräßlich schönste in Berlin herausgekommen. Sie stellt Napoleons wohlgetroffenes Bild dar; allein wenn man es näher betrachtet, so ist das Gesicht aus Leichen zusammengebaut, die um seinetwillen das Leben verbluteten. Der Hut ist ein Adler, der sich in den Kopf des Eroberers eingekrallt hat; das Auge desselben bildet die dreifarbige Kokarde. Der rote Kragen ist ein Blutstrom, der diesen Kopf umfließt. Die grüne Uniform ist eine Landkarte, auf der seine verlorenen Schlachten stehen, und auf dem roten Ordensbande steht: Ehrfort. Das Epaulett ist eine Hand, die sich in den Arm einkrallt, und auf dem Herzen webt eine Spinne ihr Netz und bildet den Stern.
Die Unterschrift heißt: “Der Triumph von 1813, den Deutschen zum Neujahr 1814”.

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, while they’re left to us, here is the Pferdedieb himself, exactly as described in 1813:

Unrelated, but today I received my copy of the latest Berliner Extrablatt from www.berliner-schloss.de and enclosed was a miniature copy of an old key to the front door. A nice surprise. Possibly the closest I’m ever going to get to Berlin if this current Schwachsinn continues.

Posen 1848

30 Wednesday Sep 2020

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Sorry for the long delay, I’ve had, and still have, a lot of letters to write, amongst other stuff.

I wonder how long since copies of these two books have sat together?
Don’t tell anyone butt I had to cut the pages on the military account, no doubt the resale value was affected, but books are intended to be read, and there’s a guilty pleasure in knowing that in 172 years I’m the first person to see those pages.

Trying to get a grip on what happened during the Polnisch Aufstand in Posen in 1848 is not easy.

Willisen’s account, which I read first (although it’s an answer to the military account) because I acquired it first, sounds perfectly reasonable, especially I imagine to modern ears more used to calls to freedom and anti-imperialism. Basically the Poles are just looking to get some autonomy back after years of double dealing and germanisation by the Prussians, and all they need is a little more time to gain trust before they disband the various armed groups that had formed. Rumours of atrocities by the Poles are of course just exaggerations or downright fabrications by the Germans and the Jews. Even before reading the military account though I must admit to wondering if Willisen was not being a bit naïve.

The military account takes the more cynical view that the Poles just want total control over the country, not the promised reörganisation, and that all the negotiations are just buying them time to build up arms and train their fighters. Looked at from the Army’s point of view the accusations of attacks and atrocities by the Poles also sound a lot more credible.
Looking at events later in the year, and subsequent centuries, I think the military might have had a point, but it’s hard not to have some sympathy for Poland.

See also:
Offener Brief an den Herrn Major von Voigts Rhetz
Denkschrift über die Ereignisse im Großherzogthum Posen seit dem 20. März 1848

The conclusion? I think I’ll leave it to the reader to decide who was in the right, I don’t want to get involved. It reminds me too much of us English and the Irish, and nobody wants to go down that road…

Preuß – Fritz, Buch für Jedermann

21 Sunday Jun 2020

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Very pleased with my copies of “Die Lebensgeschichte des großen Königs Friedrich von Preußen“, or “Fridrich” if you go by the label on the spine… One of the source books that Carlyle used to write his history, and an author that he, unusually, had a good word for. Both volumes for under 50 quid.

It´s been rebound I think, but professionally and not recently, not at all bad for 1834.
I particularly like the instructions to the bookbinder at the front of the title page, which I presume should have been trimmed off;
“Nachricht für den Buchbinder: die Vorrede wird mit dem zweiten Theilen ausgege(ben?)”
although the Vorrede is, logically, attached to the first book?