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THE NIETZSCHE-WAGNER
CORRESPONDENCE
This edition is limited to 1500 num-
bered copies of which this volume is
No...
THE NIETZSCHE-WAGNER
CORRESPONDENCE
EDITED BY
ELIZABETH FOERSTER-NIETZSCHE
TRANSLATED BY
CAROLINE V. KERR
INTRODUCTION BY
H. L. MENCKEN
BONI AND LIVERIGHT
PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK
Music
:
wit
NIETZSCHE-WAGNER CORRESPONDENCE
COPYRIGHT, 1921, By
BONI & LIVERIGHT, INC.
Printed in the United States of America
15769-7218
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
PAGE
I. FIRST MEETING . . . . . . . . . . 1
II. FIRST Visit TO TRIBSCHEN (SPRING OF 1869). 10
III. THE SUMMER OF 1869 . . . . . . . .
IV. LATE AUTUMN OF 1869 . . . . . . .. .
V. EXPERIENCES DURING THE WINTER OF 1870. .
VI. WAGNER'S BIRTHDAY (APRIL-JUNE, 1870) .. 46
VII. War's ALARMS AND QUIET Family FestivITIES 58
VIII. VARIOUS JOURNEYINGS (1871). . . . . .
IX. Cares AND Joys (1871) . . . . . i 82
X. THE BIRTH OF TRAGEDY OUT OF THE SPIRIT OF
Music (1872) . . . . . . . . . 93
XI. Difficult Decisions . . . . . . . . 105
XII. THE LAYING OF THE CORNERSTONE . . . . 115
XIII. CIRCULAR LETTER FROM RICHARD WAGNER TO
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE, PROFESSOR IN ORDINARY
OF CLASSICAL PHILOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY
OF BASLE . . . . . . . . . . . 125
XIV. CONFLICTS. . . . . . . . . . . 134
XV. MISUNDERSTANDINGS (1873) . . . . . . 152
XVI. RENEWED Discords (1873) . . . . . . 167
XVII. NIETZSCHE'S APPEAL TO THE GERMAN NATION
(1873). . . . . . . . . . . . 180
XVIII. CRITICAL PERIOD (1874) . . . . . . 196
XIX. SECOND "THOUGHTS Out or SEASON" (1874) . 205
vii
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
PAGE
XX. "SchoPENHAUER AS EDUCATOR” . . . . . 215
XXI. WINTER IN BAYREUTH (1875). . . . . . 240
XXII. "RICHARD WAGNER IN BAYREUTH” (1876). . 257
XXIII. THE BAYREUTŇ FESTIVAL (1876) . . . . .
XXIV. END OF THE FRIENDSHIP (1876-1878). . . 285
268
FOREWORD
Richard Strauss once said, so I am told, that he consid-
ered the years in which the friendship between Richard
Wagner and Friedrich Nietzsche was at its zenith, one of
the most impressive and significant cultural moments of the
nineteenth century. Many others must have thought the
same, as I have frequently been asked to assemble all the
available documents bearing upon this relationship, and
thus present more clearly the ties uniting my brother to
Richard Wagner, and all the nuances of this friendship-
that was impossible in my hitherto published accounts of my
brother's life, in which emphasis was laid upon other im-
portant matters.
A few weeks prior to his mental collapse in 1888, my
brother himself wrote: “Here where I am speaking of the
vivifying influences of my life, a word is necessary to express
my gratitude for that which above all other things, refreshed
me most profoundly and most genuinely. This was, un-
questionably my intercourse with Richard Wagner. All
the rest of my human relationships I treat quite lightly, but
at no price would I be willing to blot from my life the
Tribschen days—those days of mutual confidence, of cheer-
fulness, of sublime flashes—the deep moments. ..."
It seems to me, therefore, that there could be no more
appropriate anniversary offering for the seventieth birthday
of my beloved brother than a detailed account of his relations
Foreword
to Wagner, at the time of their closest friendship, written
in the spirit and from the viewpoint of those years.
I have collected all the material best suited to this pur-
pose; among this are my brother's letters to Wagner, here
published for the first time, as well as hitherto unpublished
new-in fact, everything that could contribute to a true
estimate of this friendship, as far as such material is still
extant, and was made accessible to me. I must mention here
the regrettable fact that a large number of my brother's
letters to Wagner were destroyed in Bayreuth about five
years ago from some reason utterly inexplicable to me.
Without exception, they expressed only the deepest rever-
ence and respect for Wagner and Frau Cosima, and as it
was my privilege to read many of them before they were
sent off, I can testify that among them were cultural docu-
ments of the highest significance. These are said to have
been the very ones destroyed, and only a few letters showing
my brother's innate modesty and courtesy were placed at
my disposal. It has been possible, however, to reproduce
the larger part of the missing correspondence from the rough
drafts found in my brother's note-books.
This little book closes with the cessation of the corre-
spondence between Wagner and my brother. All later ob- .
servations and sentiments, written after the break in their
friendship, must be looked for in other places. In this birth-
day book I wish to set in vibration only the tenderest chords
of the closest friendship, which even though they be written
in a melancholy minor, at least reveal no harsh dissonances
on either side. ELIZABETH FOERSTER-NIETZSCHE.
Weimar, October 15, 1914.
INTRODUCTION
S
The Nietzsche-Wagner quarrel, for long the subject of
vague rumors and dark whispers, is made so clear by this
correspondence that little remains to be said about it. The
underlying cause of it was simple and unescapable: Nietzsche
grew so vastly during the years that the two men were
together that it was quite impossible for him to go on as a
mere satellite, even of a Wagner. It is to the credit of Wag-
ner's discernment that he saw almost instantly the great
ability of the younger man; it is to the shame thereof that
his valuation of it stopped far short of the reality. What
he beheld before him was a young professor of extraordinary
parts, eagerly responsive to his revolutionary (and often
anything but transparent) ideas, full of a chivalric but fero-
cious bellicosity, and extremely effective as a propagandist.
What he actually had in front of him was a European figure
of the first calibre—perhaps the most salient and original
personality seen in the groves of learning since Goethe. It
is always hard for an old man to fathom the true importance
of a young one. He is blinded by the conventional superi-
ority that goes with his mere age; he is losing his old re-
silience to ideas; perhaps he is also a bit jealous, as a fading
charmer is of a flapper. In Wagner all these impediments
to understanding Nietzsche were helped by his personal weak-
nesses : his theatrical egomania, almost suggesting that of
Introduction
S
an actor; his lack of the hard training necessary to a com-
prehension of Nietzsche's veriest fundamentals; above all,
his jumpy dread of rivals, challengers, enemies. The thing
he needed, in those early Tribschen days, was not advice but
enthusiasm; among all his supporters he searched uneasily
for the predestined fanatic. This fanatic seemed to appear
in Nietzsche. He was converted absolutely; he put away
all doubts and whereases as almost unmanly; he was willing
to sacrifice everything, including even his own career as a
philogist, to the cause. But in the end, as we all know, it was
not Wagner who reaped the rewards of that sacrifice: it was
Nietzsche himself, and the world of ideas. Wagner asked
for too much, and got, in the end, nothing. He had seduced
the young professor from the straight and narrow path,
but he was quite unable to follow the fugitive into the high
mountain ways that presently invited him. Wagner's limi-
tations were no less marked than his abilities. I believe that
his music dramas are, by long odds, the most stupendous
works of art ever contrived by man—that it took more down-
to build the Parthenon, or to write “Faust” or “Hamlet,”
or to paint the Sistine frescoes, or even to write the Ninth
Symphony. But whoever enters the opera-house gets a smell
of patchouli into his hair, and a dab of grease-paint on his
nose. He may remain a genius, but he is a genius who is also
a bit of a mountebank—a genius who thinks of his audience
as well as of his work, and is not forgetful of box-office state-
ments. Actors make bad philosophers—and a man who
writes operas, however gorgeous, becomes thereby partly an
actor.
Introduction
It is astonishing that Nietzsche did not notice the mounte-
bankish touch in Wagner from the start; certainly. it was
obvious enough to most of the other Wagnerians of the time,
including even King Ludwig. Frau Förster-Nietzsche hints
that he actually discerned it, but put away all thought of it
for the good of the cause. But it is much more likely that
the colossal gaudiness of Wagner simply blinded him—that
he was completely bowled over by the man's terrific splendors
as an artist. To a young German of Nietzsche's traditions
and education, music is quite as important a matter as base-
ball is to a young American, and he knows it just as thor-
oughly. Thus he brought to his study of Wagner's music,
not only a ready response to its overwhelming sensuousness,
its profound beauty as mere sound, but also an intelligent
comprehension of the technical difficulties that had been sur-
mounted in the making of it—in brief, an educated delight.
This delight, in the first days, simply bewitched him; he
could see only the magician, and quite forgot the man. But
it was not long before that man began to intrude in a very
disconcerting way, and so, bit by bit, Nietzsche became res-
tive, and in the end he rose in open revolt. I believe that it is
quite probable, as Frau Förster-Nietzsche says, that it was
Wagner's snuffling gabble about Christianity that finished
him. Put the thing on the best ground possible: say that
Wagner was genuinely self-deluded, that his going to mass
was honest, that the romantic mystery of the faith had at
last found a weak spot in his armor and penetrated to his
heart. In any case, the apostasy was incomprehensible to
Nietzsche. He could no more imagine an intelligent man
xüi
Introduction
succumbing to all that ancient rubbish than he could imagine
an honest man subscribing to it for worldly gain. The con-
vert was as abhorrent to his tight and uncompromising mind
as the hypocrite. In Wagner, I daresay, he saw parts of
both. The one outraged him and the other disgusted him.
After those walks at Sorrento there was nothing for him to
do save make his bow, click his heels together, and say
good-bye.
Wagner's failure to apprehend the full significance of
Nietzsche is equally easy to understand. As I have said, his
mere age was an impediment, and his great fame was an-
other. Though his largest triumphs were still ahead of him,
he was already a European, and even a world figure and
such a man is seldom able to detach himself from his own
eminence sufficiently to see clearly the eminence of another,
particularly of another who is young and still obscure. It
flattered him to have a university professor, however young,
enlisted for his cause and faithfully attached to his person,
but he lacked the special information, and, above all, the
attitude of mind, necessary to comprehend that this pro-
fessor was one of a decidedly unusual sort—that his rebellion
against orthodox classical philology was but the first dawn
of a rebellion enormously more daring and important. Both
Wagner and Cosima could understand “The Birth of Trag-
edy” well enough, for if some of its Greek history was diffi-
cult, there was an abundant clarity in the somewhat lyrical
arguments for the Wagner music-drama. . They could un-
derstand, too, the polemical pamphlets that followed, for
they were, at bottom, nothing save overblown newspaper edi-
xiv
Introduction
torials-articles such as any contumacious young professor
might send to a learned review. But “The Dawn of Day"
was something new and strange to them, for it was, in fact,
something quite new under the sun. They could no more
grasp it than any other opera-composer and his wife could
have grasped it. It seemed to them to be chaotic, obscure,
fantastic, pointless, deliberately offensive and most of these
things, in truth, it was. They had no time to study it as it
deserved, and Nietzsche himself, who might have explained,
was already showing an impertinent independence, a lament-
able falling-off of his old filial fidelity. So they threw the
book behind the stove, and turned to the new apostles brought
out by the first season at Bayreuth-a brigade that must
have depressed Wagner severely at times, but that neverthe-
less showed no sign of alarming the house with ideas of its
own. Among equals there can be no disciples. Wagner re-
signed Nietzsche as flighty and incomprehensible, and
Nietzsche resigned Wagner as half a charlatan.
I doubt that either man had much permanent influence on
the other. Nietzsche was fond of hinting, in after years, that
Wagner borrowed many ideas from him, but I have been un-
able to find any trace of them in the Wagner pronuncia-
mentos. Wagner's ideas were actually his own, and most
of them were quite simple, and needed no help from Nietzsche
for their clarification and statement. All that Nietzsche
gave him, in the Tribschen days, was a certain learned sup-
port; it pleased him, but he would have been just as well off
without it. Nietzsche's efforts to bring the Wagner notions
into harmony with his own theories as to the origin of the
XV
Introduction
Greek drama were never very convincing, even to the Wag-
nerites; later on he himself saw their folly. These efforts
marked the period of his most complete illusion. The Wag-
ner he then saw before him was an impossible compound of
artist and scholar; he lived to find out that the artist is far
more likely to be wedded to a mountebank; before he died
he even descended, in “Also sprach Zarathustra,” to monkey-
shines himself. Nor can I find any sign of Wagner's influ-
ence in the main work of Nietzsche-that is, in “The Dawn
of Day" and the books following. He kept up a secret and
wistful affection for his old friend to the end; on his death
he said, “Den habe ich sehr geliebt." But when he plunged
into the great exhortations and expostulations of his ma-
turity, when he turned up the reluctant sod of his high and
lonely valleys, then Wagner was far below and behind him,
and could be no more imagined guiding him than Rossini
could be imagined guiding Wagner. They spoke different
languages, and inhabited different worlds. Wagner's funda-
mental philosophy was colored by the German Liberalism of
his time; he was daring, but always within the limits of ac-
cepted concepts. Nietzsche was a pure revolutionary, a
magnificent disdainer of both the past and the present—as
he himself was fond of saying, an anti-Christ. What he
had to say may not have been always sound, but it was cer-
tainly always thoroughly original. Despite his veneration
for Schopenhauer, he was his own man from the start. His
ideas came into the world with a note of challenge and defi-
ance. They attacked the very foundations of modern civili-
zation. To all men they were startling and disquieting; to
xvi
Introduction
most men they were appalling. But the years deal kindly
with them. More and more they tend to prevail, or, at all
events, to get themselves heard. Only blockheads today
know nothing of them, and only fools are unshaken by them.
H. L. MENCKEN.
xvii
THE NIETZSCHE-WAGNER
CORRESPONDENCE
THE NIETZSCHE-WAGNER
CORRESPONDENCE
CHAPTER I.
FIRST MEETING,
Y brother writes in “Ecce Homo": "From the
moment a piano edition of 'Tristan and Isolde'
appeared (my compliments, Herr von Bülow!) I
became a confirmed Wagnerite."
I must modify this statement, however, as my brother's
admiration for Richard Wagner began at a somewhat earlier
date, in fact, as early as the autumn of 1860, at which time
he and two other sixteen-year-old boys by the names of
Wilhelm Pindar and Gustav Krug, founded a little society
and christened it with the high-sounding name of “Ger-
mania," despite the fact that it consisted of only three
members.
The purpose of this society, as set forth in the constitu-
tion, was to acquire a wider knowledge of the arts and
sciences, and one of the first steps taken was to subscribe
for the “Zeitschrift für Musik”—the only musical journal at
that time in Germany which had actively espoused the cause
of Richard Wagner and his works. By pooling their modest
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
pocket money, the three enthusiastic Wagnerites were also
able to purchase the piano arrangement of "Tristan and
Isolde.” This was in the winter of 1862, and no sooner was
the coveted treasure in their possession than the members
found themselves embroiled in a discussion provoked by a
paper written by Wilhelm Pindar on the theme: "Music, the
Daughter of Poetry.” Among other things he said: “Any
effort to effect a close union of the various arts cannot be
regarded as a fantastic attempt, for even though it be denied
the genius of one individual to achieve this result, it is, never-
theless, a possibility, provided the one artist is in close
sympathy with the intentions of the other, and displays con-
sideration and sensitivity in uniting the two related arts. But
a genuinely harmonious union of hitherto independent ele-
ments can never be entirely successful, and therefore, the art-
work of the future will ever remain an unrealized ideal.”
This standpoint was vigorously opposed by the two
remaining members, but unfortunately, my brother's views
on the subject have not been preserved. Gustav Krug, how-
ever, expressed himself at some length in the chronicles of the
society, and it is safe to assume that he voiced my brother's
theories.
Krug wrote: “I ask why should such an ideal be unattain-
able? Has not Wagner, in his "Tristan and Isolde' and
‘Nibelung,' demonstrated his ability to put this theory into
practice? Now that the close union of music and poetry
has been so splendidly achieved in these works, should it not
also be possible for the singer to become a genuine actor?
Have we not the Schroeder-Devrient and Johanna Wagner
to bring forward in proof of the capacity of the genuinely
First Meeting
actress? And is not the same thing true of the stage ma-
chinery and the mise-en-scêne? On this point, Brendel
observes quite rightly: 'In the earlier operas only the music
was taken seriously, and all else was, more or less, an artistic
lie. Hitherto, opera has displayed the paradox of claiming
to represent the union of all the arts, but in reality, of
refusing to do justice to the essential characteristics of these
arts. The art-work of the future will be the solution of this
paradox. The time has come for all the arts to be taken
with equal seriousness, and for a union, in this sense, to
be attempted.""
It was at our house that the three friends met to study the
music of “Tristan and Isolde," as Wagner's art met with
lively opposition at the homes of Pindar and Krug. And I
must confess, that at first the music did sound frightful as
played by Fritz and Gustav; they apparently did not under-
stand how to make the melody stand out from the rich har-
monic background, and our good mother, unwilling as she
was to interfere with my brother's enjoyment, frankly ad-
mitted that she took no pleasure in this "frightful noise," as
she called it. Even I could not get up any enthusiasm about
it at first, but the boys persisted in their efforts until they
succeeded so well in bringing out the effect of the hunting
horns at the opening of the second act, that I fell completely
under the spell of the music. “Everyone must be enraptured
by it!" declared my brother, but my mother, who thought it
judicious to throw an occasional wet blanket upon his ardor,
answered: “Not at all! There is no must in the matter, and
on all sides I hear that this music is repudiated by the most
eminent musical authorities. For example, Wagner's music
is completely tabooed at the home of Frau Frege, the meeting
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
place of a group of Leipsig musicians. A strange artist,
not knowing of this antagonism, began to play some
thing of Wagner's one evening, whereupon Frau Frege
fainted dead away and had to be carried from the room, and
the remainder of the company was also most unpleasantly
affected.”
I should not like to create the impression that my brother
allowed himself to be carried away by an unreasoning
enthusiasm. Such was not the case at all, as is indicated in
a letter written to his friend, Baron von Gersdorff, on
October 11, 1868: “I have played but little as I have no
piano here in Kosen, but I brought along the piano score
of Wagner's ‘Walküre,' in regard to which my feelings are so
confused that I dare not venture an opinion on the subject.
The greatest beauties and virtues are offset by equally great
shortcomings and positive ugliness, at times. And according
to Riese and Buchbinder + a + (-a) = 0. The news-
papers state that the same composer is at work on a
Hohenstaufen opera, and receives an occasional visit from
the king whom he calls in the dedication of the work: “the
noble protector of my life. It would do no harm, by the
way, for the ‘king to go with Wagner' ('to go,' in the
boldest sense of the term) but naturally with a respectable
life annuity.”
And again, my brother would give free vent to his en-
thusiasm and write thus to his friend, Erwin Rohde: “This
evening I attended the opening concert of the Euterpe
society and refreshed my soul by listening to the Vorspiel of
‘Tristan and Isolde and that of the ‘Meistersinger. For the
life of me, I cannot preserve an attitude of cool criticism
in listening to this music; every nerve of my being is set
First Meeting
hy
tingling and it has been a long time since I have experienced
a feeling of such sustained enjoyment as I did while listering
to the latter overture.” . . . Some weeks later, in attempt-
ing to console Rohde for some disagreeable personal expe-
rience, my brother pointed out the case of Richard Wagner,
emphasizing that trait in his character, which compelled
my brother's admiration as long as he lived. “Think of
Wagner and Schopenhauer and of the undaunted energy
with which they preserved their faith in themselves, and this
amid the ‘halloo of the entire cultured world!'”
At last the moment arrived when my brother was to make
the personal acquaintance of the long-revered genius, an
event humorously described in the following letter to Rohde
written November 9, 1868:“... When I got home I found
a note stuck in my door reading: ‘If you wish to meet
Richard Wagner, come to the Theatre Café at a quarter
to four. Windisch.' ... Naturally I rushed off to the
appointed place where I found our good friend and learned
further details. It seems that Wagner had arrived in
Leipzig on a visit to relatives, but was preserving the
strictest incognito; the press had not been allowed to get
wind of the matter and the servants of the Brockhaus
family were as silent as graves in livery. Wagner's sister,
Frau Brockhaus, had naturally taken great pride in intro-
ducing her genius to her most intimate friend, Frau
Ritchelin (the lucky creature!) Wagner played the
Meisterlied for the Ritchelin, and the good woman told
him that she was already familiar with the music-mea
opera; astonishment and delight on the part of Wagner.
Signifies his royal wish to make my humble acquaintance.
I was to have been invited for Friday evening; Windisch,
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
however, explained that it would be impossible for me to
get away from my work; whereupon, Saturday was sug-
gested as the day of the meeting. At the appointed hour,
Windisch and I hurried off to the Brockhaus home where
we found the Professor and his family assembled, but no
Richard, he having unceremoniously sallied forth with an
enormous hat on his big cranium. But, at all events, I
made the acquaintance of this interesting family, and re-
ceived an invitation to come again on Sunday evening.
"I seemed to be living in a dream during the time that
intervened, and you must admit that the events leading up
to this meeting, together with the well-known inaccessibility
of this unique personality, savored strongly of the romantic.
Under the impression that the soirée was to be a ceremonious
affair, I resolved to don gala attire and was overjoyed at
the thought that my tailor had already promised to have
my new suit of evening clothes ready by Sunday. The
weather was abominable, rain alternating with snow, and I
had no inclination to venture out, and was therefore, highly
pleased when Roscher dropped in to see me during the course
of the afternoon ... it began to grow dark, but the tailor
did not put in his appearance. When Roscher left, I went
along, looked in at my tailor's and found his slaves busily
sewing on my suit; it was to be delivered in three-quarters
of an hour. ...
"With my mind set at ease, I went on my way, met up
with Kintschky, read the Kladderadatsch and beamed with
joy when I came across a notice stating that Richard
Wagner was at present in Switzerland, but that a beautiful
house was being built for him in Munich, while all the time
I knew that I was to meet him that very evening, and that
CA
First Meeting
o
the day before he had received a letter from the little king
addressed: "To the great German tone-poet, Richard
Wagner.
"No tailor' in evidence when I got back to my room, so I
seated myself with the greatest composure to read the dis-
sertation on Eudocia: from time to time, I was disturbed
by the shrill ringing of a bell that seemed to come from a
great distance. Finally, it was borne in upon me that
someone was ringing at the primitive old iron gate; this
was locked as well as the front door, and I was obliged to
scream across the garden to the man to come in through
the side entrance, but it was impossible to make myself
heard for the splashing of the rain. The excitement com-
municated itself to the entire house, and finally, the doors
were opened to admit a queer-looking little man carrying
a parcel. It was then half-past six and the highest time
that I should be about my toilet as I had some distance to
go. Right enough, it was a man with my suit: I tried on
the coat and found it an admirable fit.
“Suspicious turn in affairs ! The man presents the bill; I
accept it politely. He expects it to be paid on the spot;
I express great surprise and explain that I can have no
dealings with one of the workmen but only with the tailor
to whom I gave the order. The man becomes more in-
sistent; the time grows shorter and shorter. I lay hold of
the garments and attempt to put them on; the man seizes
them and prevents me from carrying out my intention.
Display of force on my side; display of force on his side.
Tableau! I continue the struggle as I am determined to
wear the new trousers at all hazards.
“Finally, I resort to a show of injured dignity, solemn
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
threats, curses upon the head of the tailor and his ac-
complices, upon whom I vow everlasting vengeance. In the
meantime, the man disappears, triumphantly taking my suit
with him. End of 2nd Act! Shirt-clad, I sit on the sofa,
scrutinizing an old black coat and trying to decide whether
or not it is good enough for Richard.
“... Outside, the rain descending in torrents . . . A
quarter to eight; at half-past, I had arranged to meet
Windisch at the Theatre Café. I rush forth wildly into the
dark and stormy night, in a mood of exhilaration despite
the old coat. After all, fortune had been kind to me; there
was even something uncanny and extraordinary about the
scene with the tailor's apprentice.
“We arrive at the hospitable Brockhaus home: no one
there but the immediate family, Richard, and the two of us.
Introduced to Richard and say a few deferential words. He
inquires very minutely how I come to be so familiar with his
works, inveighs roundly against the production of his
operas, with the exception of the famous Munich perform-
ances. He ridicules the conductors, who good-humoredly
call out to their men: 'Now, gentlemen, just a trifle more
passionate!—Meine Gutsen, noch ein bisschen leidenschaft-
erlicher !--W. is fond of using the Saxon dialect.
“Now let me tell you briefly what happened on this eventful
evening; it was enjoyment of so unique a character that I
have not yet been able to get back into the grooves of
everyday life, but am fit for nothing but to talk to you,
dear friend, and tell you ‘wundersame Mär. Before and
after dinner Wagner played all the important episodes from
the ‘Meistersinger,' imitating the different voices. He is an
astoundingly vivacious and high-spirited man, speaks very
First Meeting
U
rapidly, is extremely witty, and is very animated when in
the company of intimate friends.
“During the course of the evening we had a long con-
versation about Schopenhauer, and you can imagine my
unbounded joy at hearing him say, with indescribable en-
thusiasm, how much he owed to Schopenhauer and to hear
him called the only philosopher who had recognized the real
nature of music. Then he inquired what attitude the
professors now took towards Schopenhauer, and laughed
heartily over the Philosopher's Congress in Prague, referring
to them as “philosophic porters.' Later in the evening, he
read us parts of his autobiography upon which he is now
at work, among other things, a delicious scene from his
student days in Leipzig, of which I cannot yet think without
bursting into laughter. By the way, he is very clever and
witty with his pen. As we were leaving, he pressed my hand
and cordially invited me to come and see him so that we
might continue our conversation upon music and philosophy.
He also commissioned me to familiarize his sister and her
family with his music, which I solemnly pledged myself to
do. . . . You shall hear more when I am able to look back
upon this evening more objectively, and from a greater
perspective. ..."
CHAPTER II.
FIRST VISIT TO TRIBSCHEN.
(Spring of 1869.)
COME months after this meeting, my brother was called
to the University of Basle as professor of classical
philology, his appointment being due to a number of
striking scientific treatises published in the Rheinisches
Museum and to the personal recommendation of Prof.
Ritschl of Leipzig. During the Whitsuntide holidays of
the same year he went over to Lake Lucerne with the inten-
tion of visiting the various points of historic interest in
which this region abounds. Finding himself in the immediate
vicinity of Villa Tribschen he debated with himself as to the
propriety of accepting Wagner's invitation and paying a
call at the villa.
In a vacillating frame of mind, he set out along the
lake shore road leading to the romantic old country house
almost hidden from view in the enchanting landscape which
lay spread out at the foot of Mount Pilatus. Upon arriving
at his destination, he hesitated outside the garden hedge for
some time listening to an excruciating discord repeated again
and again. Later he learned that this was from the third
act of “Siegfried” at the point where the hero exclaims :
“Verwundet hat mich, der mich erweckt.”
Finally he was observed by a servant who came out to say
10
First Visit to Tribschen
that Herr Wagner was in the habit of working until two
o'clock and could not be disturbed before that hour. Upon
hearing this, my brother left his card and was some distance
from the gate when the servant came hurrying back to in-
quire whether the “Herr Professor” was the same “Herr
Nietzsche” whom Wagner had met in Leipzig. No sooner
had this fact been established than my brother was invited
to remain for dinner, but this he was unable to do as he had
arranged to meet his friends at Tell's Chapel further down
the lake.
The visit was, therefore, postponed until Monday, when
he went over to Tribschen early in the morning and spent
the first of those enchanting days with Richard Wagner
and Frau Cosima which were to form veritable oases in the
desert of his solitary life. I must explain here that some
time elapsed before my brother began to feel at home in
Basle. He was tremendously impressed by the solidarity
of this firmly established little commonwealth, and by the
extreme cordiality manifested by his colleagues, all of
whom were men much older than himself. He also had a
high regard for the serious-minded and reserved burghers,
but his was not the temperament to make friends easily,
and the same has always been said of the good folk of Basle.
He was, therefore, made indescribably happy by the un-
expected cordiality displayed towards him by Wagner and
Frau Cosima von Bülow from whom the first advances came
in a note written on May 20, 1869:
“As you were kind enough to promise us that you would
repeat your visit to Tribschen, I am now writing to ask
you to come over next Saturday, May 22. It is Herr
11
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
Wagner's birthday and I feel that I should be giving him
genuine pleasure by inviting you to an informal family
dinner and also to spend the night, provided you are will-
ing to put up with very modest sleeping accommodations.
Kindly send me a few lines so that we may know if we are
to expect you. Cordial greetings from
“Yours sincerely,
“COSIMA VON BÜLOW."
Unfortunately my brother's university duties prevented
him from accepting this invitation, and he was obliged to
content himself with writing the following letter:
Friedrich Nietzsche to Richard Wagner.
“Most honored sir:
"It has long been my intention to express unreservedly
the debt of gratitude I owe you. As a matter of fact, the
highest and most inspiring moments of my life are closely
associated with your name, and I know of only one other
man, and that man your twin brother of intellect, Arthur
Schopenhauer, whom I regard with the same veneration-
yea, even more, as religione quadam.
“I take especial pleasure in making this confession to you
on this auspicious day and even do so with a feeling of
pride. For if it be the fate of genius to belong to the
'select few for the time being at least—these “few have
every reason to feel highly honored by virtue of the fact that
it has been vouchsafed them to see the light and bask in
its warmth, while the larger public stands shivering in the
cold outside. Moreover, this ability to take delight in
genius is not a thing that falls lightly in the lap of these
12
First Visit to Tribschen
few, but is rather to be regarded as the result of a valiant
fight against powerful prejudice and antagonism. Having
fought this fight successfully, they come to feel that right
of conquest has given them quite an especial claim upon
this particular genius.
"I make bold to count myself among these "select few,'
since realizing how incapable the world at large is of com-
prehending your personality, or of feeling the deeply ethical
current by which your life, your writings, and your music
are permeated-in short, of sensing an atmosphere of that
poor Germans have been robbed overnight, as it were, by
every conceivable sort of political misery, philosophical
nonsense, and aggressive Judaism.
"It is to you and Schopenhauer that I owe my ability
of holding fast to the vital seriousness of the Germanic
race and to the deepened contemplation of our enigmatical
and perplexing existence.
“How many purely scientific problems have been eluci-
dated for me by dwelling on your own singularly lonely and
unique personality! All this I should have liked to have
said to you face to face, just as I should have preferred
not to have been obliged to write all that I have just written.
“How gladly would I have been with you in your lake
and mountain solitude had not the chains of my professional
duties bound me to my Basle dog-kennel.
“In closing I beg you to remember me to Baroness von
Bülow, and remain
“Your most faithful and reverential disciple and admirer,
“Dr. Fr. NIETZSCHE,
“Prof. in Basle,"
13
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
Early in June, my brother wrote to Erwin Rohde:
“... I am very happy in my friendship with Richard
Wagner and spent Whitmonday at his delightful country
home with him and the intelligent Frau von Bülow (the
daughter of Liszt). The latter also invited me to come
over and surprise Wagner on his birthday but I was obliged
to make a virtue of necessity and say 'No.'
“Wagner is really everything that one could expect; he
has an extravagantly rich and noble nature, energetic char-
acter, fascinating personality and strong will power. But
I must call a halt, or I shall find myself singing a paean
of praise."
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“Lucerne, June 3, 1869.
"Most valued friend:
“Accept my most heartfelt thanks—even though some-
what belated—for your beautiful and significant letter.
Had I wished to have you pay me a visit before receiving
this letter, I now urgently repeat the sincere and spontane
ous invitation extended to you when we parted in front
of the 'Rössli.
“Do come you need only send me a line in advance. For
instance, come Saturday afternoon, remain over Sunday
and return early Monday morning. Every day laborer
can dispose of his time to this extent, and it should be all
the more possible for a professor to do so. ...
“Now show yourself as you really are! As yet, my ex-
periences with my German countrymen have not been alto-
gether pleasurable. Therefore, come and rescue my faith in
14
First Visit to Tribschen
that which I, together with Goethe and a few others--call
German liberty.
“Cordial greetings from
“Yours sincerely,
“RICHARD WAGNER.”
My brother hastened to accept this invitation and dur-
ing the last night of his visit, Wagner's son, Siegfried,
was born--a fact Nietzsche did not learn until later in the
day as he was obliged to leave the house at an early morn-
ing hour. That the birth of Wagner's son should have
coincided with my brother's first visit to Tribschen was
regarded by both as an auspicious omen for the newly-
formed friendship.
In a letter dated June 16, my brother wrote to Rohde:
“... A short time ago I indiscreetly read Wagner a
beautiful passage from one of your letters and he was so
deeply moved that he begged me to let him have a copy of
it. Please do me a great favor and write him a long letter.
You are no longer a stranger to him. His address is,
‘Richard Wagner, Tribschen near Lucerne.' ...I was
again his guest for two days and felt myself wonderfully
refreshed by this visit.
“Wagner embodies all the qualities one could possibly
desire. The world has not the faintest conception of his
greatness as a man and of his exceptional nature. I learned
a great deal from my intercourse with him and it is like
taking a practical course in Schopenhauerian philosophy.
This sense of nearness to Wagner is an inexpressible source
of consolation to me. ..."
S
15
CHAPTER III.
THE SUMMER OF 1869.
Friedrich Nietzsche to Erwin Rohde, Aug. 17, 1869:
UT now let me tell you something about my Jupiter,
in other words, about Richard Wagner, in whose
society I am occasionally permitted to take a good
long breath, and thereby refresh myself to a degree that
would be incomprehensible to my entire corps of colleagues.
As yet, no honors have been conferred upon this remarkable
man, and he has only just received his first mark of dis-
tinction, an honorary membership in the Berlin Academy of
Arts.
“His life has been a rich, fruitful and agitated one,
absolutely unique and unprecedented when compared to that
of average mortals. There he stands, firmly rooted by his
own efforts, with his thoughts directed above and beyond
everything ephemeral and unseasonable. A short time ago
he gave me a manuscript of his to read entitled: "State and
Religion. This essay is intended as a memorial to the young
king of Bavaria, and is of such nobility of thought and
Schopenhauerian seriousness that I could only wish I were a
king to be admonished in like manner. By the way, I re-
cently copied certain passages from your letters and sent
16
The Summer of 1869
S
them to Frau von Bülow as she had repeatedly expressed the
wish to have them.
“A son to be christened ‘Siegfried' was born during one
of my recent visits to Tribschen, and when I was last there,
Wagner had just finished his music drama “Siegfried' and
was glowing in the full consciousness of his powers.
“You say you do not wish to write to him? And that
you think he must be satiated with the homage of the
enraptured laity? But I did not mean that you were to
write to him in his capacity as musician, but as a like
minded serious man. He receives few enough demonstrations
from people of that sort and each time he is as pleased as
if he had made an important discovery. Moreover, you are
no longer a stranger to him.”
It was Wagner's wish that my brother should spend the
greater part of his summer vacation in Tribschen, but this
he was unable to do. Upon learning of this decision, Wag-
ner made the half-playful, half-vexed comment: “The Pro-
fessor makes himself scarce!" This did not prevent the
family at Tribschen from following my brother's movements
with friendly interest, as may be seen from a letter of
Frau Cosima’s written late in June, 1869.
“... We suffered with you in your wretched Pilatus
adventure. While indulging in a bourgeois game of ten-
pins in Stanz on Sunday evening, we persuaded ourselves
that you were going to have fine weather for the ascent,
but when we awoke on Monday morning, we were genuinely
frightened about you. This feeling was shared by young
and old alike, and "What will Professor Nietzsche do?' ran
like wild-fire through the entire house, from the kitchen to
the nursery. Isolde came to me and said: “But Uncle Rich-
17
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
ard's man is up there. All this was on Monday, and when
the sun broke through the clouds on Tuesday, we concluded
that you must have remained on the summit all night.
When noon came and you still had not put in an appear-
ance, it occurred to us that you had been punished for hav-
ing treated Tribschen so badly, in having been either not
willing or not able to postpone your excursion for a day.
But be that as it may—whether punishment or fate the
whole thing was, and remains, abominable of you."
My brother was immediately taken back into favor,
despite the fact that he had made himself “scarce” and
had deserted Tribschen for the sake of the Pilatus adven-
ture. Frau Cosima wrote:
"Now I am writing to ask if you feel inclined to spend
the coming Saturday and Sunday with us? Bad weather
is assuredly less of a hardship here than on the top of
Pilatus, and I do not need to tell you how welcome you
always are. Herr Wagner adds his assurances to mine
and sends you cordial greetings. Last week he actually
had a letter from Prof. Brockhaus in which he announces
their departure and the possibility of a visit to us."
Naturally my brother could not refuse this second invita-
Brockhaus (whose wife was a sister of Wagner) arrived.
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
Telegram, August 3, 1869.
“The Brockhauses dine with us tomorrow (Saturday)
at two o'clock. Your presence requested, whereby complete
freedom promised for you for Sunday afternoon.
“WAGNER.”
18
The Summer of 1869
Frau Cosima neglected no opportunity of showing her
delight at having my brother at Tribschen, where his arrival
was always a signal for general household rejoicing. Frau
Cosima wrote that even the servants participated in this
demonstration:
“Come to us soon again. You know that Jacob is only
too glad to wait upon you and I hope no assurances are
needed from the master and myself.”
· It is not surprising that my brother should have spent
all his leisure moments at Tribschen and to this he refers
in a letter to Rohde written September 3, 1869: "... Like
yourself, I, too, have my Italy, but I can only take refuge
there on Saturdays and Sundays. I have been over three
or four times of late, and a letter flies over the same route
nearly every week. Dearest friend, it is impossible to tell
you all that I learn and see, hear and comprehend during
these visits. Schopenhauer and Goethe, Aeschylus and
Pindar still live, I give you my word for it.”
My brother not only received but gave inspiration, by
carrying his own world with him to Tribschen. Among
other things, he sent Wagner a copy of his inaugural ad-
dress on the “Personality of Homer," of which Frau Cosima
made the following acknowledgement:
"... This evening between Beethoven, Goethe and Schil-
ler, we read your address with deep interest and I now say
to you that you will not only find the great Aeschylus at
Tribschen but also your Homer. You will find him very
much alive and persistently productive. Herr Wagner sends
you his best thanks and says that he is in close sympathy
with all your views on aesthetic questions as well as with
the subject matter of your address. He congratulates you
19
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
on your presentation of a problem which to his mind, is
the beginning--perhaps the end, of all wisdom, and yet is
the one most frequently overlooked. If I may add a few
words of minor importance, it would only be to say that your
sympathy with Goethe's conflict, and the manner in which
you treat Schiller's antipathy to the entire question, have
given me the greatest pleasure and seem to me to be moments
of the deepest significance.
"Furthermore-not to lose sight of the purely formal
side of the question-you seem to have been extremely
felicitous in achieving the transition from a general problem
to a specific question. You have done this with consummate
art, and thereby succeeded in compressing one of the most
difficult subjects into the circumscribed limitations of an
address, and to have done this with astonishing clarity and
a remarkably sure touch.
"I fancy that your listeners must have followed you at
times, with a halting comprehension and that the expres-
sion 'in our hands we have a symbol,' must have created
genuine consternation. Do you not intend to publish this
little work? Even though it was meant only for Tribschen,
there is surely other fruitful soil in which it would take
root."
To all outward appearances life in Tribschen moved on
serenely and peacefully, but there were a number of things
to keep Wagner and Frau Cosima in a painful state of agi-
tation. One of these was the projected performance of
the “Rheingold” in Munich in direct opposition to Wagner's
wishes. The king could not comprehend Wagner's reasons
for objecting and this made the matter all the more pain-
ful. Wagner wrote to Cornelius: “The king loves my music,
20
The Summer of 1869
but attaches no importance to the way in which it is given.”
Referring to the web of intrigues woven about this per-
formance, he again wrote to Cornelius: “No one can have the
slightest conception of all that we have been called upon to
suffer and endure.”
During this period, my brother was a source of genuine
comfort to Wagner and Frau Cosima, or as the former
touchingly expressed it: "He was ever like a messenger
from a higher and purer world.” Wagner did not take the
matter so seriously as long as he believed that the production
of the opera would be in the hands of the faithful friends
whom he had been instrumental in bringing to Munich.
The artists who were to sing the parts of Wotan, Loge and
Alberich came to Tribschen where Wagner not only in-
itiated them into the music but also gave them practical
suggestions as to their acting. To be sure, these rehearsals
were not very inspiring, but every one was comforted by
the thought that the burden of the performance would be
borne by the orchestra of one hundred and seven men under
the direction of Hans Richter. Wagner resigned himself
to his fate and even tried to find comfort in the thought
that the public, having neither the inclination nor the
ability for a full understanding of the matter, would thereby
be given, at least, a faint idea of his great work. But
Wagner had not reckoned with the intrigues and machina-
tions of his avowed and secret enemies in Munich. If I
remember rightly, the fight centered around the person
of Hans Richter who was not acceptable as the conductor
of the work. This resulted in the postponement of the Rhein-
gold performance, ad calendum graecas and every one at
Tribschen breathed more freely for a time. But as Frau
21
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
Cosima truthfully said: “It is written in the stars that
nothing in Wagner's life is to be allowed to suffer only a
partial shipwreck. Everything must go to pieces pre
cipitately and overwhelmingly.”
Wagner made a secret visit to Munich to talk the matter,
over with the king's secretary, who, however, assured him
that if he continued to place obstacles in the way of the
performance and did not agree to dispense with the services
of Hans Richter, the consequences could be of the most
humiliating character. Thereupon, Wagner allowed matters
to take their course and deeply moved by the outcome,
Frau Cosima wrote: “I could endure all these indignities
with composure did not the master's health suffer so in-
expressibly under the strain. And this suffering is not
the result of the humiliating conditions to which he has been
compelled to submit, but because he sees therein the irrev-
ocable failure of all the most beautiful hopes of his life.
You will understand me; I know nothing of a break,' but
alas! of a fatal rupture, made all the more serious by the
fact that one side seems not to have the slightest compre-
hension of this, and it is therefore all the more keenly felt
by the other side. . . . He must now go to work again
on his ‘Siegfried.' I rely upon the quiet and solitude of
our life here in Tribschen to restore his shattered nerves.
If only the matter could be entirely dropped !"
My brother displayed the deepest sympathy in all these
conflicts and annoyances, and was taken into the closest
confidence on all questions of an intimate nature. When
Wagner passed through Basle on his way to and from
Munich he sought counsel of my brother and he was also
summoned to Tribschen to hear Richter's account of all
22
The Summer of 1869
the incredible happenings and intrigues that had set Munich
by the ears. After the performance had finally taken place,
Frau Cosima wrote to him: “You have probably heard
much more about the 'Rheingold' than we have. The unani-
mous verdict of the press seems to be that the performance
was magnificent but that the work itself was unendurable.
You can imagine that our hearts are heavy and that a
melancholy mood has taken possession of us. But God
be praised, the heavens here give forth warmth and sun-
shine and that is some consolation! I am enclosing some
lines written by the master the day he received news of
a performance so humiliating for him.
“Spielt nur ihr Nebelzwerge mit dem Ringe,
Wohl dien' er euch zu eurer Torheit Sold;
Doch habet acht: euch wird der Reif zur Schlinge;
Ihr kennt den Fluch: seht ob er Schächern hold.
Der Fluch, er will, dass nie das Werk gelinge.
An dem, der furchtlos wahrt des Rheines Gold.
Doch euer ängstlich Spiel aus Leim and Kappe
Bedeckt gar bald des Niblung Kappe."
23
CHAPTER IV.
LATE AUTUMN OF 1869.
T AGNER, Frau Cosima and my brother were drawn
very closely together during all the hours and
days spent in this remote spot, and the feeling of
intimacy was heightened by the sharing of many heavy cares
and burdens. It was during this autumn that Frau Cosima
wrote “... We regard you as one of the family and this
is saying a great deal in view of the material and moral
seclusion of our little court."
It was due to this seclusion that manifold commissions
were intrusted to my brother by both Wagner and Frau
Cosima. For example, certain of Wagner's letters had
been published without his knowledge and consent and my
brother was asked to see that a statement to this effect
appeared in all the leading newspapers. Then he was
also requested to conduct a search for a missing portrait
of one of Wagner's uncles in Leipzig, a task in which my
brother enlisted my services as well as those of Doris Brock-
haus, a niece of Wagner's. Frau Cosima makes acknowl-
edgement in one of her letters: “Please thank your sister
for her efforts in regard to the portrait and still more for
this proof of her kindly feeling towards me. In a life filled
with trials and suffering, one learns to value such demon-
strations of friendship. Notwithstanding the discouraging
24
Late Autumn of 1869
attitude taken by the Brockhaus family, I am still hope-
ful of obtaining possession of the portrait.” After quot-
ing this passage, my brother adds: “So you see that con-
crete results are expected from you. As far as I am
concerned you can accomplish this behind the back of the
Brockhaus family.” I acted upon this suggestion and was
soon able to report the discovery of the portrait.
As Christmas drew near, my brother was deluged with
commissions of all sorts and practically all of the Trib-
schen presents were bought by him in Basle. Not only was
he called upon to select Dürer engravings, antiques and
books, but he also had the novel task of buying dolls and
toys of all sorts, even a doll's theatre being on his list. With
each fresh request, Frau Cosima expressed her deep mortifi-
cation for annoying my brother with such trival matters.
She said that the master was very indignant with her, and
that she only gained her own consent to trespass upon
his good-nature by endeavoring to forget that he was a dig-
nified professor and philologian, and remembering only that
he was a young man of twenty-five. Her lists were pre-
pared in such a way as to facilitate his task in every
possible way, but Fritz took a very serious view of his mis-
sion and not only were the books, engravings and the like,
subjected to a close scrutiny, but he was extremely diffi-
cult to please when it came to the selection of the toys.
For instance, he found the king belonging to the ensemble
of the doll's theatre not sufficiently royal in appearance,
and the devil not as black as he should be painted. He
also developed an unexpected degree of fastidiousness in
regard to the robe worn by the Christmas angel, finally
25
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
scorning the one offered by the Basle shops and ordering
one from Paris.
But commissions of far greater importance than the
inspection and purchase of Christmas presents were in-
trusted to my brother by Wagner himself, who was en-
gaged in writing his autobiography. This was to be
privately printed and a few copies distributed among his
intimate friends. The following letter will show the magni-
tude of the task devolving upon my brother.
S
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“Most excellent friend:
"I am giving you the most extraordinary proof of my
confidence, by sending with this letter a large package of
valuable manuscript, namely, the opening chapters of the
dictated copy of my autobiography. This is done with a
twofold intention; first of all, I wish you to read this part
of the manuscript so that we can take up the reading at
this point when you come to Tribschen, for what, I hope,
will be a long visit. In the second place, I wish very much
that you may be able to have about sixteen pages printed
before Christmas as I wish to present it to our revered
friend. I shall be guided entirely by your judgment in
the matter. The chief thing is that the manuscript shall
be given to the printers exactly as it is. I have already
gone through it, after a fashion, in getting it ready for our
friend (Frau von Bülow) to make a copy for the king, but
all further polishing-off must wait until the proof-sheets are
ready, as it will then be easier for me to indicate any desired
changes. On the other hand, I reserve the right of inserting
D
26
Late Autumn of 1869
dates or even paragraphic notes in the proof-sheets. Mar-
ginal notes, such as dates or dates of dictation, are naturally
to be omitted. Roman print, everything ‘noble,' as they
say in Berlin. That is to be taken for granted.
“Five copies to be printed on the best vellum paper; 10
additional ones on a good quality of writing paper. More
than that will not be necessary at present. You will see
that the printer receives only so much of the manuscript as
is needed at one time.
“What do you think of the beginning?
"Shall we not see you again before Christmas?
"It is snowing today and the effect is very good. On
the whole, I am not good for much; catarrhal and abdominal
pains frequently interrupt my Nornes at their weaving.
And then again, I feel very well and am unalterable in my
resolve to live to a high old age. This would mean terrify-
ing printer's bills for me.
“Most cordial greetings,
"Yours,
“Tribschen, Dec. 3, 1869.
R. W.”
My brother had received the most pressing invitation to
spend the Christmas holidays at Tribschen. Cosima also
telegraphed:
“Expect you Friday afternoon. Marionettes heavenly.
Greetings and thanks.
“COSIMA.”
tay
In the meantime my brother had selected all sorts of ap-
propriate presents, his gift for Wagner being an enlarged
copy of a Schopenhauer photograph, lent to him for the
purpose by a friend of the philosopher. This piece of work
27
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
was executed by Gustav Schultz, a well-known painter and
photographer of Naumburg, and the carved frame, display-
ing Wagner's coat of arms, was also the work of a Naum-
burg wood-carver. My brother was delighted with the way
in which I had executed these commissions to which he at-
tached the greatest importance. He also collected an
astonishing array of presents for the children who were
devoted to "Herr Nü-tzsche.” This amused me very much
as, up to this time, my brother had not concerned himself
greatly about the wishes of little girls. The hospitable
old country house was transformed into a beautiful fairy
tale in which the blissful children and their parents moved -
about as if in a dream—the latter not without a tinge of
melancholy in their pleasure. In the exchange of presents,
Frau Cosima received from my brother a beautiful privately
printed copy of his inaugural address already mentioned,
the title of which had been changed from “Homer's Per-
sonality” to “Homer and Classical Philology."
Two rooms were set aside for my brother's use, the little
salon being christened the “Thinking Room" in his honor.
He was at liberty to withdraw whenever he chose and occupy
himself with his literary work, but, as a matter of fact,
neither Wagner nor Frau Cosima had the faintest idea of
the demands they made upon my brother's time, both in the
way of commissions and in the realization of their hospitable
intent.
Aside from this, Wagner turned over to my brother all
the onerous work connected with the printing of his auto-
biography owing to the difficulty he had in making himself
understood by the Italian, Bonfantini. It must not be for-
gotten that my brother was already taxed to the utmost
28
Late Autumn of 1869
by the new and exacting duties of his university position
to say nothing of his private work, and had he not had the
faculty of accomplishing everything with marvelous ease,
it would have been impossible for him to have met all these
demands upon his time and strength. The only criticism
he permitted himself in this connection, was that Wagner
and Frau Cosima had not the slightest conception of the
heavy work he was carrying at that time. But so great
was his admiration for the master and Frau Cosima that
he bore all these burdens in a spirit of joyful self-sacrifice,
and not content with this proof of his friendship, volun-
tarily offered his service for further tasks.
29
CHAPTER V.
EXPERIENCES DURING THE WINTER OF 1870.
U
THE new year opened with increased work for my
brother, as he had promised to deliver two special
lectures on the “Greek Music Drama" and "Socrates
and Tragedy." By reason of this, his letter of thanks to
Tribschen was delayed and this called forth a reproof from
Wagner.
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“My dear friend:
“Your silence surprises me, but I hope that this feeling
will soon be dispelled.
“For today, parenthetically, a request.
“From the family letters sent me as a Christmas gift, I
see that there is a chronological error in my biography.
In case the first sheets have not been struck off, I beg of
you to correct the chronological data throughout the manu-
script, as well as certain typographical mistakes which still
cling but will be easily found by going through the proof
again.
“Please do not be vexed with me about this !
“As the one left behind, I should have preferred to have
kept silent until you—the one who went away—had been
heard from. But now that the family chronology has taken
the matter in hand, I will further inform you that everything
30
Experiences during the Winter of 1870
at Tribschen is at sixes and sevens. Coughs, colds, catarrh
-or however it is spelled-have prostrated all of us. At
last my work on the Nornes has been resumed, and the
king has let himself be heard from in his customary erratic
manner. It is possible that 'Rheingold and ‘Walküre' will be
given in Munich this year, but it is scarcely probable that
this will be done in accordance with my wishes. So much
for this matter.
"My investiture from the Berlin Academy has arrived
and I have instructed Jacob to admit no one who does not
inquire for the 'Foreign Member in Ordinary, R. W. This
is my newest title!
“But now not another word, for I am beginning to have
my suspicions about you.
“Yours,
“Tribschen, Jan. 14, 1870.
R. W."
As may be imagined my brother answered this letter
immediately and it seems as if Wagner began to have faint
misgivings as to the demands that were being made upon
my brother's time. Frau Cosima, on the other hand, seems
not to have grasped the situation, if one may judge by
the following letter:
“... I have never been angry with you, but I am now
going to make a beginning in that direction. I have been
genuinely concerned about you and feared that you might
be ill, but I am not going to scold you and thus spoil my
satisfaction at hearing the contrary, as I am too well
pleased at having my perpetual distrust of fate disproved in
this manner. The master has told me how much work
you have on hand.”
31
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
Wagner also wrote in a sympathetic and conciliated
strain:
“Dearest friend :
“There are certain persons who invariably lay them-
selves open to suspicion! But that will soon right itself.
For today, I wish you an easy deliverance of all your la-
bors and herewith send you the two latest numbers of my
essay ‘On Conducting to help in assuaging your pains.
“The crest turned out very well and we have every reason
to be grateful to you for the careful attention you gave
the matter. However, I still have the same misgivings in
regard to the vulture, which unquestionably will be taken
for an eagle at the first glance. This may be easily ex-
plained by referring to any reliable work on natural history
and establishing the fact that there is a so-called 'monk-
vulture closely resembling an eagle. It is of the greatest
importance, on account of the associations, that the “vul-
ture' be instantly recognizable, and for this reason we beg
that you secure the best available picture of such a beast
and instruct the engraver to hang the characteristic ruff
of the vulture around the neck of our bird. I realize the
difficulties connected with such a change in the design, but
hope that it may be found possible of execution.
"I quite agree with you in the choice of the paper to
be used for all the copies of which only
TWELVE
are to be struck off. I find that this will be sufficient for
my present needs, as aside from my anxiety in regard to
the preservation of my manuscript, I am only concerned
32
Experiences during the Winter of 1870
about safe-guarding it from abuse. Under these conditions,
these twelve copies should possess genuine historic value.
“We have nothing but catarrh and grippe here. Wretched
weather and air like that in a hermetically sealed peasant's
hut. My work moves along slowly and laboriously.
“I am still having difficulties with my young monarch;
I anticipate no good results from the matter and fear that
great vexation of spirit is again in store for me. The
Academy has sent—but you already know that? Therefore,
the essay 'On Conducting' is not to be dedicated to the
Academy.
“Furthermore, I hope for the speedy and satisfactory
adjustment of many trying domestic relations, so that even
the 'world' will not be obliged to shake its head over us
much longer.
"In the meantime, Plato has again been called to the rescue.
Yesterday we finished reading Theatos, and in February
we mean to have a good look at Socrates and Euripides
to which I look forward with delight. Therefore, be of
good cheer like a real Prussian cavalryman!
“Cordial greetings,
"Yours,
“Tribschen, Jan. 16, 1870.
R. W."
Wagner's family crest, upon the suggestion of my
brother, was to appear as a title vignette for the auto-
biography (but without the vulture's ruff).
Much to my mystification, my brother requested me to look
out for a good picture of a vulture, although I could not
understand why it should be so vital a matter to have an
33
Thc Nictssche-Wagner Correspondence
absolutely correct picture of this bird appear on the crest.
Luter my brother told me that Wagner always regarded
his alleged stepfather, Ludwig Geyer, * as his real father.
I feel no hesitancy in repeating this remark, as this ques-
tion is now freely discussed and my brother himself alludes
to this in his book "The Case of Wagner.” As for that
matter, the stepfather seems to have been a gifted and
admirable man in more ways than one. He painted, wrote
(his “Murder of the Children of Bethlehem" is a most di-
verting comedy) and was said to have been extremely musi-
cal. Recent research has established the fact that Geyer's
father was an organist in Eisleben.
Wagner also sent the next lot of proof-sheets to my
brother for a final correction before they were returned to
the Italian Bonfantini, to whose name Wagner was in the
habit of hanging an extra syllable or two. Gradually,
Wagner seemed to feel that he was imposing too much
work upon my brother, and he commenced sending his in-
structions directly to the printer.
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche,
"Friend! Do I not burden you too much with these
proof-sheets? I am sending the accompanying copy through
your hands rather than directly to Herr Bonfantini, be-
cause I attach great importance to certain corrections (or
alterations) and do not yet feel myself sufficiently familiar
with the methods of these Italian printers and compositors.
But these matters will soon be straightened out, I hope.
*"Geier”—German word for "vulture.”
34
Experiences during the Winter of 1870
“Your lectures to the mothers' * made me shudder. But
you can console yourself by the thought of one who has had
dealings with the 'fathers' all his life, and whom he has
been ridiculing in all sorts of futile ways, of late. Write
soon to
“Yours sincerely,
“R. W."
“My work is going fairly well.”
“Jan. 27, 1870."
These two lectures on “The Greek Music Drama” and
“Socrates and Tragedy,” which my brother had written he
was to deliver before the “mothers,” soon found their way
to Tribschen where they created something of a sensation.
Here for the first time, my brother developed with greater
precision of detail his ideas on the overthrow of the Dionysian
tragedy through the spirit of Socrates and Euripides. Wag-
ner wrote at length of the impressions he had received upon
reading these two treatises.
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“Dearest Herr Friedrich:
"Last evening I read aloud your treatise to our friend.
After finishing it, I had the greatest difficulty in quieting
her, as she found that you had treated the awe-inspiring
names of the great Athenians in a surprisingly modern
manner. I was obliged to remind her that the entire char-
acter of public address and the present-day elegant manner
* “Mothers-goddesses of life” used by Goethe in "Faust," Act I,
Part II.
35
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
of book-writing had influenced the traditional style hitherto
used in the discussion of the great antique ideals, and that
thereby, this had been lowered to the niveau of the methods
employed in disposing of transitory modern phenomena.
(Mommsen's “Cicero” as feuilletonist occurred to me as I
was speaking.) This idea was quickly grasped and accepted
as an explanation of the weakness of our age. For my own
part, I was terrified by the boldness with which you launched
so new an idea, and the concise and categorical manner in
which you imparted this idea to a public which has but
little inclination for culture. I warn you that you will
have to reckon upon a complete misunderstanding from
this quarter.
“Even those who are initiated in my ideas will undoubtedly
be frightened upon finding your ideas coming into conflict
with their established belief in Socrates and even Aeschylus.
But as for me. I call out to you: It is true! You have
hit upon the right idea, and the real issue is so sharply
characterized that I can only await with a feeling of admira-
tion your further efforts to convert persons of ordinary
dogmatic convictions. At the same time I am deeply con-
cerned about you and from the bottom of my heart, I hope
that you will not injure your career. Therefore, I should
like to advise you not to touch upon such incredible views
in dissertations written with the intention of producing an
immediate effect, but to concentrate your efforts for a
larger and more comprehensive work on this subject, if, as
I believe, you are thoroughly convinced of the correctness
of these ideas.
“When that time comes, you will undoubtedly find the
36
Experiences during the Winter of 1870
right words for the divine errors of Socrates and Plato,
both of whom were creative natures of such overwhelming
power, that even in turning away from them, we are
compelled to worship them...
"O friend! Where shall one find adequate words of
high hopes and aspirations we may cherish for ourselves, if
we realize fully and clearly that we can and must achieve
something that was denied them.
"Above all things, I hope that I have left you in no doubt
as to my own opinion of your Socrates and the others, in
what I have just written you about your work.
“Yours,
“Tribschen, Feb. 4, 1870.
R. W."
Frau Cosima was much more agitated than Wagner and,
under the influence of her immediate impressions, wrote
as follows:
66... Everything significant is disquieting. These
words of Goethe came to my mind in listening to your dis-
sertation, dear Herr Professor. No doubt the master has
told you how excited I became and that he was obliged to
spin out the theme with me the entire evening. For al-
though your fundamental views impressed me sympa-
thetically, even familiarly at first, I cannot deny that the
boldness and originality with which you developed the idea
was simply overwhelming, and certain passages, such as the
decline of Greek tragedy beginning with Socrates,-or even
with Aeschylus—and then what you have written about
the form of Plato's 'Conversations,' were so startlingly new
37
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
that the master was obliged to convince me that you were
in the right.
"I was not so much excited by what you said and your
manner of saying it, as by the succinct form in which you
were obliged to present the deepest and most far-reaching
come active collaborators, and thereby an exciting situation
is created.
"After having gone through almost every sentence with
the master, and finding upon closer scrutiny, that every-
thing proved the correctness of your views—I read the work
through again yesterday and let it quietly take effect. The
impression I received after this second reading was a very
deep and beautiful one. Had your assurance fairly fright-
ened me at first, I now found it uncommonly satisfying, as
I recognized in it the pregnance of a powerful impression.
These remote geniuses whom I had always approached with
reverential awe, and to whose voices I had listened as to
those of prophets and high priests, suddenly became in-
dividualized and the mighty portent of Greek art passed
before me in its lofty tragedy."
My brother's answer to these two agitated and agitating
letters must have been exceptionally beautiful, as Wagner's
answer is very touching. How deplorable it is that the
world is denied a knowledge of this missing letter, which is
said to have been destroyed at Wahnfried !
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“Dear Friend!
"It is a wonderful comfort to be able to interchange
letters of this kind! I have no one with whom I can dis-
38
Experiences during the Winter of 1870
cuss things so seriously as with you—the only one ex-
cepted. God knows what I should do without you two!
When, after a period of deep dejection, I come back to my
work, I am often thrown into a mood of sheer good humor,
simply because I cannot comprehend it and am, therefore,
obliged to laugh about it. At such times, the reason for
all this comes to me like a flash, but to attempt to analyze
this feeling and endeavor to express it in terms of "Socratic
wisdom' would require an unlimited amount of time and the
elimination of all other claims upon me. Division of labor
is a good thing. You, for example, could assume a large
part, in fact the half of my objectives, and (perhaps !)
thereby be fulfilling your own destiny. Only think what a
poor showing I have made as a philologist, and what a
fortunate thing it is that you are on about the same terms
with music. Had you decided to become a musician, you
would have been, more or less, that which I should have
become had I persistently clung to philology. As matters
now stand, philology exerts a great influence over me, in fact,
as an adjunct of prime importance, it even directs me in
my capacity as a musician. On the other hand, you remain
a philologist and allow your life to be directed by music.
What I am now saying is meant very seriously. In fact,
it was you, yourself, who gave me the idea of the unworthy
circle in which a philologist by profession is doomed to
revolve at the present time, and you have assuredly learned
from me something of all the mathematical rubbish among
which an absolute musician (even under the most favorable
circumstances) is obliged to fritter away his time. Now
you have an opportunity of proving the utility of philology,
by helping me to bring about the grand 'renaissance in
39
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
which Plato will embrace Homer, and Homer, imbued with
Plato's spirit, will become, more than ever before, the truly
supreme Homer.
“These are just random thoughts which occur to me, but
never so hopefully as since I have taken so strong a liking
to you, and never so clearly—and (as you see) never so
clamoring for expression—as since you read us your
‘Centaurs.'* Therefore, do not doubt the impression
created upon me by your work. A very serious and profound
wish has been awakened in me, the nature of which will
also be clear to you, for should you not cherish the same
wish, you will never be able to carry it into fulfillment.
“But we must talk this all over. Therefore I think-
in short, you must come to Tribschen next Saturday. Your
sleeping room, the ‘Gallerie,' is ready and ‘Der Rauchfang
ist Dir auch gewiss't-in other words: auf Wiedersehen!
“With all my heart,
“Yours,
“R. W."
-
Not only Wagner, but also Frau Cosima, advised my
brother to develop this dissertation on Socrates and the
Greek Tragedy into a larger and more comprehensive work.
My brother smiled at this suggestion, as a wealth of
aesthetic problems and their solution had been fermenting
in his mind for years, and he had only taken advantage
S
* The expression “Centaurs” refers to a remark of Nietzsche's to the
effect that "science, art and philosophy have grown so closely together
in my works that I shall most likely give birth to a 'Centaur one of
these days."
+ “The chimney is also at your disposal.” Goethe's "Faust." Part 1.
Opening scene between Faust and Mephistopheles.
40
Experiences during the Winter of 1870.
of the two public lectures to work out a very small part
of the material ultimately designed for a big work on the
Greeks. It is very characteristic of Wagner, that despite his
intimate relations with my brother, he could have made
the mistake of believing that these two abbreviated lectures
were only apercus, so to speak, and that he should not
have recognized the fact that they were fragmentary parts
of collective experiences which could only have been as-
sembled by years of close study and profound thought.
Other persons fell into the same error, owing to the fact
that my brother, notwithstanding his fluency in daily inter-
course, rarely ever gave expression to his great new ideas
and plans, but preferred to let them ripen quietly into ma-
turity, before speaking of them. Whether my brother acted
upon Wagner's suggestions and revealed to him something
of his innermost plans, or whether he considered it too
premature to discuss the matter even with his intimate
friends,—we have no means of knowing, as his reply to
Wagner's letter is unfortunately missing
The originality and boldness of expression in the Greek
Tribschen, but it also seems to have had a gratifying effect
upon the depressed spirits of the family. Frau Cosima
wrote:
“... Your treatise and our pre-occupation with it has
marked a turning point in the mental atmosphere. We were
both so depressed that we had about abandoned our evening
readings, but the pilgrimage we took with you back to the
most beautiful period of the world's civilization, has had
so salutary an effect upon our spirits, that on the following
morning the master sent his Siegfried down the Rhine,
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
heralding his approach with a spirited theme accompanied
by the boldest and most extravagant violin figurations, and
upon hearing this, the Rhine Maidens responded with a
most joyous and vigorous outburst of their favorite motive."
(Overture to the “Götterdämmerung" after the parting of
Brünhilde and Siegfried.)
My brother often referred, in later years, to the in-
spiring effect his new theories upon the essential character
of the Greek drama had upon Wagner and Frau Cosima.
It was but natural that two persons of such high intelli-
gence should immediately perceive that some powerful new
message was being heralded here. In fact, my brother was
the first to afford us a glimpse into the profoundest depths
of the Greek soul, by his apprehension of the true signifi-
cance of the Dionysian, as an opposing force to the Appol-
lonian, tragedy.
The “dejection of spirit” of which Frau Cosima wrote
was due, primarily, to the projected performance of the
“Walküre" in Munich, upon which the young king insisted
in apparent miscomprehension of Wagner's objections to
the plan. Wagner owed King Ludwig an enormous debt of
gratitude, as it was due to his royal generosity that Wag-
ner, for the first time in his life, was relieved from financial
worries and enabled to devote himself wholly to his life-
work. He, therefore, felt compelled to yield to the king's
wishes in regard to the Munich production of the “Walküre,”
although he was dismayed at the attitude of the Intendant
of the Court Theatre, who showed not the slightest inclina-
tion to conform to Wagner's wishes in the matter. In
writing to Karl Klindworth, Wagner said: “This then is
the price I have paid for such a degree of household quiet
<
42
Experiences during the Winter of 1870
as will enable me to complete the composition of my life
work!” But the whole matter was extremely painful to
Wagner and he used strong language in characterizing
the events. How deeply he took the matter to heart may
be seen from the circumstance that he was highly offended
with all his friends and admirers (among whom was Franz
Liszt with his customary train of followers) who attended
the Munich production.
Nor was Wagner much better pleased with the “Meister-
singer” performances in Vienna and Berlin, although the one
in Berlin was of a much higher order of excellence than the
one in the Austrian capital, owing to the fact that there
were so many influential "patrons” in the former city, who
did everything in their power to make the work a success.
For example, Baroness von Schleinitz, whose husband was
a member of the Prussian cabinet, declared that she “would
live and die for the Meistersinger performance."
In Vienna, strong disapproval was manifested after the
Beckmesser “Serenade," as Wagner's enemies had started
the report that it was intended as a parody on an old song
from the Hebraic ritual. Notwithstanding the undeniable
success of the work in Vienna, the press of the city was
unfavorable, on the whole, and when one of the leading
critics commenced his review with the words that “al-
together too much praise had been expended upon the work,"
and that, therefore, he would “endeavor to speak the truth
about the matter," the family at Tribschen asked the
astonished question: "Where, pray?"
Despite glaring inadequacies in the staging of the work,
the Berlin production was really a triumphant success and
was promptly reported as such by Baroness von Schleinitz
43
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
and Baron von Gersdorff, my brother's best friend. The
A. A. Z. also reported that the “Meistersinger” had scored a
decided success. A letter from Tribschen called my brother's
attention to the interesting statements in this review to the
effect that: (1) the blonde Germans had been derided in
the work; (2) that it had been established that the work
had been written in a spirit of pure vanity and as an oratio
pro domo against music critics, but that, nevertheless, it
must be pronounced a masterpiece.
There were a number of other things to annoy Wagner
during this winter, among them being the announcement
of the engagement of his niece, Doris Brockhaus, to a man
by the name of Richard Wagner. This led to no end of
unpleasant complications as it was generally assumed that
Wagner had become engaged to his own niece, as a result
of which he was deluged with well-meant congratulations
and my brother with no end of inquiries. A short time
thereafter, the papers reported the sudden death of Richard
Wagner (the fiancé) which caused a repetition of the con-
fusion and vexation of the Tribschen family.
During his entire life Wagner was the object of much
speculation on the part of the public and gossip was
ever busy with his name. My brother took this very
much to heart and made every effort to prevent these
irritating pin-pricks from reaching Wagner. Frau Cosima,
also, was touching in her efforts to shield Wagner from
everything of an unpleasant nature, and to create a cheer-
ful atmosphere by which he would be inspired to continue
his work on the “Nibelung Ring” and the big autobiography.
She was unconsciously helped in this task by the five
children, Daniela, Blandine, Isolde, Eva and Siegfried, all
44
Experiences during the Winter of 1870
of whom were charming little creatures whose roguish pranks
afforded Wagner boundless delight. My brother was also
very fond of the children and was regaled with a new
assortment of children's stories each time he went to
Tribschen. Little Eva, in particular, was fond of making
up all sorts of stories about the "good Herr Nützsche.”
Sometimes she called him the “Good Herr Fressor”—a name
which always brought forth a reproof from Isolde who in-
sisted that it was "Professor, not Fressor; he is not going
to eat anyone !" (The point of this little story is entirely
lost in English as the emphasis lies on the word “fressen”—
sto eat”-_which is only used when applied to animals.)
Eva also took the greatest interest in my brother's physi-
cal well-being and was very much concerned that there was
“never any meat on the good Herr Nü—tzsche's plate."
Both Wagner and Frau Cosima made strenuous efforts to
convert my brother from the vegetarian diet to which he was
addicted, and, in time, he did abandon this, whether out of
love of Wagner, or of little Eva, I cannot say.
45
CHAPTER VI.
WAGNER'S BIRTHDAY.
(April-June, 1870.)
ne ta brother be a
T ARLY in April, 1870, my brother was made Pro-
fessor in Ordinary of Classical Philology by his fac-
ulty and the Swiss government, an appointment
which made a great stir in academic circles, by reason of
the fact that he had not yet reached the age of twenty-
five. There had already been some talk of a call to a
German university, and one of my brother's Leipzig
friends made the prediction that “Nietzsche will be a Privy-
Councillor by the time he is thirty”—this being considered
the highest honor that could be conferred upon a pro-
fessor at that time, and the be-all and end-all of academic
ambitions.
No one dreamed of my brother's dissatisfaction with his
professional duties, but a short time thereafter, he ad-
mitted as much to me sub rosa. That spring, my mother
and I paid him a visit and together we made a trip to Lake
Geneva, where we had an ideal sojourn at Pension Ketterer
in Clarens-au-Basset.
The Tribschen friends took the greatest interest in my
brother's new honors and also in the trip to Lake Geneva.
In fact Wagner felt greatly relieved at the turn in affairs,
2
46
Wagner's Birthday
as my brother had suffered so keenly from all the painful
and humiliating experiences to which Wagner had been sub-
jected during the winter, that he had already intimated his
readiness to give up his professorship and place himself
entirely at Wagner's service. Wagnér was seriously opposed
to this, as however much he might wish to have Nietzsche
devote himself to him and his cause, he, nevertheless, realized
the tremendous prestige to be derived from having this done
by a university professor. We were always greatly amused
at the importance Wagner attached to my brother's position
and title.
This will explain the satisfaction Wagner felt at having
my brother return to Basle apparently reconciled to his
position, and alert to continue his philological studies. He
intimates as much at the close of the following letter, other-
wise occupied with his affairs at the printers':
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“Valued friend!
“... I am glad to hear that you have been cheered by
your sojourn on the shores of Lake Geneva. The same places
which you mention in your letter are indelibly associated
with various periods of my own life. At Hotel Byron in
Villeneuve, I passed through one of the most extraordinary
catastrophes of my whole life. In Montreux, I made an
amazing discovery in regard to a young friend, and four and
a half years ago, I sought a winter asylum in Vevey, where I
took long walks with the Grand-duke of Baden and discussed
German politics and other matters with him.
“I now perceive that philology 'weird and gray' has again
taken possession of you, and that even diverting excur-
47
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
Y
0
sions into the realm of 'style' will be difficult for you. There-
fore, let me be also silent on trivial things connected with
my own work. By doing this I may possibly be able to
deflect your mind from the confusing impressions that surged
in upon you from a sphere, in which another can, or must
feel himself called upon to give himself up, heart and soul,
to the contemplation of this world of ideas.
“I am working slowly but 'surelys on my music dramas
and take great comfort in the thought that when I wrote
my “Meistersinger," I came in contact with the opera and
the theatre for the last time.
“Cordial greetings to you from
“Yours,
“Tribschen, May 10, 1870.
RICHARD WAGNER."
I should like to add here that Wagner was somewhat
astonished to find my brother in so cheerful a frame of mind
upon his return from Switzerland, and again alluded to
this on two subsequent occasions when my brother had
quickly rebounded from a pessimistic mood. Somewhat
apologetically my brother replied: "It is due to my sister's
companionship, as there is something very exhilarating about
her that reconciles one to the world.” Erwin Rohde’s name
for me was always: "Fräulein Euphrosyne."
For the second time, my brother's duties made it im-
possible for him to take part in Wagner's birthday festivities,
but he sent twelve flowering rose bushes to Tribschen, re-
serving his chief gift, a copy of Dürer's “Melancholie" until
it could be delivered in person, as he felt that an engraving
of so depressing a character was not altogether a suitable
birthday present. Again he took recourse to his pen and
48
Wagner's Birthday
wrote the master a letter in which allusions were made to
a recent conversation between them, and with this he sent
a new photograph of himself.
Friedrich Nietzsche to Richard Wagner.
“Pater Seraphice:
“As it was impossible for me to participate in your birth-
day festivities last year, so again an unfavorable constella-
tion prevents me from being with you. It is with a very
bad grace that I take the pen so unwillingly forced into
my hand, whereas I had hoped I might be able to make a
Mayday pilgrimage to Tribschen.
"Permit me to make my wishes today an expression of
my most intimate personal feelings. Let others bring you
congratulations in the name of divine art, in the name of
their high hopes, in the name of their own individual wishes,
but for me the most subjective of all wishes suffices. May
you remain what you have been to me during the past year,
my mystagogue in the esoteric doctrines of life and art.
Even though the gray mists of philology should seem to
separate us from time to time, my thoughts in reality shall
ever be with you. If it be true, as you once wrote me (to
my great pride!) that my life is directed by music, then
you, and no other, are the director of that music, and you,
yourself, have said that even a mediocre composition can
create a good impression if well conducted. It is in this
sense that I offer you the rarest of all wishes—may every-
thing remain as it is, may the moment abide, for ah! it is
so beautiful! All I ask of the coming year is that I may
not prove unworthy of your priceless sympathy and your
49
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
unfailing encouragement. Accept this wish as one of the
myriads of other wishes with which you enter upon a new
year of your life!
"ONE OF THE ‘BLISSFUL YOUTHs.'"*
S
-
T
The birthday festivities at Tribschen were uncommonly
beautiful this year. Frau Cosima had transformed the
entire house into a flower garden and the four little girls
-dressed alike in white, with wreaths of roses in their
hair—were stationed at different places to represent living
flowers. Frau Cosima with Siegfried on her lap, occupied
the center of this tableau. At eight o'clock in the morning,
the strains of the “Huldigungs March" came from the
garden where was stationed a military band of forty-five
pieces from the barracks in Lucerne. Frau Cosima, herself,
had given them instructions in regard to the tempi and at
first Wagner was so overcome that he was unable to utter
a word, and Frau Cosima almost regretted having planned
the poetic and romantic program.. Daniela, the eldest of
the four Bülow daughters, had conceived the pretty idea
of liberating her five dearly beloved birds in honor of Uncle
Richard's birthday. This formed one of the most charm-
ing episodes of the day. After reciting a poem written
for the occasion, Daniela opened the cage and four of the
birds flew joyfully into the air. But the fifth, unaccus-
tomed to freedom, at first refused to leave the cage and
had to be taken out and placed on a bush in the garden.
Later in the day, it must have fallen from its perch and
been devoured by the dog. The children were not allowed
* "Pater Seraphice," "Mystagogue," and the “Blissful Youths" are
all expressions used by Goethe in the Finale of his "Faust."
50
Wagner's Birthday
to learn anything of this little tragedy, but the fate of
their feathered friend made a very mournful impression upon
Wagner and Frau Cosima, the latter remarking that my
brother might just as well have sent the Dürer "Melancholie”
after all. But despite these clouds, the day was one long
to be remembered, though with mingled feelings of sadness
and joy, as is all that is precious in life.
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
.
“My valued friend:
“You will already have learned from a dear hand, how
welcome the 'Blissful Youth' was to 'Pater Seraphice.' I
know that you need no further assurance of this. You will
also have heard of the blissful hours, which will live in my
memory so long as I am capable of emotion. Therefore, I
shall not tell you of all the "blessings" but rather speak of
matters that require attention in quite another phase of life.
This time, it is in regard to a letter from Bonfantini, written
in Italian, to which I was obliged to reply in French, telling
him that I would inform you of the agreement I have made
with him in regard to the future correction of the proof-
sheets of my autobiography. The man seems not to be
getting on with the work at all, and is no doubt highly
delighted at being able to shift the responsibility for his
own dilatory methods to other shoulders. This he does
by attributing it to the difficulty he has in communicating
with a scholar so deeply engrossed as you are at times. I
can understand this perfectly, but I am also mindful of the
fact that I cannot continue to burden you in this way. I
mentioned something of this kind to you in my last letter
51
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
and I again earnestly beg you to consider yourself relieved
of the burden of this responsibility. But whenever you
happen to be passing the office of our Italian, you would
greatly oblige me by looking in and inspecting the work of
my manuscript. . . . It is a curious circumstance that in
the course of publishing this essentially Germanic auto-
biography, I should be called upon to translate an Italian
letter!
“You need never think, my dearest friend, that you will
ever be denied an insight into these pages for, as you know,
it is you whom I have in mind as the custodian of these
memoirs when I am dead and gone. Everything is going well
here. Tomorrow, I expect to finish the sketches for the first
act of “Siegfried” (“Götterdämmerung,”_I meant to say!)
Day after tomorrow, we celebrate my son's first birthday and
at the same time, the anniversary of your first visit to us.
May the stars look down benignly upon this twofold celebra-
tion! At the time it seemed to me as if you had brought good
luck to my son. Since then, a year full of difficulties and yet
one rich in joys has passed over our heads, and now it almost
seems as if the constellation which watched over my birth-
I mean, Taurus !—is to be taken into the reckoning. All
things come to him who waits! I dare to hope that within
a few months, the high-hearted mother of my son will become
my wife.
“Farewell, and be of good cheer, by that I mean not ac-
cording to modern, but ancient Greek ideas!
“With heartfelt greetings,
“Yours faithfully,
“Tribschen, June 4, 1870. RICHARD WAGNER.”
52
Wagner's Birthday
As has already been seen from passages in my brother's
letters to Erwin Rohde, he was unremitting in his efforts
to bring his dearest friends in closer touch with Wagner, and
was never happier than when he was successful. Thus he
writes to Gersdorff: “.... That you and I are agreed
in our feelings for Richard Wagner, is the best of proof
for me that there is a close bond of union between us. For
this is not an easy matter, and great courage is required if
one is not to be led astray by the hue and cry of the world.
Moreover, one must be prepared to meet occasional honest
and intelligent persons in the opposing party. Schopenhauer
must help us to rise above this conflict, theoretically, just
as Wagner, the artist, can give us practical aid. Two
things I endeavor to keep ever before me. In the first place,
that the incredible seriousness and the truly Germanic pro-
fundity of Wagner's views of art and life, gushing forth
from every tone of his music-is just as abhorrent to the
majority at present, as is Schopenhauer's asceticism and
negation of will. In the second place, Wagner's ideal art in
which he shows a close affinity to Schiller, is especially
detested by our "Jews'—and you know what a far-reaching
element this is—and these high-hearted conflicts from which
is to emerge the day of the noble souls'—in other words,
the chivalrous element—are repugnant to the plebeian
political clamor of our day. Furthermore, I often find in
persons of the most exceptional character a tendency to
indolence, as if no individual effort or thorough-going study
was demanded of them with a view to a better understanding
of such an artist and such art-works.
“What a joy it was to me then to learn that you had made
a serious study of 'Opera and Drama'! I at once reported
(D
53
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
this to Wagner. My friends are no longer strangers to him
and if after the first ‘Meistersinger' performance you wish to
write a letter to R. W., I can assure you that it will be
warmly welcomed. In the meantime, I will see to it that they
are fully informed in regard to the author of the letter. It
is also understood that when you come to pay me a visit, I
am to take you over to Tribschen.
"My life has been infinitely enriched by my intimate inter-
course with such a genius. All the highest and most beauti-
ful experiences of my life are associated with the names of
Schopenhauer and Wagner, and I am both proud and happy
to know that these views are shared by my nearest and
dearest friend. Have you read “Art and Politics? I should
also like to call your attention to a little essay by R. W.
called 'On Conducting,' which may best be compared to the
'Professor's Philosophy of Schopenhauer."
Baron von Gersdorff and Erwin Rohde were my brother's
most intimate friends and in inviting them to Tribschen,
Wagner said: “... Your brother is one of us, and his
friends are our friends." The first to be introduced at Trib-
schen was Erwin Rohde who stopped off in Basle on his way
back from Italy in the spring of 1870. My mother and I
were also there at the time and the four of us took a little trip
to the Bernese Oberland, and upon our return Dr. Rohde
was presented to Wagner and Frau Cosima. He made the
“Your brother and his friends are a wonderful new type
of men, such as I had hitherto deemed impossible.” In
recalling this memorable visit, both Rohde and my brother
never failed to speak of the “profound moments lived through
in Tribschen."
54
Wagner's Birthday
During this visit, the sensation created by my brother's
new views upon the Greek soul was often the topic of con-
versation, and he learned that the “Greek Music Drama”-
the first of these two lectures—had only been read in part
in Tribschen..
Upon learning this, my brother carefully copied out the
two lectures and presented them to Frau Cosima. She was
delighted, expressing her gratitude in the most extravagant
terms and referring to the fact that Wagner had reproached
her for having drawn such premature conclusions under the
stress of the moment, and before she had had time to grasp
fully the ideas Nietzsche meant to convey. She wrote:
“... How touched I am by the dedication of the two
lectures you were kind enough to send me. Accept my
warmest thanks for having vouchsafed me this great pleas-
ure. I have now re-read the lecture on the music drama
and can only repeat that I regard it as an invaluable
vestibule to your Socrates structure. I could have spared
myself the most unnecessary agitation at the time of the
first reading had I known by what a warm pulsing descrip-
tion of the Greek art works it had been preceded. Your
broad-boughed tree is now rooted in the most glorious past,
in the home-land of beauty, and proudly rears its head into
the most beautiful dreams of the future. Many details
which capitivated and stimulated me even during your read-
ing are now indelibly stamped upon my mind. For instance,
your comprehension of creation and evolution, of the 'Fanget
an! in art as well as in nature, and particularly, your
views on the high consecration of the drama. Your thor-
oughly trenchant characterization of the chorus as a sep-
arate organism-an idea quite new to me-seems to me to
55
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
furnish the only correct interpretation of the Greek drama.
Moreover, the bold and striking analogy you draw between
the religious dance of the chorus and the Beethoven
Andantes, and between the English tragedy (you mean, of
course, the Shakespearean) and the Allegros, has again
demonstrated to me your deeply musical nature, and I think
it not improbable that this striking musical instinct, has
given you the key to the innermost secrets of the Greek
tragedy, to suffering instead of action-just as if a person
had been led through the Indian religion to the Schopen-
hauerian philosophy. ... With unqualified delight, I have
placed the green Socrates side by side with the violet Homer,
and both shall be cherished and nourished to the best of my
ability until one of them, at least, shall be crowned in
Bayreuth by the fulfillment of his hopes. ....
"You will write your book in Bayreuth and we will strive
to do it honor. And even though I am only building castles
in the air, I will nevertheless, cherish them as has never
been done with any worldly good, that by so doing, their
frail outlines may furnish a protecting roof for the growth
of the magnificent plant, ever endangered by unfavorable
weather and changes of temperature.
“When once the 'Nibelung' is completed, the beautiful
images will have performed their duty, let existing conditions
be what they may. As a matter of fact, I should not know
how to counterbalance the humiliation of the recent ‘Wal-
küre' performance, were I not sustained by the thought of
Bayreuth.
"It is extremely gratifying to hear, especially in the
beautiful way you express it--that you and your friend
enjoyed your visit to Tribschen. These days will also live
56
Wagner's Birthday
in our memory. The master was very much pleased with
your friend, and both of us were deeply impressed by his
manly seriousness, his sympathetic attitude, his unmis-
takable feeling of friendliness for us which illuminated, at
times, his somewhat austere features. Should he be called
to the university of Freiburg, you must bring him often to
Tribschen as 'zweieinig geht der Mensch zu best,' to quote
our authority.
“You left a melancholy souvenir of your last visit in the
‘Melancholie of Dürer; this has been the theme of many of
our conversations and we are agreed that Dürer must be
regarded as the keystone of the Middle Ages, by reason of
the fact that he permits “the enigmatic, infinite symbolism of
the Christian Church' as it were, to speak its last word.
Not suspecting, or wilfully ignoring mere beauty of form
and outline, he only reveals to us the sublime. Bach also
belongs in this category, and both seem to me to be, not a
beginning, but an end. ...99
When Hans Richter was expected in Tribschen, Wagner
sent word to my brother that there was to be a regular
musical feast, but that no special invitation would be sent
him for fear of interfering with his university duties. Upon
receiving this message, my brother sighed deeply as he knew
that it would be impossible for him to avail himself of this
treat, presumably, the “Götterdämmerung” music.
57
CHAPTER VII.
WAR'S ALARMS AND QUIET FAMILY FESTIVITIES.
ATE in June my mother returned to her home in
Germany, but at my brother's urgent request, it was
decided that I should remain in Basle. Letters and
all sorts of greetings were exchanged between Basle and
Tribschen, but my brother had sprained his ankle rather
seriously and was therefore unable to accept any invitations.
The execution of the Tribschen commissions devolved upon
me, and it was I who answered Wagner's humorous appeal:
"Fresh Holland herrings longed for in Tribschen. Would
not Marie Walther be willing to come to the rescue, if she
knew that thereby she would be saving the art-work of the
future? Conductor Richter now installed at Tribschen.
And the Professor?
“WAGNER.”
Here again was a veiled plea for my brother's society
and as he still felt quite wretched and unfit for active work,
we took advantage of the so-called “Bündeli Tag,” a national
holiday, to make a little pilgrimage to Lake Lucerne.
In Lucerne we parted, my brother going to Tribschen
and I to pay a promised visit to the mother of one of my
brother's Basle colleagues, who owned a villa on the lake
shore just across from Tribschen.
Our field glasses were often turned upon the little pen-
58
War's Alarms and Quiet Family Festivities ,
insula and one day someone came running in to say that a
rowboat had just put off from the opposite bank, in which
sat my brother and another man. I had gradually become
sensible of the fact that the union of Wagner and Baroness
von Bülow was not as innocent, as I, in my youth and
ignorance, had always assumed it to be. The fact that
Frau Cosima was constantly surrounded by her four little
girls (the entire “Bülowiana”, as Wagner jokingly called
them!) lent an innocent aspect to the relationship and
furthermore great stress was laid upon the sojourn in
Switzerland as one necessitated by considerations of health.
As my brother was evidently coming to fetch me and I
had lost confidence in my own judgment, I appealed to my
hostess to decide the matter for me. The reply of the
aristocratic old lady was: “It is perfectly proper for you
to go any place your brother sees fit to take you," an
answer which indicated my brother's standing in these ex-
clusive patrician circles. My heart was beating high as I
sat in the boat Hans Richter was rowing back across the
lake. I was received most cordially at the landing by
Wagner and Frau Cosima, but just at first, I was somewhat
confused at finding Wagner such a pigmy compared to
Frau Cosima. I must admit that I was also unpleasantly
impressed by the interior decorations of the old-fashioned
country house, which consisted of rose-colored hangings and
amorettes in lavish profusion, evidently designed by some
Parisian meubleur.
But I found Wagner and Baroness von Bülow delightful
and the children fascinating, especially the little Siegfried
of whose advent I had been kept in ignorance. I feel sure
that a great weight fell from my brother's heart when this
59
The Nietssch-Wagner Correspondence
visit passed off' so pleasantly, and without my having caused
him any embarrassment by asking awkward questions. Even
though this visit opened my eyes to the true relations existing
between Wagner and Baroness von Bülow, nothing dimin-
ished my admiration for them. Cosima's action in deserting
Hans von Bülow seemed to me the most supreme sacrifice
she could have made for the genius of Richard Wagner and
his life-work. She must have sensed my sentiments, as she
wrote to my brother: "I am overjoyed to have made your
sister's acquaintance and to know that brother and sister
entertain the same feelings towards me. Please share in
my cordial and most heartfelt greetings and interpret them
as an expression of my most genuine appreciation."
- Sliortly after this visit, my brother and I went to the
Arenstein and then on to the Maderan Valley. In the mean-
time the war cloud had burst, creating indescribable con-
fusion in Switzerland by the calling to the colors of in-
numerable Germans and French who had come to Switzerland
for a peaceful summer outing. Basle could not furnish
night-quarters for all the men who were hurrying back to
their respective countries. The waiting room at the station
wa's crowded to overflowing and those who could not endure
the stifling air considered themselves fortunate to be able
to hire a cab for the night. (Everything just as it was at
the beginning of the present war!)
My brother was very much depressed at not being eligible
for active service, but before accepting the call to the Basle
university he had been compelled to expatriate himself. He
sought consolation in intensive literary labors in this remote
Alpine valley and wrote a dissertation on the “Dionysian
Viewpoint." I remember quite distinctly that while he was
60
War's Alarms and Quiet Family Festivities
reading this aloud to me one day, we were interrupted by
several charges from an old cannon. The guests came
rushing from all sides to know what was the matter and
learned from our landlord (a physician who had studied in
Germany) that “the Germans had had a glorious victory!"
It was not long before the official communiqués penetrated
to our mountain solitude and the names of “Wörth" and
“Weissenberg” were on every tongue. But there was also
news of "heavy losses” and my brother turned as white as
a sheet. For a long time he walked up and down on the
terrace with Mosengel, a Hamburg painter, and finally ap-
proached me with a solemn mien. I felt what was coming
and tears sprang to my eyes : "Lisbeth, what would you do
if you were a man?”—“Why, I should go to war, of course;
it would make no difference about me but you, Fritz!”
and I broke off into an uncontrollable fit of weeping. After
quieting me, he explained that he felt it to be his duty to
try and enlist for active service. Should the Swiss govern-
ment not agree to this, he would then offer his services as a
field nurse. We left at once for Basle, my brother having
already sent in a written request to the Swiss Board of
Education through Herr Vischer, one of the councilmen.
Only a rough draft of this request has been preserved: "In
view of the unexpected situation in which Germany now
finds herself, you will not be surprised to learn of my de-
cision to place my services at the disposal of the fatherland.
It is for this purpose that I address myself to you with the
request that you use your influence with the Board of
Education in securing a leave of absence for me for the
remaining weeks of the summer semester. My health is now
61
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
so greatly improved that I feel myself unqualifiedly strong
cnough to serve either in the ranks, or as a field nurse.
“Nowhere will my determination to throw the infinitesimal
mite of my personal effort into the sacrificial box of the
fatherland meet with readier sympathy and understanding
than from a Swiss Board of Education. .
“Deeply conscious as I am of my Basle obligations, I feel
that I could be held to these duties only by the most painful
coercion, in the face of the powerful appeal Germany is
making to every single one of her sons to perform his duty
as a German, and that from now on my work, under these
conditions, would have only a negligible value. And I should
like to see a Swiss burgher who would feel himself bound by
any such considerations if confronted by similar conditions."
(The last sentence is crossed out.)
This request was granted, but only under the condition
that my brother volunteer as a field nurse, thus frustrating
his own wish to enter the active service. On August 12 we
started for home. Mosengel joined us in Lindau and the
two proceeded to Erlangen where they were to take a course
in nursing
On the way back to Basle my brother paid a flying visit
to Tribschen, only remaining long enough to read his
friends the above mentioned dissertation on the “Dionysian
Viewpoint." His intention of participating in the war was
only mentioned tentatively, as my brother knew full well
that he would meet with vigorous opposition from Wagner
and Frau Cosima, who argued that “this was not 1813, when
young scholars like himself were called upon to organize a
Lützow corps."
When they learned later that he had secured the permis-
1
62
War's Alarms and Quiet Family Festivities
sion of the Swiss government to serve his fatherland in the
capacity of a field nurse, they became somewhat reconciled
to the idea. Both of them felt, and not without justice, that
the hideous reality of war would have a most injurious effect
upon my tender-hearted brother, but agreed that “the sight
of active suffering might be more endurable for him than
the passive conception of this suffering.”
My brother was one of the few philosophers who not only
understood the necessity of war but justified it. He always
laid great stress upon its purifying, ennobling and elevating
influence and it was at this time that he found the magnificent
words descriptive of war:
“Terrible is the sound of his silver bow, and, though he
(the war-god) draws near like the night, he is, in reality,
Apollo, the god of consecration and purification.”
While my brother was on his way to the theatre of war,
a family festival was being celebrated in Tribschen. The
marriage of Wagner to Frau Cosima von Bülow took place
in Lucerne on the twenty-fifth of August, the only witnesses
being the old family friends, Malvida von Meysenburg and
Count and Countess Bassenheim, who had made their home
in Lucerne for many years. Malvida later related that
Wagner was in transports of joy at the thought that his
domestic relations had at last been brought into conformity
with the civil laws. His only regret was that my brother
could not have been one of the witnesses at the wedding
as he “knew of no one who would so rejoice over the matter."
Wagner also confided to Malvida that his “beloved
Nietzsche," who came from a family which could look back
on generations of virtuous living, had “suffered unspeak-
ably" over the irregular relations of Wagner's household.
63
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
.
(And this was quite true, for as late as 1877, my brother,
in speaking to me of one of his women friends, said: “All
illegitimate relations are repugnant to me, because they
necessitate so great a degree of subterfuge.")
Wagner further said that the reason Nietzsche had “over-
come his scruples in regard to associating with a family of
such reprehensible morals, was because he regarded him
(Wagner) and Frau Cosima as persons of extraordinary
qualities which placed them far above the average, and con-
sequently beyond the jurisdiction of all regulated domestic
relations."
On this point, Wagner was absolutely correct in his judg-
ment of my brother, as throughout his writings he has given
repeated expression to the thought that extraordinary
persons are at liberty to adjust their personal relations
according to their own standards, and that this was par-
ticularly true of artists. He writes on this subject: “Our
artists lead a freer, more unconventional and honest life and
the most striking example we have, I mean Richard Wagner,
proves to us that genius need not fear to take an inimically
hostile attitude towards existing social forms and laws, if
by so doing he is endeavoring to disclose the still higher
truth and law dwelling in him.”
Again and again my brother emphasized the thought that
the rights and privileges claimed by a man should be in
relation to the obligations he thereby assumed and the tasks
he felt himself equal to perform. Uncommon works and
deeds were thus to furnish justification for those uncommon
persons who placed themselves outside the pale of the moral
code. But my brother regarded it as a terrible responsibility
for a man to assume, and protested that he should never
11
64
War’s Alarms and Quiet Family Festivities
lose sight of the fact that the hour and the day would surely
come when the works and the life of these immortals would
be strictly weighed in the balance. Fortunate would then
be those, who by virtue of the real greatness of their work
and conduct, would be able to banish from the memory of
the world everything that was unsavory and paltry! Fur-
thermore, my brother always manifested the strongest
sympathy for men of strong will power even though they
were not geniuses. For such men he had no virtuous advice,
but rather spoke to them in the words of Richard Dehmel's
beautiful poem: "First seize—then suffer!”
It would be unjust to my brother did I not add here that,
despite his tolerance, he found it unnecessary for persons of
the highest order of talent and strength to disregard social
laws and traditions. On the contrary, he believed that such
laws and traditions threw the strongest protection around
peculiarly conditioned natures, liberating them from the
petty struggles and annoyances of everyday life, and en-
abling them to rise higher in the realm of the spirit.
He, himself, furnishes the most striking example of his
own theory, a fact recognized by Wagner, who out of con-
sideration for my brother's well-known sentiments and moral
scruples, took great pains to conceal from him much that
was reprehensible in his own life during the years prior to
their friendship. It has always been my firm conviction
that it was considerations of this nature which influenced
Wagner in relieving my brother from the arduous task of
reading the proof-sheets of his autobiography, as he knew
that much therein revealed would be offensive to Nietzsche's
fastidious tastes. At other times, my brother's chastity
seemed to irritate Wagner, and he would suddenly break
65
The Nietssche-Wagner Correspondence
forth into the coarsest and most objectionable expressions
concerning himself and Frau Cosima.
But on the whole, he was keenly sensitive to my brother's
thinly-disguised disgust, and when he had gone too far in one
of these outbursts, would proceed to indulge in recrimina-
tions against himself and his incurable tendency of making
vulgar jokes. No one could be more lovable than Wagner
when he made the effort, and as he made a point of showing
his best qualities to my brother, the latter had only an
idealized picture of Wagner's life and character.
While the nuptial festivities were being celebrated in
Tribschen, my brother completed his course of training at
the Society of the Field-Diaconate in Erlangen and was
sent to the front as a confidential messenger and leader of
a sanitary unit. Large sums of money were intrusted to
him and so many messages of an intimate personal nature,
that he often had to make his way from ambulance to ambu-
lance, and from hospital to hospital, under a rain of bullets,
stopping as occasion demanded to receive the last words of
dying men. No one knows what a strain this was upon my
brother's sympathies, but it is a curious fact that despite
the strong mental agitation resulting from the painful im-
pressions received on the battle-field, his mind remained nor-
mally active. He tells us that "under the very walls of
Metz," he found himself “brooding over the enigmatic prob-
lems” contained in the first of the two above-mentioned
lectures. These were later developed into the larger work:
"The Birth of Tragedy,” and it was in the same surround-
ings that he received the first impressions for his chief work:
“Will to Power.”
He told me that once after a day of heart-breaking ex-
66
War's Alarms and Quiet Family Festivities
periences, he saw several regiments of our marvellous German
cavalry rush by to almost certain death on the field of battle,
Superb in their vigor and courage, these men conveyed the
impression of a race that is born to conquer, to rule, or-
to die. It was then that he was made to feel deeply for the
first time, that the strongest and highest will to live does
not reach its fullest expression in a miserable struggle for
existence, but in the will to conflict, the will to power and
superiority. This feeling, no doubt, was experienced by
thousands and thousands of other Germans at that time, but
the eye of a philosopher sees things in a different light and
his perceptive faculties are so sharpened by a certain chain
of events that he derives from them quite a different set of
conclusions than do the rank and file.
With these thoughts in his mind, how different must he
have felt towards Schopenhauer's much-glorified feeling of
sympathy, when compared with this magnificent spectacle
of will to life, will to conflict and will to power. Here he
came face to face with conditions in which men feel the
strongest impulses and dictates of their own conscience to
be identical with their highest ideals; he found this spirit
aroused not only in those engaged in carrying out these de
signs, but, above all, in the commanders-in-chief themselves.
He now became convinced that a great military leader has
the right to sacrifice his fellow men, if, by so doing, he can
achieve the highest aims—in fact, he conceived this to be
the positive duty of generals, no less than of the intellectual
leaders of humanity, and of all great inventors in the suc-
cessful prosecution of their plans.
An account of his experiences on the battlefield and the
disastrous effect upon his health, was sent by my brother
67
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
to Tribschen in reply to the letter containing news of events
there.
Friedrich Nietzsche to Richard Wagner.
“Dear and revered master:
And so your house has been firmly established in the midst
of the storm. Although far from home, I have often thought
of this and never without calling down heart-felt blessings
upon you both. I was overjoyed to learn from your dear
wife, for whom I cherish the deepest affection, that the pos-
sibility of celebrating this event came quite suddenly, at
least, much earlier than you had any reason to expect when
I saw you last.
“You know what a powerful and irresistible current tore
me away from you and prevented me from being an eye-
witness of this solemn and long-hoped-for consummation of
your wishes. For the time being, my activity has unfor-
tunately been interrupted by illness. My manifold duties
and commissions took me as far as Metz where Mosengel,
my highly esteemed friend, and I were able to discharge our
task successfully. In Ars sur Moselle we were placed in
charge of an ambulance of wounded men who were being
sent back to Germany. This close contact with severely
wounded men for three days and nights marked the climax of
my activities. Only wretched cattle cars were available for
the transport and in one of these were six sufferers of whom
I had sole charge. All of them had pulverized bones, some
had as many as four wounds, and my diagnosis established
two cases of diphtheria. In looking back upon this expe-
rience, it seems nothing short of a miracle that I was able
68
War's Alarms and Quiet Family Festivities
to eat and sleep in this pestilential atmosphere. But I had
scarcely delivered my transport in Karlsruhe, than alarming
symptoms of a complete breakdown made themselves notice-
able, and it was only by a supreme effort that I was able to
get as far as Erlangen and make a report to my organiza-
able to be up. A very competent physician pronounced my
trouble to be dysentery and diphtheria, and as vigorous
measures were taken for getting these two contagious dis-
eases under control, I am already on the way to recovery.
So you can see that I am making the simultaneous acquaint-
ance of two of the most dread hospital diseases, the effect of
which has been so weakening, that I shall be obliged to give
up all thought of resuming my relief work for the time being.
After a brief four weeks' period of activity for the general
good, I am again thrown back upon myself—in a wretched
plight to boot!
"I do not like to say a word about the German victories ;
these are like the handwriting on the wall, which should be
intelligible to all nations.
“I am forbidden to write more today; my next letter will
be to your wife at whose feet I lay my most heartfelt good
wishes. Good luck, also to the newly christened son! Good
luck to the entire Tribschen household !
“Yours faithfully,
“FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE."
From the close of this letter, it will be seen that christen-
ing ceremonies had also taken place in Tribschen. Siegfried,
who was already fifteen months old, was given the official
name of Helferich Siegfried Richard. The only witnesses
69
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
-
were Dr. and Mrs. Willis, old friends of Wagner's from the
Zurich days. In describing this event, Wagner humorously
wrote: “Siegfried, called 'Fidi, did not behave very well.”
It seems that he babbled to himself all during the pastor's
exhortation and at the great moment when “The Holy Ghost
was about to descend upon him," began to whimper dis-
tressingly. But Frau Cosima ignored those trifles and wrote
in an exalted strain to the effect that “at all events, he is
now a Christian and even though he did not give our good
pastor much pleasure, it is to be hoped that he will remain
true to the Saviour to the end of his life.”
Whenever Cosima indulged in pathos of this sort, Wagner
usually applied a counteractant in the shape of some sar-
castic, atheistic remark, which never failed to give offense
to my brother. For however free and unprejudiced he was
in his own views upon religion, my brother possessed too
much tact willfully to hurt others. As a matter of fact,
his own extremely liberal views were not generally known
at that time.
In later years, he was very bitter about Wagner's sudden
coversion to a somewhat aggressive Christianity as he sus-
pected this of having been done for unworthy and self-
interested motives. But I distinctly remember a remark he
made to me in this connection to the effect that “a somewhat
romantic Christianity would make Wagner happier and
bring him more into harmony with his true nature," and in
a private document written three years later, he declared
that “Wagner is a modern and is, therefore, not able to
encourage and fortify himself by his belief in God. In fact,
he does not believe in the guiding hand of a good spirit, but
70
War's Alarms and Quiet Family Festivities
believes only in himself. No one can be wholly honest with
himself if he believes only in himself.”
As soon as my brother was able to travel he was moved
in easy stages from Erlangen to Naumburg, but he never
fully recovered from the intense strain his nervous system
had undergone and from the disastrous effects strong medi-
cines had wrought upon his hitherto splendid digestive
organs. Our dear mother often said that she only marvelled
that he had not died from the medicines if not from the
diseases. Influenced by his strong sense of duty and by
love for his scientific work, he placed too much confidence
in his naturally robust constitution and made the mistake
of returning to Basle at the beginning of November, al-
though he was by no means in a condition to resume his
university work.
While all this was happening, Wagner had finished his
essay on “Beethoven,” the manuscript of which he sent to
my brother with heartfelt greetings and received in reply
the following letter:
Friedrich Nietzsche to Richard Wagner.
“Most revered master!
“In the first onrush of the opening semester, made particu-
larly strenuous this year by reason of my long absence,
nothing more stimulating could have happened to me than
to receive a copy of your 'Beethoven. How much it has
meant to me to become acquainted with your philosophy of
music—which is as much as to say, with the philosophy of
music-I could prove to you by an article I wrote last
summer on the 'Dionysian Point of View.'
71
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
“Indeed it was by the aid of this study that I am enabled
to grasp your arguments fully and to enjoy them pro-
foundly, however far removed is your range of thought,
however surprising and amazing is everything you have
to say, especially the explication of Beethoven's real achieve-
ment. And yet I fear that the æstheticians of our day
will regard you as a somnabulist whom it would not only be
unadvisable, but positively dangerous, to follow, were such
a thing possible. Even the majority of the cognoscenti
(students) of the Schopenhauerian philosophy will find
difficulty in translating into concrete concepts the profound
harmony between your ideas and those of your great master.
"For this reason I regard your essay as 'published and
yet not published,' as Aristotle said of his esoteric writings.
I like to dwell upon the thought that it is chiefly those to
whom the message of Tristan has been revealed, who will
be able to follow Wagner, the philosopher, and I, therefore,
consider the capacity for a genuine appreciation of your
work as a priceless distinction bestowed only upon the select
few (here a large part of the letter has been torn off).
“Your grateful and faithful,
“Basle, Nov. 10.
“FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE.
“Luther Day."
This letter affords one of the most touching proofs of
my brother's unfailing tact and courtesy towards Wagner.
Instead of reminding him that while making a visit in
Tribschen on his way back from the mountains, he had read
aloud his lecture on the “Dionysian Viewpoint,”-he pre-
tends to have quite forgotten this incident, in order that
Wagner might not be embarrassed by the suggestion that he
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War's Alarms and Quiet Family Festivities
had appropriated some of the ideas contained in my brother's
unpublished work and made use of them in his own essay on
“Beethoven."
It is barely possible that under the stress of the war my
brother may have really forgotten having acquainted
Wagner with the contents of his new treatise, but it is
scarcely believable that this would have slipped his mind
a second time when he was writing the above letter. The
circumstance that a large part of the letter is missing,
would seem to support the theory that my brother had made
some allusion to the matter.
There was a time, when misinformed Wagner admirers
intimated that Nietzsche owed some of his outstanding ideas
to Wagner, but any unprejudiced reader of Wagner's
literary work of this period must have noticed that this
was not at all the case, and that on the contrary, Nietzsche's
influence upon Wagner was unmistakable from the very be-
ginning of their friendship. When Wagner, for example,
in his essay: “On the Destiny of Opera," speaks of the com-
promise between the Apollonian and Dionysian art in the
Greek tragedy, it is easy to see that this thought was bor-
rowed from my brother. And to be perfectly just to Wag-
ner, he never attempted to deny this.
As early as the spring of 1870, when my brother and Er-
win Rohde were paying a visit in Tribschen, this theme of the
Apollonian and Dionysian influence was frequently discussed,
and it is to this that Rohde alludes in a letter dated May
28, 1870:“.... I have read with keen interest Wagner's
essay, 'On the Destiny of the Opera,' and at times, I fancied
I could detect your voice, dear friend, coming from the
73
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
prompter's box, particularly when Greek drama was under
discussion.”
As my brother has been with us in Naumburg until late
in November, he accepted the pressing invitation to spend
the Christmas holidays in Tribschen, and wrote us from
there: “... I am as well off here as it is possible to be, and
we have had delightful Christmas days. Frau Wagner's
birthday festivities on the twenty-fifth of December were
perfect and deserving of a detailed description. The
‘Tribschen Idyll, as Wagner's wondrously beautiful sym-
phonic movement is called, is one of the most exquisite
works in all musical literature. The musicians were just
as enthusiastic as we were about it."
Wagner had planned this composition as a birthday sur-
prise for his wife. Surreptitious rehearsals were held in
Lucerne with a small but excellent orchestra and my brother
was the only one admitted into the secret..
Wagner telegraphed him: “If you would care to hear the
last rehearsal meet me at the Hotel du Lac at three o'clock,
but announce your arrival (in Tribschen) ostentatiously
for five.”
The musicians arrived at Tribschen early in the morning
of the twenty-fifth and were stationed on the staircase lead-
ing to the upper storey, so that Cosima might be awakened
by strains as enchanting as if they came from the music of
the spheres. Her particular name for this composition was
the “Blissful Morning Dream Melody.”
“Es war ein schöner Morgentraum
Woran zu denken wag' ich kaum."
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War's Alarms and Quiet Family Festivities
It was christened the “Staircase Music” by the children
as the position of the musicians appealed to their imagina-
tions, and this was the title used by all the intimates of the
house. To the musical world, it is known under the name
of the “Siegfried Idyll.”
195
CHAPTER VIII.
VARIOUS JOURNEYINGS. (1871).
Y brother resumed work on his big Greek disserta-
tion at the beginning of 1871. It was impossible
for him to make use of all the material on hand
and the selective process had to be rigorously applied before
he could begin the task of "bringing the book together."
As yet there was no relation between this work as projected
and the new art of Richard Wagner.
Scarcely was he launched in this great undertaking than
he was obliged to call a halt, owing to the fact that his
premature resumption of his university duties had given
rise to new and alarming symptoms; jaundice and intestinal
inflammation had set in and he was further tormented by
insomnia. The family at Tribschen was very much de-
pressed by the news as he had been counted upon as a regular
week-end visitor and it was on his account that the series of
chamber music evenings (Beethoven Quartettes) to be given
under the direction of Hans Richter had been set for Satur-
days and Sundays. All this had now to be renounced; “Must
it be?” asked my brother in the beautiful strain from
Beethoven's F Major Quartette, and unrelenting necessity
gave back the answer: “It must be!"
Prof. Liebermeister was already very much dissatisfied
with my brother for having curtailed his period of con-
176
Various Journeyings (1871)
valescence and now ordered him to take a long leave of
absence to be spent at some point on the Italian lakes, fur-
ther prescribing that his “cheerful little sister” accompany
him as travelling companion and nurse. Only delaying our
departure until my brother could pay a farewell visit in
Tribschen, we went directly to Lugano where we had an
ideal sojourn. At the Hotel du Parc we made the ac-
quaintance of the brother of Field Marshal von Moltke, who
with his wife and daughters, was also wintering at this resort.
We were constantly in the company of this delightful family,
and Frau Cosima wrote that she “envied us the brother."
Patriotism ran high at Tribschen as Wagner expected
that a German victory would also mean a victory for his
art and he was already at work on his “Kaiser March.”
The children soon picked up the melody of the folk-song
used in this work and the house re-echoed to the jubilant
strains of “Hail the Kaiser," much to the displeasure of
Cosima's mother who was spending the winter in Tribschen.
According to Wagner, the Princess d'Agoult possessed in
the highest degree the beautiful French characteristic of
“heroic frivolity," but notwithstanding this she was fanat-
ically French in her sympathies.
We returned in April, somewhat sooner than we had ex-
pected, as Wagner had written us that they would start
out on their big concert tour about the middle of the month
and my brother was bent upon seeing them before they left.
He wished very much to read them parts of his new Greek
manuscript intended as a sort of Vol. I. to the complete
work, which he hoped to get ready for the printers during
their absence. I travelled through to Basle, leaving my
brother at Tribschen where his sensitive nature was
yny
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
deeply wounded by perceiving that Wagner expected this
work, in some way, to be a glorification of his own art.
Despite my brother's enthusiasm for Wagner and his art,
his scholar's conscience revolted at the thought of uniting
so many diverse elements in a book that was to bear the
title of “Greek Cheerfulness.” But again, consideration
for his friend won the day, and no sooner had he returned
to Basle than he set about re-writing the work, that is to
say, he eliminated several chapters and confined himself
strictly to the discussion of Greek tragedy, as it was only
in this way that any justifiable reason could be found for
introducing allusions to Wagner's art.
The manuscript was ready for the printers by the
twentieth of April and was sent off to Engelmann of Leipzig
who had expressed a wish to publish the work.
In the meantime, Wagner and Frau Cosima had started
on their tour through Germany and had visited Augsburg
and Bayreuth. In the latter city they inspected the old
rococo theatre, hoping to find that it could be utilized for
the production of the Wagner's music dramas, and it was
during this visit that the incredibly bold and daring plan
of erecting a special Festival Theatre was first broached.
After a visit to Berlin, where Wagner was invited to address
the Academy on the theme, “The Destiny of the Opera,"
they proceeded to Leipzig to pay a visit to Wagner's rela-
tives, the Brockhaus family. It was not without serious
misgivings that Frau Cosima set out on this trip, but she
0
periences.
Upon their return, we received a pressing invitation to
spend the Whitsuntide holidays at Tribschen and these days
78
Various Journeyings (1871)
will ever be cherished among my most beautiful memories.
I remember well the last evening of our stay! The moon had
risen clear and full over the snow fields of Mount Titlis,
while the sun's last rays still touched the peak. As the
glow of the sun was gradually blended into the silvery light
of the moon, the picturesque outlines of the mountains be-
came more delicately transparent until they almost seemed
spiritualized. Our conversation ceased and we relapsed into
a dreamy silence. We four (five, in fact, counting Russ, an
important member of the family) wandered along the so-
called “Robber's Path" close to the water's edge. Frau
Cosima and my brother went ahead, followed by the splendid,
coal-black Newfoundland, who also seemed alive to the im-
pressiveness of the hour, and Wagner and I brought up the
rear of this little procession. Cosima was wearing a semi-
negligee of rose-colored cashmere, with broad revers of real
lace falling to the hem of the garment, and upon her arm
hung a large flower-trimmed hat of Florentine straw.
Wagner was in his habitual costume worn by the Netherlands
painters, black satin knee trousers, black velvet jacket, black
silk stockings and a light blue satin cravat falling over a
shirt of fine linen and real lace. The familiar velvet barret
was posed upon his luxuriant brown hair. Even now, after
all these years, I can visualize the scene and see the light
falling through the trees upon the four figures as we silently
walked along looking out over the sea of glistening silver.
As we listened to the soft lapping of the waves, each one of
us heard the song of his own thoughts sounding out of this
sweet monotonous melody as if some magic horn were send-
ing forth a piercingly sweet echo. The goal of our wander-
ings was the so-called Hermitage, a pavilion built of birch-
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
SY
bark on the highest elevation of the estate. From this
vantage point, we were afforded a magnificent view of the
surrounding mountain peaks, now thrown into sharp relief
by the bright moonlight.
Gradually the spell of silence was lifted and Wagner,
Frau Cosima and my brother began to speak of the tragedy
of human life, of the Greeks, of the Germans and of their
mutual plans and wishes. Never in my whole life, either
before or since, have I heard such marvellous harmony in
the conversation of three persons so fundamentally different.
Each one had his own strong personal note, his own theme
which was sharply emphasized, but withal, the whole was
like some wondrously beautiful symphony. Each one of
these three rare natures was at its best, each shone in its
own brilliancy and yet no one of the three was overshadowed
by the others. Never shall I forget these indescribable
hours !
During the summer, Baron von Gersdorff, whe had re-
turned safe and sound from the war, paid my brother a visit
in Basle and was taken over to Tribschen where he made the
best possible impression. He was one of the "Patrons” of
the Bayreuth undertaking, and, at my brother's suggestion,
had already written to Wagner. Cosima wrote of him:
“He made an excellent impression upon us both and we
welcome him as one of the 'Patrons. We find united in
him all the best traits of the Prussian character, in the
highest sense of the term, and we hope that this may be the
beginning of a life-long friendship."
During that summer there were many guests in Tribschen,
among them the men who were interested in the organization
of the so-called “Patronat” and the Wagner Society, by
80
Various Journeyings (1871)
which the Bayreuth undertaking was to be financed. Now
that the domestic life of the Wagners had been brought into
conformity with the world's moral code, all of the old friends
and acquaintances flocked to Tribschen, as a result of which
my brother felt himself relieved of some of the obligations
he had felt towards his friends during the period of their
comparative seclusion.
And it must be admitted that my brother welcomed this
respite, as despite his great affection for Wagner, he was
keenly sensible of the strong influence exerted upon him by
the master.
CHAPTER IX.
CARES AND JOYS (1871).
E spent the summer in the charming little resort
of Gimmelwald near Lauterbrunn, my brother re-
turning to Naumburg with me as his leave of
absence had been extended until the end of the autumn
vacation. He had been greatly concerned during the summer
about the publication of his Greek work which seemed
destined to cause him much disappointment and anxiety.
After waiting for a long time for an answer from Engel-
mann, the publisher, my brother learned that the reader of
the firm had been thrown into “mild shivers” by the book.
Irritated by this news and impatient at the delay, he took
the book out of Engelmann's hands, although it later trans-
pired that the latter had not been unwilling to publish the
work.
Erwin Rohde and Baron von Gersdorff who had come to
Naumburg on a birthday visit, finally persuaded my brother
to go with them over to Leipzig and try Wagner's publisher,
who could certainly have no objection to the work on the
ground that it dealt with such modern problems as those
raised by Wagner's own art. According to my brother, the
two friends fairly “dragged” him to this publisher, E. W.
Fritzsch, who after some hesitation agreed to publish the
82
Cares and Joys (1871)
book. Wagner was greatly surprised to hear of this and
disagreeably so, as it would seem from the following letter:
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“My dear and valued friend!
“I beg of you to let me know the real reasons which in-
fluenced you in placing a work I regard so highly and from
which I expect so much, in the hands of a music publisher
like Fritzsch. My sincere friendship for you prompts me
to make this inquiry. The fact that you have broken with
Engelmann gives rise to all sorts of surmises and it is out
of genuine interest in your welfare that I ask for confidential
information on the subject. For fear that you may inter-
pret this as due to a certain hesitancy on my part in regard
to Fritzsch, I herewith assure you that this is not the case,
and that my solicitation in the matter is to be attributed
· solely to my concern about your making a highly creditable
and significant literary début.
“I beg you to place the most friendly interpretation upon
my motives and accept my heartfelt greetings !
“Yours
“Tribschen, Oct. 16, 1871. RICHARD WAGNER."
After my brother had explained the situation to Wagner,
the latter wrote warm words of recommendation to Fritzsch
to which reference is made in the following letter:
Friedrich Nietzsche to Richard Wagner.
“Most revered master:
“News reached me today from our Fritzsch in Leipzig
who has kept me in a state of complete mystification by his
83
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
long silence. I did not know what was expected of me, and
it is only now I learn that, even before receiving your words
of recommendation, he had turned the manuscript over to
one of his staff for critical judgment and this man, who
seems to have been a sad procrastinator, did not return it
until Nov. 16.
“Now I hear that the printing is to be rushed as rapidly as
possible and Fritzsch makes me the most reassuring promises
in regard to the book. There is one passage in his letter
which you will have to explain to me. He says: 'In the
meantime you will have thought over the question of the
financial arrangement and it is possible that Herr Wagner
may have made some suggestions to you in regard to this."
"If you were here you would find me almost buried under
a pile of ponderous tomes from which I am brewing a Latin
epigraph for my students, or surrounded by hundreds of
volumes of Plato, by the aid of which I hope to initiate my
hearers into the study of this philosopher. Whenever I raise
my head from this mountain of books, I immediately hear
something that is taking place in Bologna, or is up for
discussion in the city council of Bayreuth, or the Academy
calls attention to itself by sending me an essay by Franz
Hueffer, the pseudo-Englishman, or a review of Fuchs'
‘Preliminaries of the Art of Music,' or my eye falls upon an
astounding advertisement signed by my friend Gersdorff,
etc. In short, I only need to listen with half an ear in
order to remain fully informed as to your movements and
all the external tokens of your existence.
“I hold my last visit to Tribschen in affectionate re-
membrance and realize full well how much I owe to my
84
Cares and Joys (1871)
good geniuses; not long ago, I offered uy a libation with
a bottle of red wine, pronouncing the spoken words
Xaipete Aaluoves. This solemn ceremony took place simul-
taneously in Basle, Kiel and Berlin and it is safe to say
that each one of us had you in mind, for what could we ask
of our good geniuses and what do we owe them, which is
not closely and intimately associated with your name!
"Yours faithfully,
“Basle, Nov. 18, 1871. FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE.”
S
Having reached a satisfactory agreement with Fritzsch,
my brother felt himself at liberty to proceed more boldly
in the matter of introducing ideas relative to Wagner and
his art-works into his book on Greek tragedy. Much new
material was added to the manuscript, and writing to Rohde
on this subject, he said: “... You will doubtless be greatly
surprised by the entire last part of the work which is un-
familiar to you. I have ventured much in making these
changes and would be justified, to a tremendous degree, in
calling out to myself: Animam salvavi. This gives me
courage to think of my manuscript with deep satisfaction,
and I do not allow myself to entertain any misgivings, al-
though it has turned out as offensive as possible and I seem
already to hear the “shrieks, of indignation' that will go up
from certain quarters when it is published.”
Even at this time, my brother intimated to me that certain
of his own ideas had been suppressed out of deference of
Wagner. He also wrote to Rohde: “... No one can form
the faintest conception of the genesis of such a work, of the
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
trouble and torment it is to keep one's self from being cor-
rupted by other ideas pressing in from all sides: of the
courage required in conceiving and carrying out one's own
ideas, and above all, in this particular case, of the tremen-
dous obligations I felt towards Wagner and which, to be
perfectly frank with you, caused me much inward con-
trition.”
In justice to Wagner, it must be stated that he had only
a vague idea as to the extent he and his art were to figure
in my brother's book. Before going to Naumburg and
Leipzig, my brother had paid a visit to Tribschen, where
nothing was discussed but the unsuccessful negotiations with
Engelmann, as Fritzsch had not yet entered upon the scene.
My brother had consistently refrained from any further
mention of his intention of amplifying or altering the manu-
script out of deference to Wagner, and had charged me
in particular not to divulge the secret. Wagner was, there-
fore, left in complete ignorance of the revisions as well be
seen from his next letter:
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“Most valued friend!
"Fritzsch has not given me the slightest intimation of
anything I was to impart to you, and I am inclined to
believe that the passage you quote was only used as a means
of shifting his own embarrassment on the subject to your
shoulders. My own pecuniary relations to Fritzsch were
determined, quite accidentally, by the opportune appearance
of my quasi-festival essay on Beethoven, and by the tre
86
Cares and Joys (1871)
mendous sensation created by my essay on the Jews, which
would naturally react favorably upon my other publications
and justify expectations of an immediate and rapid sale.
Much will depend upon your ideas in regard to the sale of
your book. If you are confident of good results, you will
be guided by my views, well-known to you, as to the rela-
tion between the size of the edition and the corresponding
terms of payment in making your arrangements with
Fritzsch.
"In any case it would be advisable to have a complete
agreement on this point so that the relations would be de-
termined once for all, so soon as anything had been accepted
for publication and that quite regardless of the business'
success. You will find this a much better plan than having
it made to appear, each time an agreement is reached (as
was the case with me!) that never before since the world
was created had a book been accepted for publication.
“Good luck to epigraphs and Plato; the latter is also be-
ing studied in Tribschen. We are all fairly well and send
cordial greetings.
LI
"Yours,
“Nov. 21, 971.
RICHARD WAGNER.”
Amusingly enough, my brother was also engaged in com-
posing that autumn. He had been made very happy by the
reunion with his friends in Naumburg and Leipzig, and was
now endeavoring to give concrete expression to these feel-
ings in a musical composition dedicated to the “Memory of
Our Happy Autumn Vacation.” This work brought him
into contact with a very clever copyist, in reduced circum-
87
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
stances, whom he endeavored to help by recommending him
to Wagner. This effort was unsuccessful as will be seen
from the following letter:
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“Most valued friend!
"At present my roof shelters a Brandenburg singing
teacher from Zurich, to whom I am paying a terrifying
salary for copying out my difficult manuscript. Moved to
compassion by your letter, I have given much thought to
the matter and tried to find some way of rescuing this worthy
Suabian from the lion's den, but just as soon as the most
urgent copy has been sent off, I shall have no further use
for such a musician until I am ready with the instrumenta-
tion. That will not be before next summer, and I am not in
a position, therefore, to help the poor man other than by
a small gift of money and will ask you to hand him twenty
francs in my name and charge this sum to my account. My
wife has written you today of our Mannheim adventure.
May we not cherish the hope that you will join us? ...
"My hopes are placed in Nietzsche if only Fritzsch
serves him as he should. During the last few days, my
gaze wandered from Genelli's 'Dionysius among the Muses'
to your last work (that is to say, in so far as I am
acquainted with it!) with a feeling of the most genuine
astonishment. It was as if some oracle had revealed a mes-
sage to me. It is a singular, in fact a marvellous coincidence,
this thing of seeing my own life, as it were, reproduced in
your thoughts as you here portray them.
“Can you not get away some Saturday before we leave,
88
Cares and Joys (1871)
which will be about the ninth of December? That would be
delightful. As you know, I no longer give you a definite
invitation and, therefore, you are spared all embarrassment
in case you do not come.
“With cordial greetings.
“Yours
“Nov. 26,"71.
R. W."
At the beginning of December, Wagner set out on another
trip through Germany to win new friends for his cause, and
also to push the preliminary work in Bayreuth. One of his
chief objectives was Mannheim, where the first of the series
of big concerts for the benefit of the Wagner Society was
to be given under his personal direction. My brother and
his two most intimate friends had planned to hold a reunion
here as a means of expressing their devotion to Wagner,
but at the last moment, my brother was the only one able
to be present.
A vivid description of those Mannheim days was given
by Karl Heckel in the course of a lecture delivered by him at
the Nietzsche Archives in Weimar in October, 1913. Among
other things he said: “... It was in December, 1871, only
eight days before Christmas. The clock pointed to midnight
and the city lay wrapped in sleep. The only signs of life
were in and around the railway station, where friends called
out cheery greetings to each other, enviously watched by
groups of curious bystanders. The train from the east was
eagerly awaited and as it came steaming into the station, a
small, quaint-looking figure descended to the platform and
was greeted by the waiting crowd with "Three cheers for
Richard Wagner! Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah!
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
66 Herr Jesses! cried the newcomer in a pronounced Saxon
dialect, 'do you take me for a prince!
"His first greetings were for the numerous members of the
newly-organized Wagner Society, to whom he related that
the day before he had inspected the building site offered to
him by the city of Bayreuth for the Festival Theatre, and
that the announcement of the Mannheim concert had greatly
increased public confidence in the Bayreuth undertaking.
Shortly after Wagner had made his triumphal entry, the
train from Lucerne arrived bringing Frau Wagner from
Tribschen. She left the train on the arm of a young man of
middle height, with dark brown hair, large mustachios, and
the high, broad forehead of a scholar and a thinker. Spec-
tacles added to this scholarly aspect, which was neverthe-
less contradicted by his careful grooming, his almost mili-
tary bearing and his high clear voice. He was presented to
the executive committee of the society: 'Gentlemen, Prof.
Friedrich Nietzsche !
“The day following we learned that he had come to Mann-
heim to be present at the concert; he never missed a rehear
sal and was one of the few present who was familiar with the
‘Siegfried Idyll to be given publicly for the first time, at this
concert.
“We learned further, that he was not only an enthusiastic
disciple of Wagner but also an extraordinary personality
in his own right, having been called to the university of
Basle at the age of twenty-four, that his lectures on Hellen-
ism had attracted the attention of no less a personage than
Jakob Burckhardt, and that his ideas also met with lively
sympathy in Tribschen where he was persona grata.
“My father and the small circle of friends by whose invita-
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Cares and Joys (1871)
tion Wagner had come to Mannheim, had frequent oppor-
tunity of listening to conversations between Wagner,
Nietzsche and Frau Wagner, which in profundity and
seriousness of thought could not have been equalled at that
time elsewhere in Germany."
The program chosen for the Mannheim concert was as
follows:
1. Overture to “Magic Flute.”:
2. A Major Symphony (Beethoven).
3. Lohengrin Overture.
4. Vorspiel to the “Meistersinger.” .
5. Vorspiel and Liebestod to “Tristan and Isolde."
At the rehearsal, the “Siegfried Idyll” otherwise called
the “Staircase Music” was played twice to a very select
company of listeners, these favored few, aside from Frau
Wagner and my brother, including Alexander Ritter and
his wife, Emil Heckel and the executive committee of the
Mannheim Wagner Society, and further, Pohl, Nohl, Fried-
rich Wengler and Handloser, the conductor.
This concert made a deep impression upon my brother
and he wrote to Rohde: “... The experiences I have had
this week with Wagner in Mannheim, have been the means
of increasing my knowledge of the music to a marvellous
degree, and of convincing me of its complete justification.
Ah, my friend! To think that you were not able to be pres-
ent! What are all previous artistic memories and experiences
compared to this my most recent one! I was like one who
sees his dream go into fulfillment. For just this is music,
and nothing else! And it is precisely this, and nothing else,
that I mean by the word ‘music'in describing the Dionysian
art! But when I think that only a few hundred people of
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
the next generation will have the same that I have from this
music, I anticipate an entirely new culture! ...
6. . A feeling of disgust and aversion is created in me
at times by everything that cannot, in some way, be brought
into relationship with music. And I was filled with an over-
whelming abhorrence of everyday realities upon my return
from Mannheim, just because they no longer seemed to me to
be realities, but hallucinations!"
My brother spent a lonely Christmas in Basle that year,
as he needed time and solitude for the working out of his
six promised lectures: “On the Future of Our Educational
Institutions."
His latest work, “The Birth of Tragedy out of the Spirit
of Music” had already come from the press and he was
eagerly awaiting the first copies so that he might send one
to Wagner as a New Year's greeting.
92
CHAPTER X.
THE BIRTH OF TRAGEDY OUT OF THE SPIRIT OF MUSIC.
(1872.)
N New Year's Day, 1872, my brother received his
first published work, and, with a heart beating high,
he wrote in his own copy:
“Schaff das Tagwerke meiner Hände,
Grosser Geist, dass ich's vollende."
He then hurried off a copy to his dear friends in Tribschen.
TUO
Friedrich Nietzsche to Richard Wagner.
“Most revered master!
“At last, I am sending you my Christmas gift and New
Year's greeting in one. This gift is very much belated, to
be sure, and yet without any blame being attached either to
Fritzsch or myself, as the post, at times unreliable, belongs
to the powers of fate' over which we have no control.
“The package left Leipzig on December 29th., and I have
awaited its arrival hourly, in order that I might send the
book together with my blessings and good wishes.
"May this work, in some slight degree, repay the extraor-
dinary interest you have shown in its genesis, and if I believe
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
that in the main I am right, that only means that you, in
your art, must be right through time and eternity. On every
page you will find evidence of my gratitude for everything
that you have given me, but I am haunted by the terrible
doubt as to whether I have always proven myself properly
receptive of your gifts. Perhaps I shall be able to do many
things much better later, and by 'later, I mean the time
when the Bayreuth art period is ushered in. In the mean-
time, I am filled with pride at the thought that I am branded,
so to speak, and that henceforth, my name will ever be
associated with yours. May God have mercy upon your
souls, my philologians, if you are still determined to learn
nothing!
“I should be overjoyed, revered master, if upon the thresh-
old of the new year, you will graciously accept this book
as an auspicious and friendly omen. I hope soon to be able
to send bound copies for you and your wife.
“With all good wishes for you and yours and with deep
gratitude for all your tokens of friendship, I am, as I was
and shall be
“Yours faithfully,
“Basle, January 2, 1872. FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE."
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“Dear friend!
“I have never read anything more beautiful than your
book!
"It is simply glorious! I am writing you in great haste,
as my excitement is so great at the moment that I must
await the return of reason before being able to read it
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The Birth of Tragedy out of the Spirit of Music
carefully. I have just said to Cosima that you stand
second only to her, then, for a long time, there is no one
until we reach. Lenbach who has painted such a striking
portrait of me! Consider well what she has written, but
cultivate indifference as far as the rest of the world is con-
cerned!
“Adieu. Run over at the first opportunity and we shall
have a veritable Dionysian feast!
“Yours,
“R. W."
At first, Cosima only wrote a brief note of acknowledge-
ment with a list of names to whom the book was to be sent.
But later she wrote in a strain of deep emotion:
“... Oh, how beautiful your book is! How beautiful, and
how deep-how deep and how daring! Did I not feel that
you must already have found your highest reward in your
conception of things, I would ask, with the deepest concern,
where are you to find it? And if you feel this sense of re-
ward, you will be able to bring your own mood of splendid
exaltation in harmony with the outer world in which you
live and work; 'wie ertrug ich's nur, wie ertrag ich's noch?'
Perhaps the day and the ‘New Year's Echoes' will help
somewhat, will they not, dear friend?
“With this book you have exorcised the evil spirits which
I had begun to believe had nothing to do but wait upon our
master. You have thrown the most resplendent radiance
over two worlds, one of which we do not see because it is too
remote, and the other we do not apprehend because it is too
near. We now comprehend the beauty which we only half-
suspected, and understand the ugliness which came very near
95
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
stifling us. Like a consoling spirit, you illuminate the future
for us, this future which to our hearts is the present, so
that we can hopefully pray that in the end 'good may con-
quer.' I cannot tell you how uplifting your book seems to
me and how successful you have been in gaining an insight
into problems which so simply and truthfully establish the
tragedy of our existence. I have read this work as I would
a poem, notwithstanding the fact that it deals with the most
profound problems, and, like the master, I cannot lay it
aside, for it furnishes an answer to all the subconscious ques-
tions of my being. You can imagine how moved I was by
your mention of 'Tristan and Isolde. In this work, as in no
other, I have been made to feel most keenly the idea of
destruction through the music and salvation through the
drama, as you describe it. Hitherto I have never been able
to express this, so that you have now thrown an illuminating
light upon one of the most powerful impressions of my entire
life.
“And what a beautiful idea, and how beautifully expressed,
that of representing Schopenhauer as Dürer's knight, but
what will the librarians and proof-readers have to say to
this? Nothing at all, I imagine (“in fact, I understood
nothing at all about it,' in the words of the honest Kothener).
But all this is a matter of no importance, the thing which
most concerns us is you yourself. Are we to learn nothing
of your lectures? This is the theme of your Reformation,
and we should like to know more about it. Many thanks for
your shipment of books. I fancy that Baroness von
Schleinitz already has a copy, and the good R. P. was really
superfluous, as his Mannheim ‘Lamentations were nothing
but mischievous rubbish—the good man does not know as
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The Birth of Tragedy out of the Spirit of Music
much as he imagines he does, in fact, there seems to be only
one person who understands Wagner perfectly, but I shall
not say who this is. ..."
Again Wagner felt inspired to renewed creative effort by
my brother's ideas and sentiments, just as was the case in
1870 when Nietzsche's new world of thought as expressed in
the two Greek lectures, first thrust itself upon the master's
consciousness. Cosima writes in regard to this: “The master
spends the entire forenoon working and you should hear the
second song of the Rhine Maidens. In the evening we read
Schopenhauer aloud, in the afternoon we read the ‘Birth of
formance of the ‘Ninth Symphony' which is to be given on
the evening of the cornerstone laying. The co-operation of
the musicians of Germany will be needed for this. Yes,
Bayreuth! (Tribschen etymology: beim Reuth'!) 'we are
now to become tragic personages! God knows, whether or
not this latest idea will prove a success, but after all, that
is a matter of comparative indifference. We have acted to
the best of our knowledge and ability and should it succeed,
we shall experience in Wilhelmina's historic theatre, that
to which you invite us in your book. Has the master told
you that the burgomaster and a member of the town council
were here? They arrived quite unexpectedly, bringing build-
ing plans with them and we had a remarkable day in
Tribschen."
My brother was deeply affected by the letters of his
friends, some of whom expressed greatest enthusiasm for his
book, while others, although well disposed towards him, ex-
pressed pained surprise and professed to have had ex-
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
perienced the same “mild shivers” described by the reader of
the Engelmann firm.
A fresh breakdown was the result of this strain, and for
a time we feared a repetition of the condition of the pre-
vious year, but haply our fears proved groundless. But this
made it necessary for my brother to decline another press-
ing invitation to Tribschen, which he could not have ac-
cepted in any case, owing to the pressure of work in con-
nection with his forthcoming lectures on the “Future of Our
Educational Institutions."
Wagner hardly knew how to explain my brother's conduct
as he had fully expected him to hasten to Tribschen upon
learning of the stormy admiration his book had aroused.
Suspicious as he ever was, Wagner construed this to mean
that my brother had already regretted having written the
work, or at least, to having had it published. This is to be
seen from the following letter:
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietsscho.
“My Friend:
“How difficult you make it for me to prove the delight I
take in you. I was most painfully impressed by the news of
your illness. You must forgive us for having frequently ob-
served, and always with a feeling of the deepest anxiety,
certain recurring symptoms, not in your growth, but in the
fixation phases, so to speak, of your professional career, in
so far as these have an effect upon your inner, soul life.
From the beginning of our friendship, we have observed
disquieting symptoms, of which it is true, you have fre-
quently offered an explanation, but which have then repeated
98
The Birth of Tragedy out of the Spirit of Music
themselves at such regular intervals, as to arouse in our
minds the most serious misgivings as to the possibility of
maintaining our intimate and friendly intercourse.
“You have now given to the world a work which is un-
equalled. Every outside influence that has been brought to
bear upon you, has been rendered practically negligible by
the entire character of this work, and above all, your book
is characterized by an assurance so consummate, as to be-
token the most profound originality. In what other way
could my wife and I have realized the most ardent wish of
our lives, which was that some day something might come
to us from without and take full possession of our hearts
and souls! Each of us has read your book twice-once alone
during the day, and then aloud in the evening. We fairly
fight over the one copy and regret that the promised second
one has not yet arrived. I must have it in order to get
myself in the proper mood for working after breakfast, as I
am again hard at work on the last act since reading your
book. Whether alone or together, our reading is always
punctuated by exclamations. For my part, I am still some-
what dazed by the thought of having been vouchsafed an ex-
perience of this kind. This is the way matters stand with
us! Then we turn to you—and are consumed with anxiety!
And just when the most remarkable suspicions have taken
hold of us, and we have almost arrived at the conclusion that
the publication of the book-if not, indeed, the entire con-
ception of the same—had plunged you temporarily, at least,
into a frame of mind strangely resembling regret-you
suddenly break your long silence and inform us that you
have been ill.
“These illnesses of yours have already caused us great
99
The Nietssche-Wagner Correspondence
A
UC
anxiety, not because they arouse any scrious fears as to your
physical condition but rather as to the state of your emo-
tional life. If you would only reassure us by writing us a
comforting word, or better still, by a visit, even though it
be of necessity, a short one!
"Friend! What I am now saying to you is of such char-
acter that it can not be put away with a laughing assurance.
You have a profound nature and there has been nothing in
our intercourse which could lead you to believe that my own
feelings are of a superficial character. I also understand
you as you reveal yourself in the musical composition with
which you so thoughtfully surprised us. It is difficult, how-
ever, for me to acquaint you with my sympathetic compre-
hension, and it is just because I feel conscious of this diffi-
culty that I am all the more embarrassed in expressing my-
self.
“And furthermore, my friend, what could I say to you
that you do not already know, and could say quite as well to
yourself did you speak from your innermost consciousness?
You see and perceive everything, so that it has been a hith-
erto undreamed-of delight to be permitted to see and perceive
through your eyes.
“I have also gained a much better understanding of many
things now engrossing your attention in connection with
your vocation-for example, with your ideas in regard to
pedagogy, some of which you had already intimated to me.
Through you, I have gained a wide and sweeping perspective,
and immeasurable vistas of promising activity open up
before me with you at my side!
"But you are ill! Are you also discouraged? If so, how
gladly would I do something to dispel your despondency!
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The Birth of Tragedy out of the Spirit of Music
How shall I begin? Are you not satisfied with my unquali-
fied praise? Did I feel compelled to doubt this, I should be,
indeed, miserable! Nevertheless, I can do no other than
lavish my praise upon you. Accept it, at least, in a friendly
spirit, even though it leave you unsatisfied!
“Heartfelt greetings from
“Yours,
“Tribschen, Jan. 10, 1872. RICHAED WAGNER.”
In reply to this warm-hearted, but nevertheless, some-
what suspicious letter, Wagner received a truly touching
reply from my brother, which as Wagner later said, “com-
pletely dispelled all doubts.” Furthermore, my brother took
pains to send copies of his book to all of Wagner's friends,
among them Frau von Muchanoff, Baroness von Schleinitz,
Liszt, Bülow, Richard Pohl and others, and this he most
assuredly would not have done had he already regretted hav-
ing published the work.
He made only one reservation and that was in the case
of the king of Bavaria, to whom he did not wish to send a
copy directly as Wagner had requested. His reason for this
lay in his inherent feeling for style, which rebelled at the so-
called “curial style of letter-writing.” As children we had
always been obliged to use this in writing to my father's for-
mer pupils, the Grand Duchess Constantine, the Grand
Duchess of Oldenburg and Princess Therese of Altenburg,
and it had ever been a source of intense irritation to my
brother. However, Wagner found a way out of this diffi-
culty and my brother was relieved of the necessity of writing
this much-detested formal letter.
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“Dear friend:
“Just two words in regard to the “green-gold tree of your
life'! Have you still a few copies of your book on hand, and
can you, or will you, in this case, intrust them to me for dis-
creet distribution? If not, then I shall naturally apply to
Fritzsch.
“After taking the matter into serious consideration, I
would advise you not to write to the king personally, but to
Court Counsellor, L. Dufflipp,
Court Secretary to His Majesty the King.
begging him to give the work to the king and referring to
my communication in regard to the same. You will thus be
spared the absurdity of using the curial style, the mere sug-
gestion of which, in your case, makes me indignant.
We are rejoiced at the news of your recovery and also
over the promised copies of your book which reached us
safely. The ‘register' filled me with alarm in all the dimen-
sions of my innermost being.
" Der Menschheit ganzer Jammer fasst mich an' (Man-
kind's collected woe o’erwhelms me!)-etc. Come to us soon
-quite unannounced-and convince yourself of our affec-
tion for you.
6Yours,
“Tribschen, Jan. 16, 1872.
RICHARD WAGNER."
On the sixteenth of January, my brother delivered the
first of his two lectures on "The Future of Our Educational
Institutions, and met with tremendous success. “Emotion,
enthusiasm and hate nicely combined.”
102
The Birth of Tragedy out of the Spirit of Music
After delivering this lecture he went over to Tribschen,
where a truly royal welcome had been prepared for him.
Upon his return to Basle, he was received by a delegation
from the student corps, announcing that the university
wished to give him an ovation in the shape of a torch-light
procession as an expression of appreciation of his refusal to
consider a call to the Greifswald university. Although he
had discussed this matter with no one in Basle it had some-
how leaked out, and his decision was received with great
enthusiasm.
Instead, my brother recommended Erwin Rohde for the
Greifswald post and in writing to his friend said: “...
Great sympathy was created in Basle by my refusal to con-
sider the position, despite my protestations that it was not
in the nature of a formal call, but only a tentative feeler
put out by the university board. Notwithstanding this, the
student corps wished to organize a torch-light procession in
my honor, intending thereby to express their appreciation
of my Basle activities. However, I refused to be thus
honored.”
No one was more genuinely delighted at my brother's
decision than Jakob Burckhardt, who had taken the greatest
delight in the “Birth of Tragedy” and the “Future of Our
Educational Institutions.” Referring to this, Frau Cosima
wrote: “. . I imagine his opinion weighs more with you
than that of any one else.” And this was not far from the
truth, as my brother placed a high value upon his inter-
course with this eminent scholar, and the cordial reception
accorded him when he came to Basle.
My brother became exceedingly "popular" in Basle that
winter, public interest in him having been heightened by his
103
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
decision to remain at the university and by his two success-
ful lectures. In writing of these lectures, he said: “... I
am extremely well satisfied with the results; they attracted
the most serious listeners, both men and women, and prac-
tically the best element among the student corps was always
to be found in my lecture room."
Moreover he was fêted and feasted by the old patrician
families of Basle, and during that winter he was often the
only German to receive an invitation to the exclusive dinners
and balls. He danced so energetically that, at the close of
the season, he wrote us that his evening clothes were in so
dilapidated a condition that he would be obliged to order
a new suit for the approaching festivities in Bayreuth.
After reading the chapter which follows, disclosing, as it
does, the inner conflicts and doubts with which my brother
was struggling during this winter, the reader will be all the
more surprised to find that he could maintain the character
of a pleasure-loving young professor, delighting in nothing
so much as a round of balls and dinners.
Nor must it be forgotten, that these conflicts were to lead
to decisions directly connected with the fate and fortunes of
his dearest friends, and that he was made both proud and
arrogant at the thought of being permitted to stake his very
existence for these friends.
104
CHAPTER XI.
DIFFICULT DECISIONS.
Y the end of January my brother found himself
plunged into the inner conflicts to which reference
has been made. Wagner had been called to Berlin by
the news that some well-wisher in that city had conceived
the idea of collecting the sum of 200,000 thalers, in order
that work might be begun at once on the Festival Theatre
and Wagner's own residence in Bayreuth without delaying
matters until funds for this purpose had been raised by the
Wagner Society.
I beg to be forgiven should I make any mistake on this
point, but I am relying entirely upon what was told me later
by Baron von Gersdorff, who was well informed on everything
that took place at that time.
It was with great reluctance that Wagner accepted this
invitation to Berlin, as he placed but little confidence in the
proposed plan and was, moreover, deep in the third act of
his “Götterdämmerung.” On his way to Berlin, he stopped
off in Basle and poured out his heart to my brother, in-
dulging in passionate complaint of the cares and anxieties
by which he was oppressed. During this conversation, many
hitherto concealed causes for dejection came to the surface,
one of them being that “everything rested upon his shoul-
ders” and that he "had no one upon whom he could depend in
105
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
such matters," etc. My brother was shaken to the depths of
his being at the sight of the suffering of the beloved master
and he did everything he could to console and encourage him.
Strangely enough, my brother had faith in the fantastic
proposition that had come from Berlin, and had he been
free to follow the promptings of his own heart, would have
preferred to have accompanied Wagner on his journey.
But as this was out of the question, he wrote to his friend
Gersdorff, saying: “... You will be surprised to see Wag-
ner suddenly appear in Berlin. I implore you to do, and to
see, and to feel everything that could be of the slightest
service to him in this momentous matter. I transfer to you
my own feelings for him during the period of his Berlin visit,
and charge you to act, in every instance, as I would were I
there."
Gersdorff entirely fulfilled my brother's confidence in him
and Wagner telegraphed: “The Alexandrian Gersdorff
has made himself indispensable to me!" (Gersdorff lived
at Alexander Platz in Berlin.) Highly gratified, my brother
wrote his friend: “Whatever you do, bear in mind, that we
two are called upon to fight in the front ranks of a cul-
tural movement the full significance of which will not be
revealed to the larger masses of the public until the next
generation, possibly not until a much later period. Let this
thought fill us with pride; let it give us courage. On the
whole, I have always felt that we were not born into this
world to be happy but simply to perform our duty, and we
may consider ourselves thrice blessed if we know and realize
just where this duty lies."
“Duty” was always the first and most solemn considera-
tion with my brother. But was it really his duty to throw
106
Difficult Decisions
everything overboard-his position and his life work-in
order the better to consecrate his strength and talents to
Richard Wagner and his life work?
In the following letter is to be found my brother's answer
to this question, as he here gives the first direct intimation of
his readiness to sacrifice everything for the beloved master:
Friedrich Nietzsche to Richard Wagner.
a
“My revered master:
“Scarcely an hour has elapsed since you left Basle and a
letter is already on the way to your wife, so that I have
hopes of the good news reaching her by tomorrow morning.
"It seems to me that the moment has come for tightening
up the bow so long unstrung. But must this task also fall
upon you! Must everything rest upon your shoulders! I
feel that my present existence is a reproach and I ask you
frankly if you can make use of my services. Aside from this
inquiry, I know of nothing worth reporting at the moment,
but many things, very many things that are worth wishing
for and hoping for, my honored master.
“Faithfully yours,
“Basle, Wednesday.
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE."
Wagner had ignored an earlier suggestion of this sort,
partly because he liked the idea of having a university pro-
fessor as an intimate friend, and partly out of genuine
fatherly interest in my brother and reluctance to tear him
away from his own life work. But now that the Bayreuth
idea had begun to assume a concrete shape, the situation
passed into a new phase, and Emil Heckel of Mannheim had
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
earnestly advised Wagner to send some friend of the cause
on a lecture tour throughout Germany. In view of the tre-
mendous enthusiasm always created by my brother's lec-
tures, and the added prestige he now enjoyed by reason of
the publication of his “Birth of Tragedy," Wagner was con-
vinced that only Nietzsche could succeed in awakening the
public to a clear understanding of the Bayreuth idea, and
the plans by which it was to be carried into fulfillment. And
as we have seen, my brother was ready to make this sacrifice
and strike the death-knell of his own professional career.
Just imagine what this meant at a time when he had finally
succeeded in compelling the respect and recognition of aca-
demic circles in Basle!
It was not without a heavy heart that my brother decided
upon taking this step, but believing that he was nearer to
the beloved master than anyone else, he felt under the
strongest obligations to sacrifice everything for Wagner's
cause. Under the stress of these feelings, he wrote to Rohde:
“Why do we live so far apart? For it is impossible for me
to say to you in a letter all that is on my heart today and
tell you of my plans for the future. I have formed an alliance
with Wagner. You can have no idea how close we are to one
another and how all our plans coincide.
“I have been obliged to listen to such incredible things
about my book that I shall say nothing more about it. ...
What do you think about the whole matter? In view of all
the things I have heard, I am made deeply sensible of the
gravity of the situation, and can form a clear idea of the fate
of all the other things I have in mind. On the whole, life is
not going to be an easy matter with me."
Wagner was in high spirits when he returned to Tribschen
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Difficult Decisions
and one of his first letters was to my brother, and from this
it is to be seen that the intimations he had made while in
Basle were really an expression of his innermost hopes and
wishes, but that his affectionate interest in my brother made
him hesitate about accepting this supreme sacrifice.
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“My dear friend:
“As your letter was the first to greet me upon my arrival
in Berlin, you shall now be the recipient of my first greetings
upon my return to Tribschen (at noon today). I am fairly
frightened at having made myself so plainly understood that
day in Basle.
“Gersdorff will have told you everything as he was fully
informed in regard to all that was taking place. Of Bay-
reuth, however, he knows nothing. Gratifying marks of
esteem were bestowed upon me there, and I now realize
clearly that as far as the material side of the undertaking is
concerned, Bayreuth will prove to be one of the happiest
inspirations of my life. If I could only talk this over with
you!
"Everything has been arranged in the most satisfactory
manner, and my régime has been inaugurated.
“You offered me your services and I shall now proceed to
take immediate advantage of this offer. I am confronted by
many days of the most complicated correspondence. Come
to my aid. Request Fritzsch in my name to fill the follow-
ing order:
“1 ‘Birth to Dean Dittmar.
“1 'Ditto' to Rector Grossmann.
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
further—1 'German Art and Politics' to Councillor of the
Consistory, Herr Krausse.
“1 ‘Ditto' to Professor Fries.
“All of them to Bayreuth.
“Everything at my expense.
“Further!
“Friend, I have no connections at all with the Augsburg
Allg. Z. The Nord. Allg. is at our disposal. Would it be
agreeable to you to send Rohde to them?
“Have I made myself clear? I am very tired today after
the night trip. Tomorrow I have to make arrangements
for the 'Ninth Symphony,' and this will require the writing
of something like 10 letters. The date is fixed for the twenty-
second of May. Nothing remains to be done but to look
about for the elite orchestra.
"I am very happy today and announce this to you, first of
all, dear friend.
“Many cordial greetings from
“Yours,
“Lucerne, Evening of Feb. 5. RICHARD WAGNER."
Wagner's hesitation about accepting the sacrifice my
brother was ready to make had caused the projected tour
in Germany to be indefinitely postponed. But now my
brother conceived the idea of making this plan serve a double
purpose, by having Rohde appointed as his substitute during
the winter semester in Basle; the latter would be relieved
from his irksome duties as lecturer at a Germany university,
and at the same time my brother would be free to conduct
the propaganda for the Wagnerian cause. He was highly
110
Difficult Decisions
elated at the thought of being able to serve two friends at
once.
On the face of it, the Berlin proposition looked very prom-
ising, and Wagner set out for Bayreuth to confer with
Feustel, the banker, and burgomaster Muncker, and to get
everything in readiness for the festivities connected with the
ceremony of laying the cornerstone set for the twenty-
second of May. But it soon became evident that the entire
Berlin scheme was illusory and that in consequence it would
be injudicious to mature plans for the preliminary festival.
Wagner conducted himself admirably even in the face of this
bitter disappointment. This capacity of his to bear failure
and disappointment with fortitude, his tenacity of purpose,
his unshaken belief in himself and his cause, the intrepid,
courageous and dignified manner in which he met discour-
agements—were all qualities which so endeared the master
to my brother. Wagner will ever remain an inspiring ex-
ample for those who have high ambitions and ideals. It is a
matter of indifference as to whether all the paths he trod in
his efforts to achieve this goal were wholly commendable or
not, as such things must not be weighed by common stand-
ards. It was only Wagner's staunch belief in himself, which
induced men like Heckel, Feustel and Muncker—men ac-
customed to looking facts squarely in the face, in the trans-
actions of everyday life to espouse his cause and patiently
endeavor to remove all the obstacles to the realization of the
Bayreuth idea. It may not be amiss to say here that my
brother and I always had the greatest admiration for these
men who thus clung to Wagner through thick and thin.
With the transference of his interests to Bayreuth, Wag-
ner began to feel the necessity of abandoning his beloved
111
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
17
Tribschen and resuming his proper place in the world. Soon
came the leave-taking from the spot, which my brother al-
ways called the "enchanted isle” and the magic of which
clung to him through life.
Upon arriving in Tribschen one day in the early spring,
my brother found Frau Cosima deep in the task of packing.
While she moved from one room to another, he sat at the
piano, weaving into his improvisations all his grief, his in-
expressible hopes and fears, his precious memories and the
acute realization that something irretrievable was being
taken from his life. The strains, now jubilant, now mourn-
ful, echoed through the dismantled rooms, conjuring up
ghosts of past joys and sorrows.
Many years later, after there had been a complete rup-
ture in their relations, Frau Wagner often referred to the
fascinating and beautiful fantasy which she called my
brother's "Farewell to Tribschen.” Writing to Baron von
Gersdorff, my brother said: “Last Saturday I performed
the melancholy duty of taking leave of Tribschen. We
walked about as if we were in the midst of ruins, the air was
heavy with emotion, the dog refused to eat, and the servants
broke into unrestrained weeping every time they were ad-
dressed. Together, we packed the manuscripts, the books
and lettersmah, it was all so inexpressibly sad!
“What would my life have been without these three years
spent within reach of Tribschen, where I made twenty-three
visits! Without them, what would I have been! I am made
happy by the thought of having crystallized the Tribschen
world in my book.”
Did this little volume bear the title of “Richard Wagner
and Friedrich Nietzsche at the Zenith of their Friendship”,
C
112
Difficult Decisions
VO
it would have to close here, as my brother's deepest feelings
for Wagner were always associated with Tribschen, although
the following year, 1872, was also included in the Tribschen
period. With a mournful attempt at a joke, he said later:
“Bayreuth did not begin for me until the year 1873.”
But the title is more comprehensive and stretches over the
period of the decline in the friendship of the two men, a
period which my brother always characterized by the one
word “Bayreuth.”
Nowhere can we obtain a better idea of the high place
Tribschen held in my brother's affections, than in the pass-
age from his “Ecce Homo”, quoted in the foreword to this
book: “In speaking here of the vivifying influences of my life,
I feel that I must express my gratitude for that which, above
all other things, has refreshed me most heartily and pro-
foundly. This, unquestionably, was my intimate intercourse
with Richard Wagner. All my other relationships with men
I treat quite lightly but at no price would I have blotted
from my life those days spent at Tribschen, those days of
mutual confidence, of cheerfulness, of sublime flashes of
profound moments. ... I do not know the experiences
others may have had with Richard Wagner, I only know
that no cloud ever crossed our Heaven.”
And this is quite true, as the clouds of misunderstanding
did not appear until after Wagner had taken up his residence
in Bayreuth and were not clearly discernible until the year
1873.
After the agitation and anxiety connected with the first
Festival, which as the world knows, fell far short of the beau-
tiful anticipations, Frau Cosima looked back upon the
Tribschen days with a feeling of melancholy regret, and as
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
late as New Year's 1877 she wrote: “Just think of it, Richt-
er spent twenty-four hours of his three-days' holiday with
us, saying that he could no longer endure the separation.
On New Year's Eve, we reviewed our entire life at Tribschen,
sometimes with laughter, sometimes with tears. We recalled
your visits and we found that not even the Festival had suc-
ceeded in banishing from our affection the charm of this
blessed asylum, which in retrospect seems to us a veritable
Paradise Lost."
114
CHAPTER XII.
THE LAYING OF THE CORNERSTONE.
I
C HORTLY after the departure of the family from Trib-
schen, the ceremonies connected with the laying of the
cornerstone of the Festival Theatre took place in Bay-
reuth. The date of this memorable event was May 22, 1872,
but several days earlier there was a foregathering of the
faithful supporters of the cause, in this vanguard being the
select few who had devoted themselves wholly and passion-
ately to Wagner and the art-work of the future. Among
them were Baroness von Schleinitz, Frau von Muchanoff,
Countess Krokow, Fräulein von Meysenburg, Countess Döhn-
hoff (whom my brother found particularly charming) and
all the distinguished men who had been active in contributing
to the success of the Bayreuth undertaking.
It goes without saying that my brother's friends, Gers-
dorff and Rohde were also present; in fact, I was the only
one of the circle missing as, in a fit of generosity, I had given
my seat to Gustav Krug, one of my brother's boyhood's
friends.
There was a tremendous and quite unexpected rush and
the little rococo theatre could by no means accommodate
the crowd. A general introduction of Wagner's friends took
place at the final rehearsal of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony,
and as Rohde jokingly remarked, my brother was taken
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The Nietzsche-Wagner .
Correspondence
about and exhibited like some showy plat de jour, which my
brother amended by saying: “No, we were both on display!”
The truth of the matter was that Wagner was very proud
of the two, always introducing them as: "My friends, the
two university professors !” (Rohde had just been made pro-
fessor at the university of Kiel.)
It was on this occasion that my brother also made the
acquaintance of Wagner's old friend, Matilda von Mey-
senburg and this was the beginning of a warm friendship.
In her book, “The Letters of an Idealist,” Fräulein von Mey-
senburg gives a charming description of this meeting: “Dur-
ing one of the pauses of the final rehearsal, Frau Wagner
brought a young man up to me whom she introduced as 'Herr
Nietzsche.' Thrilled with joy, I exclaimed: 'Not the Herr
Nietzsche' whereupon they both laughed and Frau Wagner
said: “Yes, the Nietzsche.'
“At last I was given an opportunity of supplementing the
striking mental picture I had already formed of this young
man, by a still more vivid impression of a handsome presence
and agreeable personality; we were speedily on the best of
terms."
This memorable twenty-second of May began with a
steady downpour, but despite these discouraging conditions,
the ceremony of the cornerstone laying was most impressive.
In their great enthusiasm the assembled guests forgot the
discomfort of the situation and arose to a mood of genuine
elation. What must have been Wagner's feelings on this
occasion ? My brother believed that he possessed the key to
his thoughts when four years later, he wrote:
“When on that dismal and cloudy day in May the corner-
stone had been lowered into place on the wooded heights be-
116
The Laying of the Cornerstone
yond Bayreuth, under an overshadowed sky and amid a
downpour of rain, a few of us were permitted to drive back to
town with Wagner. He was silent during the entire drive
and there was an indescribable look in his eyes as of one who
has turned his gaze deeply inward. On this day he entered
upon his sixtieth year and his whole past now appeared as
but a preparation for this moment. It is a recognized fact
that in times of extraordinary danger or in all decisive
moments of their lives, men see the remotest as well as the
most recent events of their career with singular vividness.
With one rapid inward glance, they obtained a sort of pan-
orama of a whole span of years in which every experience is
depicted with the greatest fidelity. What, for instance,
must Alexander the Great have seen as he let Asia and
Europe drink from the same goblet? What this self-scrutiny
meant to Wagner on that day-how he visualized his past,
his present and his future-can only be comprehended by
those of us who stand nearest to him, and this only up to a
certain point. Only if we have this Wagnerian vision will
we be enabled to understand his great work and by the aid of
this understanding, to guarantee its productiveness.”
The evening performance of the “Ninth Symphony” was a
wonderful success. The entire audience was carried away
by enthusiasm for the artist and his work, all were inspired
by the most beautiful hopes for the future, and were made to
feel as if they were participating in the sunrise of a glorious
day containing the promise of a new and triumphant German
culture,
The air was filled with vague memories of Bayreuth's
past glory, and Wagner himself has best described the mixed
emotions of the festival audience assembled on that spring
2
117
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
evening in Bayreuth: “Who among those present on that
occasion could shake off the thought of past days when the
margravian court and its guests, with the great Frederick
himself as the oustanding figure-was assembled in this his-
toric house to witness a ballet, or to listen to an Italian
opera or a French comedy? Now this selfsame house re-
sounded with the strains of the marvellous Ninth Symphony
given by German musicians gathered together from all the
quarters of the fatherland to assist in this festival. From
the tribunes where once the gold-laced trumpeters blew a
mighty fanfare announcing the arrival of the royal suite,
there now arose the voices of distinguished German soloists,
calling out to the assembled guests: 'Embrace, ye millions!
“Stimulated by this experience, was there any one present
who did not have before his eyes a stirring vision of the ulti-
mate triumph of the German spirit?”
In his private correspondence, my brother has left on
record the powerful impression made upon him by the Ninth
Symphony, quite apart from all the external circumstances
connected with this historic performance:
“The opening movement strikes the keynote of passion
and its course. Without a moment's respite, the music
surges forward on its journey through forests and chasms
and Nature's prodigious phenomena. In the distance is
heard the roar of a waterfall, thundering out an overpower-
ing rhythm as it leaps in mighty bounds, to the valley below.
"We are given a breathing spell in the second movement,
(a moment for self-contemplation and self-judgment) and
above all our wanderings and our eager, hot pursuits, our
eyes catch a vision of eternal rest, smiling upon us blissfully
and yet mournfully.
118
The Laying of the Cornerstone
“The third movement is a moment snatched from passion
in its highest flights. Its course lies under the stars, agi-
tated, comet-like, an ignis fatuus, ghost-like, malevolent,
a sort of aberration, an inner flickering fire, a fatiguing, ex-
hausting pressing forward, without love or without hope, at
times almost mockingly coarse, like a spirit hovering over
graves without being able to find a resting place.
“And then the fourth movement! A heart-breaking cry,
the soul is no longer able to bear its burden, no longer able
to endure the unceasing transports of passion. Even the
vision of eternal rest is rudely pushed aside and the soul
agonizes, it suffers inexpressible torture. Now it recog-
nizes the curse laid upon it by this soul-solitude, this soul-
isolation, for even the immortality of the individual is noth-
ing more than a curse. It is then that a human voice is heard
speaking to the lonely soul, as to all lonely souls, and ex-
horting it to return to the friends and joys of the multitude.
This is the burden of its song! At last the song of universal
human passion bursts in stormily with its full impetus, reach-
ing heights which it would never have been able to attain
had not the passion of the solitary, onrushing individual
been of such terrific force.
"Sympathy joins hands with passion, not by way of con-
trast, but rather as an effect resulting from this cause."
I doubt very much if any one else present experienced the
same ardent and passionate feelings in listening to Beet-
hoven's masterpiece as did my brother.
The three friends left Bayreuth filled with solemn resolves
and soon thereafter my brother wrote to Gersdorff: “...
Ah, my friend, we know what we have experienced! No one
can rob us of these sacred and inspiring memories. We must
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
S
go through life solaced by them and, if needs be, fighting for
them, but above all, in everything that we do, we must en-
deavor to prove ourselves serious and high-minded, that we
may be deemed worthy of the profound honors and ex-
periences vouchsafed to us.”
In the meantime, the “Birth of Tragedy” had aroused the
most varied and conflicting sentiments throughout academic
circles in Germany. The work created the greatest enthu-
siasm in Wagnerian circles, and Hans von Bülow was also
delighted with it as is shown by a passage from one of my
brother's letters:
"... Hans von Bülow, whom I had never met, called upon
me here and asked me to accept the dedication of his trans-
lation of Leopardi, with which he occupied himself during his
leisure hours in Italy. He is so enthusiastic about my work
that he travels around with numerous copies to be dis-
tributed among his friends."
As may be imagined, my brother was placed in a most
embarrassing position by this visit from Hans von Bülow
(the first husband of Frau Cosima) occurring, as it did, just
at the time when the friendship between Wagner and my
brother was at its height. Bülow perceived this at once,
and, at the close of their conversation in regard to the “Birth
of Tragedy”, sought to dispel my brother's embarrassment
by voluntarily alluding to the subject of his relations with
Wagner and Frau Cosima. He drew the following picture:
Cosima was Ariadne, he himself was Theseus, and Wagner
was Dionysius; but like all analogies this one also had a
weak spot, as in this case Theseus had not deserted Ariadne,
but just the reverse. Bülow, evidently, wished to convey the
idea that he had been superseded by a higher being, by a god.
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The Laying of the Cornerstone
My brother was delighted beyond measure to hear Bülow
thus investing his own experiences with such an impersonal
and mythical character, even though he was not spared a
number of Bülow's caustic criticisms of the two beloved
friends.
Matilda von Meysenburg has given us a detailed de-
scription of her first impressions of the “Birth of Tragedy”,
as it was her interest in this book that drew forth her de-
lighted exclamation at the time she met my brother face to
face, in Bayreuth:
“... While I was living in Florence in the year 1872,
I received a letter from Frau Cosima Wagner calling my
attention to a newly-published work from the pen of a young
professor at the university of Basle, who, she said, was an
intimate friend of the Wagner family then living at Trib-
Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music,' and the
author's name was Friedrich Nietzsche.
“Just at that time, I was surrounded by a small circle of
highly intelligent friends and we at once began reading the
book aloud, our enthusiasm growing as we read. The light
thrown upon the two fundamental elements of Greek life,
which the author characterized by the names : Dionysian and
Apollonian, disclosed a wealth of inspiring ideas upon this
subject, among them being the thought that the Dionysian
(the essence of the world 'per se') whose native language is
music, generates the art-work of tragedy from the beauty
of the Apollonian spirit.
“... We also learned that Nietzsche was a profoundly
scholarly philologian and had been recommended to the uni-
versity of Basle as professor in ordinary when quite a young
0
121
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
man by Professor Ritschl, himself one of Germany's fore-
most philologians. What attracted us even more than the
erudition of this young scholar, who displayed an aston-
ishing familiarity with the classics, was the intellectual depth
and poetry of his conceptions, the presaging vision of the
poetical soul, which grasped the inner truth of things with
the vision of the seer, whereas the pedantic dry-as-dust
scholar would have seized hold of the outer husk and be-
lieved it to be the inner kernel. It was a genuine delight to
feel that such a powerful personality, and at the same time
a man of scholarly attainments and a highly endowed crea-
tive spirit, should be devoted to the great work now in prep-
aration in Bayreuth under the personal direction of Richard
Wagner.”
But an ominous silence reigned in philological circles,
where, with a few notable exceptions, my brother's ideas were
completely misunderstood. The interested reader will find
all the details of this question discussed in the big Nietzsche
biography as well as in “The Young Nietzsche.”
Professor Ritschl was one of the few who wrote a letter
to my brother, touching in its leniency of judgment. As a
matter of fact, this work had also compromised him in the
mind of the public, as he had pronounced my brother to be
his foremost pupil, thus making himself, to a certain extent,
responsible for the fundamental ideas therein contained.
How little these ideas were comprehended, may be judged by
the pronouncement of one eminent university professor, who
dismissed the book as a piece of “absolute rubbish.” Ritschl
and the good Jakob Burckhardt seemed to be the only ones
who surmised something of the real significance of the book.
Writing to Rohde, my brother said: “This man (Jakob
S
122
The Laying of the Cornerstone
Burckhardt) who will have nothing to do with anything phil-
osophical, particularly anything relating to art-philosophy
(my own included!) is so fascinated by the apprehension of
the Greek character revealed in this book, that he meditates
upon it day and night, and in a thousand details, furnishes
me with an example of the most fruitful historical adapta-
tion; I shall have much to learn in regard to the cultural
history of the Greeks during his summer lecture course, in
fact, more than ever, now that I know in what familiar
and native soil these fruits have been grown.”
Jakob Burckhardt added a special chapter dealing with
the marvellous phenomenon bearing the name Dionysian to
his work on “The Culture of the Greeks”, having instantly
recognized that this phenomenon, newly perceived, and in a
sense, discovered by my brother-would prove an invaluable
aid to the understanding of the still richer, yea, self-exult-
ing Hellenic instinct."
The thick-headed philologians grumbled and waxed in-
dignant at what they considered to be an unclassifiable book
published by one of their own colleagues and yet not intended
for them. This indignation grew until, finally, the offended
German philology arose in the person of the youthful Dr.
Ulrich von Willamowitz who came out with a scathing
pamphlet addressed to the: "Philology of the Future: An
Answer to ‘The Birth of Tragedy' by Friedrich Nietzsche,
Professor in Ordinary at the University of Basle.” This
malevolent attack made upon my brother was, in reality,
directed against Ritschl, whose many enemies at the Berlin
university had undoubtedly prompted young Willamowitz
to write the pamphlet. Later, when we came to know the
true facts in the case, we were inclined to regard this as a
L
123
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
piece of youthful bravado on the part of Willamowitz, and
more particularly so, as it was in direct contradiction to the
latter's personal admiration for my brother. But, at the
time, all of our friends were highly incensed and Rohde im-
mediately announced his intention of taking up the cudgels
for my brother. He was anticipated, however, by Wagner
who was the first to take up his pen in defense of the work;
this he did by writing a circular letter, printed in the “Nord-
deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung." As this communication may
be considered fairly representative of Wagner's own view-
point at that time, it is reproduced in full in the following
chapter.
124
CHAPTER XIII.
CIRCULAR LETTER FROM RICHARD WAGNER TO FRIEDRICH
NIETZSCHE, PROFESSOR IN ORDINARY OF CLASSICAL
PHILOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BASLE.
“Esteemed friend:
“I have just finished reading the pamphlet you sent me
written by Dr. Phil. Ulrich von Willamowitz-Moellendorff,
and this reply to your 'Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit
of Music' has created certain impressions of which I should
like to relieve my mind by propounding to you a few ques-
tions, which you may deem of a surprising character. I do
this in the hope of moving you to an explanatory answer,
and one as stimulating as your discussion of Greek tragedy.
“First of all, I should like to ask you to explain an educa-
tional phenomenon which I have observed in my own case. At
the time I was attending the Kreuz-Schule in Dresden, no
boy could have had greater enthusiasm for classical antiquity
than myself; although it was Greek mythology and history
which interested me most deeply, I also felt strongly drawn
to the study of the Greek language, to such an extent, in
fact, that I was almost rebellious in my efforts to shirk my
Latin tasks. It is impossible for me to judge whether or
not my case was a normal one, but I may be pardoned for
referring to the fact that my favorite master at the Kreuz-
Schule, Dr. Sillig-still living, I hope-was so gratified
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
with my enthusiasm for the classics, that he strongly urged
me to adopt philology as my profession. I likewise remem-
ber well how my later teachers at the Nikolai and Thomas
schools in Leipzig, succeeded in rooting out these tastes and
inclinations, and I find no difficulty in explaining this when
I reflect upon the general policy of these masters. As time
went on, I began to entertain serious doubts as to whether
these tastes and inclinations had ever taken strong hold
upon me, as they seemed to degenerate rapidly into those of
an entirely different character. It was only during my
period of later development, that I began to grow conscious
of the fact that the regular outcropping of these inclina-
tions, indicated that something had been stified in me by a
fatal system of schooling. Again and again, amid the most
absorbing tasks of a life entirely removed from these studies,
the only way by which I seemed to be able to gain a breath
of freedom, was by plunging into this antique world, however
much I was now handicapped by having well-nigh forgotten
the language. On the other hand, while envying Mendels-
sohn his philological fluency, I could but wonder why this
philological knowledge had not prevented him from writing
his music to the dramas of Sophocles, since I, despite my
ignorance, had more respect for the spirit of antiquity than
he seemed to display. I have also known a number of other
musicians, who could make no use of their knowledge of
Greek in their composing and music-making in general,
whereas I, strange to say, had worked out an ideal for my
musical viewpoints, despite my restricted intercourse with
the antique. Be that as it may, I only know there arose in
me the vague feeling that the real spirit of the antique was
as little apprehended by the average teacher of Greek, for
-
126
Circular Letter from Richard Wagner
example, as a genuine appreciation of French history and
culture is to be presupposed on the part of our French
masters.
“But now comes Dr. Phil. U. W. von Moellendorf with the
statement that it is the serious aim of scientific philology to
inculcate into the mind of the German youth the idea that
'classical antiquity vouchsafes the one and only Imperish-
able, containing a promise of the favor of the muses in its
absolute purity and fullness. It is this alone which can
imbue the soul with the Substance, and the mind with the
Form'!
“Still thrilled by this magnificent apostrophe of his
pamphlet, I look about me in the newly-created German
Empire, in search of the blessings resulting from the culti-
vation of this philological science; these blessings should
surely be manifest, for hedged in by their own inviolability,
they have hitherto trained our German youth on principles
none dared to question. First of all, I was struck by the
fact that every one among us who lays claim to the favor
of the muses, and this includes practically our whole artistic
and poetic world, jogs along without recourse to philology.
At all events, that thorough-going knowledge of the lan-
guages, which should be made the basis of all classical studies
pursued by the philologists, does not seem to have extended
its functions to the correct treatment of our German mother
tongue. The ever-growing tendency to employ a luxuriant
jargon which manifests itself in our newspapers and from
there spreads to the works of our writers on art and
literature, will soon necessitate racking one's brains every
time one writes a word, in order to determine whether this
word belongs rightfully to German etymology, or has been
127
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
TAY
borrowed from a Wisconsin stock market report. But how-
ever dark things look in the field of belles-lettres, the objec-
tion could always be advanced that this had nothing to do
with philology, as this branch of science had pledged her
services less to the artistic muses than to the scientific. In
that case, should we not expect to find her influence mani-
fested among the faculties of our higher educational insti-
tutions? Theologians, jurists, and the men of the medical
profession, however, deny having anything to do with
philology. If this be true, then the philologians will have no
one to instruct but each other, presumably for the purpose
of turning out more and more philologians—that is to say,
more gymnasium masters and university professors, who
in turn, will bake a fresh batch of gymnasium teachers and
university professors. This I can understand; the idea
being to preserve the science in all its purity, and not only
to inculcate a profound respect for this science upon the
state, but also to bind upon her conscience the necessity of
making adequate provision for the salaries of philological
incumbents.
“But no! Dr. Phil. U. W. v. M. expressly states that the
chief thing should be the training of our German youth by
all kinds of 'ascetic processes to attain that one Imperish-
able, promising the favor of the muses.' So, after all,
philology must have a high aim and one that strives to-
wards productive culture. This much is to be assumed-
at least, so it seems to me. However, this tendency seems
to be in danger of complete disintegration as a result of the
peculiar process in her present discipline. One thing is
evident, and that is, philological science at the present time
exerts no influence whatever upon the general conditions of
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Circular Letter from Richard Wagner
's there and excl. the Brah
German culture, whereas on the other hand, the theological
faculty supplies us with parsons and prelates; the faculty
of jurisprudence with lawyers and judges, the medical
faculty with doctors--all of them practical and useful
citizens. Philology furnishes us with nothing but philolo-
gists who are not of the slightest use to any one but their
own little circle. It may be seen from this that the Brahmins
of India were not of a more exalted and exclusive rank than
our philologians, and that, therefore, we are justified in
expecting a word of inspiration from them from time to
time, and of a truth, that is precisely what we do expect;
we are awaiting the man who shall step down from this
marvellous sphere, and without employing erudite terms and
terrifying quotations, tell us laymen just what it is that
the initiated perceive behind the veil of their incomprehensible
researches, and whether it is worth while to maintain so
expensive a caste. But we expect of this revelation that it
must be something very great, very elevating, and something
well worth cultivating, and not merely this elegant tinkling
of cymbals with which they seek to satisfy us from time
to time, in their popular lectures to 'mixed' audiences.
1
seems to be very difficult of utterance; it almost seems as if
a peculiar, uncanny apprehension had taken hold of these
gentlemen and aroused the fear that by dispensing with all
the mysterious attributes of philological consequentiality,
and with all quotations, annotations and fitting mutual
felicitations between greater and lesser colleagues--in other
words, by letting the light of day illumine the dark recesses,
they would thereby be disclosing the depressing poverty to
which this particular science had degenerated.
129
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
“I can imagine that for any one attempting such a thing,
nothing would remain but to stretch forth a hand and
forciby seize upon revivifying forces from the inexhaustible
fountain-heads of human knowledge, which have, hitherto,
waited in vain to be revivified by philology. Any philologian
the same treatment you are now receiving, valued friend,
since deciding to publish your profound treatise on the
genesis of tragedy. At the first glance, it was plain to be
seen that we had to do here with a philologian who was ad-
dressing himself to us and not to his colleagues ; for this
reason, our hearts beat high, and we regained our courage,
completely lost by reading the customary philological dis-
sertations upon Homer, the tragic poets and the like, filled
with quotations and empty as to content. This time we had
a text but no annotations! Standing on the mountain top,
we looked across the spreading plains without fear of being
disturbed by the drunken brawls of the peasants down below.
But it seems as if we were not to be left in peaceful posses-
sion of our acquisition, as philology stoutly maintains that
your feet are still firmly planted on her soil, and that there-
that neither you nor any of the rest of us are to be spared
a sound cudgelling with annotations. As a matter of fact,
the hailstorm has already broken; a Dr. Phil. has hurled
regular philological thunderbolts. Fortunately, such storms
S
as one is raging, all sensible persons remain under cover, just
as one gives wide berth to an enraged bull. We agree with
Socrates in thinking that it is absurd to reply to the hoof of.
an ass with the toe of a man, and yet, an explanation is
130
Circular Letter from Richard Wagner
0
)
due those of us who have followed the trend of events without
being able to understand fully just what it is all about.
Therefore, I now address myself to you!
“We had not believed that so much rudeness could be com-
mitted in the 'service of the muses, nor that their favor
produced such a lamentable lack of polish, as we here per-
ceive in one who claims to possess “that only imperishable.'
Now those who, like ourselves, know nothing of philology,
are disposed to defer to the statements of such a man, par-
ticularly when these statements are supported by such a
formidable array of quotations from the archives of the
guild; but we are plunged into direct doubt, not so much
by that scholar's wilful non-understanding of your essay,
but rather by his inability to understand the very simplest
arguments. We refer here to the passage where he attributes
to you an optimistic meaning in your quotation from Goethe:
'Behold thy world. A world indeed! and indignant with
you at not understanding your 'Fausť better, deems it
necessary to explain to you that 'Faust is speaking ironic-
ally.
“What name shall we give this? A question not easy to
answer in a communication intended for public consumption.
For my own part, such an experience as the one gained
irom the case in question, is most disheartening. You will
remember how zealously I advocated the study of the classics
some years ago, in my essay on 'German Art and German
Policy,' and how I predicted a progressive deterioration of
our national culture as a result of the ever-increasing neglect
of these studies on the part of our artists and writers.
“But what does it serve a man if he give himself infinite
pains to acquire philological knowledge? From the studies
131
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
1
IN
of J. Grimm I took an early 'Heilarvac,' remodeled it into
a 'Weiarvaga' (a form met with today in the world ‘Weih-
wasser') to make it more adaptable for my purpose; I
then derived from it the nearly related roots of 'wogen'
and 'wiegen,' 'wollen' and 'wallen' and thus built up a
root-syllabic melody for my Rhine Maidens something after
the analogy of the 'Eia popeia' of our nursery rhymes.
What was the result? I am hooted to the very doors of the
Allgemeine Zeitung by our journalistic street arabs, and
it upon this ‘proverbial wigala weia, as he is pleased to
call it—that a learned Dr. Phil. now bases his contempt
for my so-called poetry.
“Of a truth, my friend, you owe us a word or two of ex-
planation! And by free? I mean those of us who entertain
the gravest fear for the future of German culture. These
fears are increased by a knowledge of the singularly high
regard foreigners have for this culture, with the early bud-
ding of which they have only recently become acquainted.
Unquestionably each nation has its own germ of cretinism.
In the case of the French we find their absinthe finishing
what the Academie began, to wit, an absurd attitude of
childish ridicule of everything not immediately understood,
and therefore, excluded by the Academie from the national
scheme of culture. It is true that with us, Philology has not
yet acquired the power of the Academie, nor is our beer so
dangerous as absinthe; but the Germans possess other
qualities, such as envy and the correspondingly mischievous
spitefulness, allied to a degree of insincerity, which is all
the more pernicious because it wears the mask of old-time
sturdiness. These qualities are so pernicious that they
might easily rank as substitutes for the poisons we have not.
132
Circular Letter from Richard Wagner
“Horo do matters stand with our German educational
institutions? This question we address to you in particular,
singled out as you were at an early age, by a distinguished
master of philology to occupy a university chair where your
laurels were so rapidly won as to embolden you to step out
from this vicious circle and with a hand truly creative, point
out its shortcomings.
“We do not mean to hurry you! No pressure will be
brought to bear upon you, least of all by that Doctor of
Philosophy who politely invites you to vacate your chair,
a thing you most assuredly have no intention of doing merely
to oblige this gentleman, and even should you do so, there
is not the slightest likelihood of his being chosen to suc-
ceed you in the place where you have worked. That which
we expect from you can only be the lifetime task of a
man sorely needed in high places, a man such as you have
shown yourself to be to all those who ask enlightenment from
the noblest wellsprings of the German spirit, from the
profound seriousness by which it is permeated—as to the
form to be taken by German culture if it is ever to help the
re-born nation to achieve its noblest aims and aspirations.
"Heartfelt greetings from,
Yours,
“Bayreuth, June 12, 1872. RICHARD WAGNER.”
133
CHAPTER XIV.
CONFLICTS.
S
TT is greatly to be deplored that the letter in which my
brother expressed his gratitude for Wagner's defense
of his work should also have been among those destroyed.
He had feared that Wagner, out of affection for him,
might write in such a way as would tend to make his position
in the academic world even more difficult, but happily, the
circular letter turned out far more discreet and diplomatic
than my brother had expected. On the other hand, Wagner
frankly admitted that Nietzsche had injured himself by
espousing the Wagnerian cause, and regarded his article
as having done nothing to improve the situation, but had
rather made matters worse. Expression is given to these
fears in Wagner's reply to my brother's letter of thanks:
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“O friend!
“You really cause me nothing but anxiety at present, and
this is just because I think so much of you! Strictly speak-
ing, you are the one and only gain life has brought me so far,
aside from my beloved wife. Fortunately, Fidi has now been
added to my blessings, but there is a gap between us which
only you can fill—something like the relationship of a son
134
Conflicts
to a grandchild. I have no anxiety about Fidi, but I am
greatly concerned about you and in so far, about Fidi also.
This concern is of a rather commonplace character. I wish
for nothing so much as your physical wellbeing, since every-
thing else seems to be now assured. Day after day, I have
carefully re-read the ‘Birth,' and at each reading, I say to
myself: 'If he only regains his health and keeps it, and if
everything goes well with him in other ways—for things
must not go wrong with him.' How gladly would one do
something to help matters along!
“This has set me to thinking anew as to how a beginning
could best be made, and it this uncertainty which causes
my anxiety. But:-hold out a little longer and sooner or
later, the right way is bound to be found. I should have
unbounded confidence and my fears would be turned into
hopes, could I only hear that you had the proper amount of
confidence in yourself, that you are encouraged about your
health, and that you are in good spirits.
“I have not been able to find anything in my 'letters' to
indicate that I have blazed a path for you (as you say)
but, on the contrary, it seems to me as if I had done nothing
but hang an additional burden about your neck. Nor did I
mean to say that it was necessary for you to “ripen' for
your task, but only that your own work will keep you fully
occupied as long as you live,
“Nothing but ‘Tristan' will still interest you. But take
off your glasses! You must pay attention to nothing but
the orchestra. Adieu, dear, well-beloved friend! Shall we
not see each other soon?
“Yours,
“Fantasie, June 25, 1872.
Rich. WAGNER."
135
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
Upon learning of Wagner's intention of writing a public
defense of Nietzsche, Rohde believed it was incumbent upon
him to retire from the field, but after the publication of
the Wagner letter, he was more than ever convinced that a
scientific defense was necessary and my brother took the
same view of the matter. In re-writing the “Birth of
Tragedy” and giving a strong Wagnerian inflection to cer-
tain chapters, my brother was fully conscious of the fact
that by so doing he was jeopardizing his university career,
but he was, nevertheless, ready and willing to make this
sacrifice for Wagner's sake. But now that an attempt was
being made to discredit him by heaping insults and false
charges upon his head, he felt the imperative need of de
fending his position by every academic weapon at his com-
mand. Moreover, the knowledge that Willamowitz was
endeavoring to dislodge him from the university by attacks
upon his philological integrity, had led him to abandon all
thought of voluntarily retiring from this post. The entire
situation had also undergone a complete change in other
respects as Rohde had been appointed professor at the Kiel
university, thus relieving him from the soul-wearing duties
of instructor, and the great success of the preliminary
festival in Bayreuth had made it no longer necessary to
travel about making propaganda, as the realization of the
Bayreuth idea seemed now assured.
Before going to Basle in 1872, for my customary summer
visit to my brother, I made a flying trip to Leipzig, in order
to hear from Professor Ritschl's own mouth his opinion of
the “Birth of Tragedy” and of the stand taken by my
brother. I found both him and his wife "incredibly kind and
well disposed” towards my brother, who was overjoyed at
136
Conflicts
hearing this. The report I brought back with me also
encouraged Rohde to proceed with his polemic against
Willamowitz, and thereby prove himself a staunch comrade-
in-arms to his friend Nietzsche. Many letters were ex-
changed on this subject and it was finally agreed upon that
this purely scientific defense should be written in the form
of a circular letter addressed to Wagner as it was "the
direct allusion to Wagner and his art in the book, which had
given the philologians such a shock and aroused such an-
tagonism." But before proceeding along these lines, Rohde
wrote to Wagner asking his permission and received the
following answer:
Richard Wagner to Erwin Rohde.
“My dear friend:
“Go ahead! I am delighted to hear of your plans and
especially that you mean to address your communication
to me. Is anything more than this assurance needed to
encourage you to undertake your task with enthusiasm?
"Our friends Nietzsche and Gersdorff were in Munich a
few days ago to attend a performance of 'Tristan'; in fact,
I am expecting Gersdorff to stop over in Bayreuth on his
way back to Berlin. As for me, I am engaged in finishing
off my monstrous opus and am feeling quite well, as is also
my dear wife, who joins me in sending you cordial greetings.
“I hope that all goes well with you. Yours cordially,
“RICHARD WAGNER."
Hans von Bülow had invited my brother to come to
Munich for a special performance of “Tristan”; an invita-
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
tion which he accepted with the greatest joy. He was joined
there by Gersdorff and the two friends were deeply moved
by the beauties of the work. Later my brother wrote to
Rohde: “... I only wish you could hear 'Tristan'-it is the
most stupendous, the most chaste, and the most astounding
work that I know. One fairly floats in bliss and exaltation.”
Of all Wagner's works, Tristan always exercised the greatest
fascination for my brother and from the moment he became
acquainted with the music, it remained his favorite music-
drama. As late as 1888, after his relations to Wagner had
undergone so radical a change, he wrote:“. . I look about
me among all the arts, in vain, for a work of the same
dangerous fascination, the same infinite thrill and loveliness
as Tristan; all of Leonardo da Vinci's unique qualities lose
their charm in listening to the first note of Tristan. This
work is, by all odds, Wagner's ne plus ultra." . .
While Rohde was engaged in writing his polemic against
Willamowitz, my brother and I spent a quiet, peaceful sum-
mer in Switzerland, he devoting himself to his philological
and psychological studies of the Greek world, especially to
the Homeric contests. He was very happy in this oppor-
tunity for quiet, undisturbed literary work, although he
worried not a little at the thought of poor Rohde working
away on his polemic. On off days, we made delightful little
excursions to points of interest in the vicinity of Basle and
often strolled along solitary paths singing passages from
the Wagnerian dramas.
This conflict with Willamowitz was the means of bringing
about a close friendship between my brother and Prof.
Overbeck, who had always been one of my brother's most
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Conflicts
ardent champions. It was he who chose the rather clumsy
title for Rohde's little pamphlet
“PSEUDO-PHILOLOGY:
Circular Letter of a Philologian
to
Richard Wagner,
in elucidation of the pamphlet,
‘Philology of the Future,'
by
Prof. Ulrich von Willamowitz-Moellendorf, Ph.D.".
This little brochure appeared the middle of October and
my brother was deeply moved by this touching proof of
Rohde's friendship. He writes: “... And now your little
work, written in a spirit of generosity and courageous
camaraderie, comes tumbling down into the midst of the
cackling crowd. What a spectacle! Romundt and Over-
beck, the only persons to whom I have read it as yet, are
beside themselves for joy over the success of your under-
taking. They are never tired of pointing out the merits of
the work, both as a whole and in detail, and call your
polemics ‘Lessingesque,' and you well know what good Ger-
mans mean when they make use of this adjective. But what
pleases me best of all is the deep, booming ground tone,
like that of a mighty waterfall, by which every work of
a polemic character must be consecrated if it is to convey
an impression of true greatness and is to express love, con-
fidence, strength, grief, hope and victory. Dear friend, I
was completely overcome, and when you spoke of the
'friends, it was some time before I could read further.
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The Nitssche-Wagner Correspondence
F
What beautiful experiences have been vouchsafed mc this
year! And how well they have succeeded in dispelling all
thought of the calamities that have descended upon my
unlucky head from other quarters! I am also proud and
happy for Wagner's sake, as your work will signify a re-
markable turning-point in his relations to Germany's scien-
tific circles. I hear that the ‘National Zeitung' recently
had the cheek to number me among the 'literary lackeys of
Tagner'; hom great, then, will be the astonishment when
you also come forward and acknowledge him!
"That is of still more vital importance than for you to
stand by me. Is it not so, dear old friend? And it is just
because I see what you have done for Wagner, out of friend-
ship for me, that makes this one of the happiest days of
my whole life.”
Wagner also wrote a cordial letter of thanks to Rohde,
saying:
"My dear friend:
"I find that, with and through Nietzsche, I have got into
very good company. You cannot know what it means to a
man who has spent a long life in the society of inferior or
rather stupid persons, at last to be able to say: God be
praised, here comes a new type of man, possibly an entire
generation. When this happens, one feels compensated for
having been obliged to live for half a century in a madhouse.
These changed conditions only began after I met Nietzsche.
Previous to that meeting, my world swung in no wider orbit
than that of Pohl, Mohl and Porges and I cannot tell you
how wonderful this change seems to me. Now, please do
not ask me to write you anything further. I believe that
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my wife has already written you—at least, I know that
yesterday she wrote to Gersdorff on the subject of the
*Pscudo-Philology' (dreadful word!). We took the great-
est delight in your work and find it a worthy companion
piece and complement to the 'Birth itself. For us, the
chief thing was that we were edified by this dissertation and
that, furthermore, we have learned to love and appreciate
the 'real man.' Such things should unquestionably be of
help to all of us, but personally, I have not the courage to
bestow even a glance upon the future morass of the human
race. After all, this is a matter we may safely leave to God,
and let him arrange affairs to His own honor and glory.
“Accept our cordial greetings and my especial thanks for
the great and genuine honor you have conferred upon me.
“Yours sincerely,
"RICHARD WAGNER."
At this time my brother was struggling with many diffi-
culties and discouragements, and as a birthday present to
himself (October 15, 1872) he wrote a letter in which he
unburdened his heart to Wagner. In reply, the master wrote
him in a very affectionate strain, which gives rise to renewed
regrets that my brother's letter was destroyed at Wahnfried.
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“Dear friend:
“It was really splendid of you to write to me on your
birthday, at the same time my wife was writing to you. What
you say is very comforting and agreeably espresses the
serious mood which seems to have taken possession of us all
141
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
at present. This mood might almost be called one of ap-
prehension created by our disgust at everything we see and
hear. Under the influence of this mood we again ask our-
selves the question: What is to be done with this disreputable
old world? Liszt has been with us for eight days. We
learned to love him anew, but when he left we were filled
with the same old misgivings. What did we not hear from
him of all that is taking place in the world, of which to be
sure, we already knew quite enough, but which fairly
frightened us to death when thus heard in detail! Knowing
that the world classes us together as outcasts, he thought
he would be doing us a favor by repeating all sorts of base-
ness and ingratitude. More and more, I have the feeling
that I know but little of my own age, and possibly it is
better so if one is writing for posterity. But it is a curious
thing, this being made to feel as if I were a novice under
constant surveillance. When one is working among the
primeval elements, as it were, he comes to realize how im-
perative is the unbounded solitude of the individual. I am
now better able to understand what it was that so often
stifled and suffocated you. It was because you looked about
you too much in the world. The thing now is to see and yet
not to see. By abandoning all hope, one can possibly rid
himself also of despair. The feeling is growing in my mind
that the only possible means a man has of distinguishing
himself from the age in which he lives is to become thor-
oughly conscious of his own strength, and to do this, if needs
be, by engaging in a pitched battle with the meanness and
pettiness of the age. As far as I am concerned, I have ar-
rived at the point where I do not intend to mince matters,
and should the Empress Augusta cross my path she would
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Conflicts
fare precisely as others do in this respect. Something must
come of all this, for one thing is certain: compromise is not
to be considered for a moment. Having got one's self so
cordially hated, the only thing to be done is to make one's
self feared. ...
"I think more and more about ‘What is German?' and my
latest studies on this question have aroused the most re-
markable degree of scepticism in my mind, so that I am
now beginning to believe that being German’ is a purely
metaphysical conception. As such, however, it is intensely
interesting to me, and in any case, is unique in the history
of the world, and is to be compared only to Judaism, unless
Hellenism can also be made to serve as an historical parallel.
“And then I turn my eyes upon my son, my Siegfried. The
boy is growing sturdier and stronger every day and is no
less ready with his wits than with his fists. He is a complete
marvel to me, and if despair has been chased away by the
presence of my beloved wife at my side-I am now learning
from the boy what it means to hope again. And so the old
dance begins anew but this time to a more vigorous rhythm.
It is the boy, my friend, who causes me to turn now to you
and inspires me with a passionate desire from reasons of
pure family egotism, it must be confessed-to see all the
hopes I have placed in you pushed forward to fulfillment,
for the boy needs you-ah! how he needs you!
"But I have said this to you before. You know one is given
to repetition as one grows older! It is the same with my
expectorations in brochure form with which I have deluged
the world, and you in particular. You have doubtless re-
ceived the essay on 'Actors and Singers. This is another
way of getting at the matter; this time, I have worked
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
DO
CL
directly through the comedians. And again it has happened
that no sooner have I finished, than all sorts of pertinent
ideas occur to me thus leaving me a hook upon which to
hang a future brochure. But just think of all this being
wasted upon the desert air! In thinking the matter over,
I have not the faintest idea to whom I could send the gratis
copies. Would you like to have some for your colleagues in
Basle? Rohde, of course, will receive one. By the way,
nounce our approaching visit to you and your friends.
Early in November we are planning to start out on our
voyage of discovery through the German Empire. The first
interruption in our regular itinerary will be a visit to the
celebrated dentist in Basle whose services can no longer be
dispensed with. I imagine that this will take about eight
full days, and thus there would be eight evenings which we
hope to spend in the society of you and your friends, and
thereby feel ourselves compensated for all the bad treatment
we are obliged to endure during the day. As now planned
we shall arrive about the third week in November, at which
time, we will obtain from you assurances as to the where-
abouts and willingness of the American (dentist). Our life
here is a somewhat dissolute one occasioned by our removal
to the Dammallee. Liszt's visit was the outstanding event,
during which the capacity of our present ‘salon' was put
to the severest test. As far as such a thing is possible, we
have come to a clear understanding with this wonderful
man and we regret all the more profoundly that we had-
and have very little hope of being able to do anything for
this ruined life. It is still possible that he may decide to
settle down with us here in Bayreuth. After hearing your
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Conflicts
‘New Year's Echoes,' he found Bülow's harsh verdict very
extreme. Without having heard you play the composition
(and this, for us, was the decisive factor) he pronounced a
different and much more favorable judgment upon your
'music. Therefore, let us drop the Bülow intermezzo; it
seems to me as if here two singular personalities of the most
extreme viewpoints had come in violent contact. All of this
I say to you by way of parenthesis, for when all is said and
done, the most vital thing is that each one of us must come
to a clear understanding with himself, quite independent of
outside criticism. Last summer I re-read your book and my
wife has devoured it again more recently. I am sure that
your ears must have burned just as if they heard very good
music.
"At last you will receive a very respectable letter from me.
May my chatter fill you with fresh courage, and at any rate,
serve to show that in the long run, I am not affected by the
baseness and meanness of men and things. A further ad-
vantage I gain thereby is that of being able to speak to you
in a cheerful strain.
“Greetings from all of us with the hope of seeing you soon
in the city of Erasmus.
“Yours faithfully,
“Bayreuth, Oct. 24, 1872. RICHARD WAGNER."
My brother wrote to Gersdorff telling him of Frau Wag
ner's comments after re-reading the “Birth of Tragedy”:
“During her convalescence, Frau Wagner re-read my
book and now writes to me that she is ‘obliged to marvel
anew at the supreme skill displayed in the presentation’;
‘you will never write anything better, valued friend,' she
U
145
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence .
continues, “as I consider any greater degree of perfection
than is to be found here as quite out of the question; but
you will write other books equally good, on other themes.'
Can you imagine my feelings upon reading these words? I
was arrogant and abashed at the same time. But above all,
I felt myself called upon to aspire to greater, more daring
and more ideal aims, if I were henceforth to be satisfied with
my own productive work. You wrote of ‘simplicity and
greatness’—it is as if these words had been spoken from
my own heart as they embody my own ideals."
From the following letter it will be seen how the thought
of Wagner always filled my brother with joy and confidence:
Friedrich Nietzsche to Richard Wagner.
“Dear master:
"In view of all that I have experienced of late, I have no
right to be discouraged, for as a matter of fact, I live and
move in a solar system of love and friendship, of comforting
assurances and inspiring hopes. But, notwithstanding all
this, there is one point which causes me a great deal of
momentary uneasiness. Our winter semester has opened and
I have no students at all. Our philologians have all remained
away. It is really a humiliation for me, and one to be care-
fully concealed from the outside world. But to you, dear
master, I have always confided everything and can, there-
fore, tell you this also. The state of affairs is not at all
difficult to explain. I have suddenly been discredited among
my philological colleagues and our little university is obliged
to suffer in consequence. This distresses me beyond measure,
for I am really very devoted and deeply grateful and would
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Conflicts
not for the world have done anything to injure the interests
of the institution. My philological colleagues, as well as
Dean Fischer are celebrating in a manner never before vouch-
safed them in the whole course of their academic careers.
Up until the last half-year, the number of students registered
in the philological department was steadily on the increase
magic. All of this corresponds perfectly, to things that
have come to my knowledge concerning conditions at other
universities. It goes without saying that Leipzig is fairly
bursting with envy and conceit, every one condemns me and
even those who know me are unable to rise above a feeling
of compassion for the absurdity' I have committed. A
professor of philology at the Bonn university, for whom I
have never entertained a very high regard, settled the matter
once for all with his students, by pronouncing my book
'absolute rubbish' of which nothing could be made; further-
more, that any one who would write such rubbish was
'scientifically dead.'
"I have also heard of a student who intended coming to
Basle, but was persuaded to remain in Bonn, and now has
written to a relative here saying that he thanked God that he
had been kept away from a university where I was teaching.
Rohde’s generous deed will accomplish anything more than
increase the hatred and jealousy already existing against
us two? Rohde and I, most emphatically, expect nothing
else. All this could be borne, however, were not the little
university which has shown me so much kindness and placed
so much confidence in me-obliged to suffer on my account.
This distresses me deeply, and will eventually lead to deci-
147
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
sions which, for other reasons, I have already had under
consideration for some time. By the way, I can make good
use of this winter semester, now that I am nothing more
than an ordinary school-master and obliged to fall back
on pedagogy.
“This then is the dark point,' but otherwise all is light
and hope. I would be a morose mole, indeed, did not letters
such as the one you have just written, cause me to leap for
joy. And you are really coming? I praise my lucky stars
and the dentist, for I would never have dared dream of such
a possibility. Would you not prefer to try the Three
Kings' this time? I consider it better than ‘Euler'; my
sister and I took our meals there this summer and spent a
very jolly day there with Fräulein von Meysenburg and the
newly-wedded pair, Herzen-Monod.
“Your splendid essay on 'Actors and Singers' has again
kindled in me the desire to have some one make a compre-
hensive review from your researches and conclusions in the
field of æsthetics, and thereby show what radical changes have
taken place in regard to artistic viewpoints,—changes
whereby these viewpoints have been deepened and intensified
so that practically nothing remains of the traditional
theories of ‘Æsthetics.
“I have also been devoting a great deal of thought (while
on the Spluegen) as to the part choreography played in the
structure of the Greek tragedy, and the relation existing
between the plastic arts and the mimicry and grouping of
the actors. In considering this question, it came to my
mind what a striking example Æschylus has given us of the
very thing of which you speak, namely, that even in our
texts, the symmetry of motion is suggested by the most
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Conflicts
marvellous metrical symmetry, and your tragedies awaken
in me the glorious hope that herein will be found just the
right standards, aims and canons necessary for the estab-
lishment of a genuinely German style of gesture and plastic
realism. With a mind made receptive by the foregoing
thoughts, I read your essay as if it were a revelation.
“Then came Rohde's pamphlet. After having read it, was
I not justified in asserting that I was in the right even to
the smallest side issues ? Nevertheless, it is extremely .com-
forting to have this confirmed by a second person. There
are times when one grows very distrustful of one's own
efforts, especially when one is set upon by the entire profes-
sion. It distresses me to think what my poor friend must
have suffered while thrashing around with such a 'gang.'
It was only the thought of you, dear master, which sustained
him and gave him strength and courage to persist in his
task. We are now both very happy in having one and the
same prototype and do you not think that the world must
envy me the possession of such a friend as Rohde?
“By way of curiosity, I must tell you that I was recently
approached by a musician, who while ostensibly asking my
advice in regard to an operatic text, really had me in mind
as the author of such a text. I wrote him a very wise
epistle, strongly dissuading him from any such plan, but
suggesting that he should try his hand at a cantata-per-
haps make a new setting of Goethe's 'Walpurgis Nacht,' but
a better one than Mendelssohn's! I am curious to know
whether or not he will take my advice. But isn't the whole
thing a great joke?
“With the hope that during your pilgrimage through dear,
disgraceful Germany you may meet with the same good for-
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
tune which attended you in Bayreuth, and in anticipation
of your final wishes regarding your forthcoming visit to
Basle, I close for today, with a heartfelt farewell and Auf
Wiedersehen.
“Ever faithfully yours,
“F. N."
Nothing came of Wagner's projected visit to Basle, but
instead he sent a telegram to my brother asking him to meet
him in Strassburg on November 21st:
“Changed plans necessitate abandoning Basle visit. Please
cancel all engagements. If possible, meet us in Strassburg
Friday evening prepared to remain until Sunday. Address
Hotel Marquardt, Stuttgart,
“WAGNER.”
This meeting with Wagner and Frau Cosima passed off
most pleasantly and both were astonished to find my brother
in such good spirits, despite all the strain made upon him
by professional antagonism, duties of office, composing and
travelling. Upon his return to Basle, Frau Cosima wrote:
“How delighted we were to find you in such good spirits
and health, dear friend! You really exemplify the Goethe
Mazzini maxim and you looked so well and resolute that it
was a genuine joy to be with you.” And it is true that at
that time, my brother seemed to have fully recovered from
the nervous breakdown brought on by the war. Professor
Holzer had in mind the writings and epigrams of this period
when he wrote the following beautiful tribute to my brother:
"It is the early Nietzsche who is speaking to us herethe
friend of Richard Wagner and the Nietzsche so dearly be-
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Conflicts
loved of Erwin Rohde. The young Nietzsche, hopeful,
confident, looking towards the future with a supreme faith
in his ideals and his friends; the combative Nietzsche, who
in the early 970's was in the full possession of his powers
of body and mind, 'fiery, elastic, and as conscious of his own
strength as a young lion' as he appeared to his friend
Deussen."
Before closing this chapter, I must mention the fact, that
Dr. von Willamowitz replied to Rohde’s splendidly con-
vincing and felicitous polemic, but his pamphlet attracted
very little attention as he was unable to hold his own against
Rohde's scientific arguments.
151
CHAPTER XV.
MISUNDERSTANDINGS.
(1873.)
2
CHENEVER Wagner had not seen my brother for
some time, he was in the habit of remarking that
such long separations could easily lead to painful
misunderstandings. My brother took no pains to contradict
this statement as emphatically as Frau Wagner evidently
expected, and this explains a passage from one of her letters
in which she says: “... Believe me when I say that there
can be no estrangement or misunderstanding between you
two. I confess that I have been most uneasy on this score,
but am now convinced that such a thing can never happen.”
But strangely enough, the year 1873 started in with a
misunderstanding of a very serious nature. My brother was
at home on a visit and was overjoyed at the thought of being
able to work on his Greek book undisturbedly. As his holi-
days were very brief, he let it be known that he wished to
spend all of his time with us, in fact, our dear mother laid
great stress upon this as she generously lent me to my
brother for six or eight months of the year, and was there-
fore quite justified in thinking that she saw very little of
her children, particularly of her son. In the midst of his
vacation, an invitation came from Wagner urging my brother
to come at once to Bayreuth and start back to Basle from
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Misunderstandings
there. Not wishing to offend my mother, and reluctant to
curtail his own period of rest—my brother felt obliged to
decline this invitation, but had he understood the interpre-
tation Wagner, at times, placed upon such refusals, he
would, possibly, have disregarded all other considerations
and gone. It was not until later that he learned of Wagner's
having once taken deadly offense at Peter Cornelius for a
like indiscretion. It seems that Cornelius had been per-
emptorily summoned to Munich and had excused himself
on the plea that he was obliged to work on his “Cid.”
“... Just as if he couldn't have worked on it quite as well
here in Munich !” grumbled Wagner indignantly upon re-
ceiving this answer. As a matter of fact, Wagner had not
the faintest conception of the extent to which his faithful
admirers were influenced by proximity to him, and thereby
impeded in their own productive work.
As a somewhat belated Christmas and birthday present,
my brother sent Frau Cosima five splendid little treatises,
which he called “Five Prefaces to Five Unwritten Works.”
The individual titles were: 1. "The Pathos of Truth.” 2.
“On the Future of our Educational Institutions.” 3. “The
Greek State." 4. "The Relation of Schopenhauer's Philoso-
phy to German Culture.” 5. “The Homeric Contests."
The following dedicatory lines were written in the prettily
bound book:
“To Frau Cosima Wagner,
in genuine admiration and by way of answer to
many verbal and written questions. This little
book was written in a pleasurable frame of mind
during the Christmas holidays of 1872."
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
My brother received not a word of thanks for this offering,
nor was he the recipient of the customary New Year's greet-
ings, something which he would have been at a loss to explain
had he not known that Wagner and his wife had started out
on a big concert tour including Berlin, Hamburg and other
large cities.
In the meantime, he felt himself called upon to write a
little polemic against one of Wagner's enemies, thus giving
irrefutable proof of his sincere admiration for Wagner, as
nothing was more distasteful to my brother than a task of
this sort. Late in the autumn, he had written an indignant
letter to Rohde, in which he said: “You know of course, that
an alienist has proven 'in noble language that Wagner is
insane, and that another authority has done the same thing
in regard to Schopenhauer. You can see from this, how
the 'sane' come to each other's assistance; it is true that they
do not decree the scaffold for all those 'ingenia' who prove
inconvenient for their scientific classifications, but these
stealthy, malicious calumnies serve their purpose better
than a sudden removal, as they are designed to undermine
the confidence of coming generations."
At the beginning of the new year, my brother was given
an opportunity of serving the Wagner cause in a manner
more nearly to his liking. The German Musical Society had
offered a prize for the best essay, from ninety to one hundred
and twenty pages, on the subject of Wagner's Nibelung
drama. My brother was one of the first persons to be ap-
proached by Professor Riedel with the request that he act
as one of the judges. To this he readily consented, but upon
learning of the conditions of the competition decided that
the amount of the prize money was far too insignificant,
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Misunderstandings
and his successful attempt to “screw this up” to three hun-
dred thalers, is the theme of the following letter addressed
to Prof. Riedel:
“... I have had time to consider carefully the various
difficulties connected with our undertaking, as I have been
confined to bed for several days, and I now hasten to answer
your valued letter and submit my views on the subject for
your favorable consideration. First of all, let us be very:
cautious and critical in the choice of the third member of
the adjudicating committee. . . . If you will be good enough
to listen to a suggestion from me on this point, my advice
would be to appoint Herr Hans von Bülow, of whose uncon-
ditionally sound judgment and critical severity I entertain
the highest possible opinion. Much depends upon being
able to present a very high-sounding name, one that will be
both stimulating and awe-inspiring, and there is no doubt
as to these conditions being admirably filled by the name of
Bülow. Are we agreed on this point?
"But now comes another matter of even greater impor-
tance. Dear Herr Professor, I find the amount of the prize
money ridiculously low, particularly, if one takes into consid-
eration the tremendous importance of the theme and the
occasion. At all events, we should be able to compete with
the customary prizes offered by any German academy, as
anything less than this would seem to me to be unworthy of
the name of so great a man and so unique a cause. On the
other hand, I would regard any large expenditure on our
part as nothing less than a criminal proceeding, so long as
the Bayreuth finances are in such a bad way. Therefore, the
following plan has occurred to me which is herewith sub-
mitted for your consideration.
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
“Let the Society offer an entire Patron's Certificate as a
prize, the money for which is to be raised in the following
manner: We already have at our disposal a hundred thalers.
We will sell the prize essay to some enterprising publisher
for, say, another hundred (about 130 pages, first edition
1000—that is to say, about 13 thalers for a 'Bogen'; this is
a very modest and respectable price which should be readily
obtainable for a really good piece of work. In this way, we
would have 200 thalers, to which I will add a personal sub
scription of 50 thalers, under the condition that some one
else can be found to give the remaining 50. (Perhaps the
society?) I can assure you that the competition for a
whole Patron's Certificate would be a most lively one. We
· must, by all means, appeal to the very best element in German
literary circles and not lose sight of the fact that we have
a great responsibility to discharge towards the public. I
will only add, that this contest must be conducted in a man-
ner utterly above reproach, and in every way worthy of the
great cause."
Having received no communication of any kind from
Bayreuth since the beginning of December, 1873, my brother
would have had every reason to be astonished at this long
silence on the part of his friends had not Rohde written him
a detailed account of Wagner's visit to Hamburg. Rohde's
letter contained all sorts of messages from Frau Wagner,
so that my brother accepted this as a provisory answer and
gave no more thought to the matter. Rohde wrote: “... I
spent three days in Hamburg–Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday~-heard two concerts and attended a most inade-
quate performance of the ‘Meistersinger,' given in Wagner's
honor. The two concerts interested me deeply, despite the
156
Misunderstandings
deficiencies in the orchestra, as I had never heard certain
numbers, such as the Vorspiel to ‘Lohengrin,' Vorspiel and
Finale of 'Tristan and Isolde,' the Love song from the
‘Walküre' ('Winterstürme wichen?) and the Forging Songs
from “Siegfried given in the right tempo and spirit. In
addition to this, I had the gratification of seeing my
native city conduct itself in a most exemplary manner.
The real haute volée arranged a very well-appointed banquet
(which I was unluckily unable to attend) with toasts by
distinguished citizens—in short, the public displayed at least
a trace of appreciation of Wagner's great significance above
and beyond such questions as conductors, first and second
tenors, and the like.
“I believe that the success achieved here will not fail to
bear gratifying fruits from a pecuniary standpoint, at least,
so long as Wagner remains the fashion and the good burghers
of Hamburg do not allow themselves to be talked out of their
inclination by the native ‘musicians' and 'critics,' to which,
I must confess, they have a deplorable tendency. Person-
ally speaking, the most important thing would have been to
have had an opportunity for a quiet talk with our two
friends, but this was not to be thought of owing to the
everlasting confusion and Wagner's natural fatigue.”
He then continues: “In the few moments we had together,
your name was often mentioned. First of all, Frau Wagner
sends you her warmest greetings and begs you to forgive her
long silence in regard to your gift, every moment was oc-
cupied in Berlin and things were no better in Hamburg,
Of course you received the telegram I sent you in Frau
Wagner's name? It read:
“ “While listening to the strains of the Forging Songs,
i
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The Nietssche-Wagner Correspondence
grateful and friendly thoughts go out to you from one who
regrets her unavoidable silence . . . COSIMA WAGNER.""
In order to keep Wagner informed as to the progress of
his philological studies, my brother sent him to Berlin a
privately printed thesis taken from the “Rheinisches Mu-
SEUM." on the subject of “The Florentine Tractate on Homer
and Hesiod: Their Race and their contests.” This also
remained unacknowledged, until finally, on February 12th,
a letter arrived from Frau Cosima, saying: “... I begin
this letter in a state of the most unusual embarrassment.
There is so much that I should like to say to you, dear
friend, explain, apologize, congratulate, thank you and give
you a report of ourselves. But the truth of the matter is
that I returned home yesterday in a state of complete ex-
haustion to find that my bonne has left and there is no one
to look after the children but myself. God only knows what
success I shall have with this letter. But one thing I know
and that is, I would rather send it badly written than not
at all.
“You knew full well the delightful surprise you would give
me by sending me your book so rich in content. I know of
no gift which I would have prized more highly, and you will
undoubtedly ask why I did not write at once to thank you,
even though it had only been a few lines. This would have
sufficed to let you know what was in my heart and had I been
obliged to do this without having first read the manuscript,
you would, at least have been assured of my deep apprecia-
tion of the intention which I valued as highly as I did your
significant literary offering. You will also ask why I
ignored the arrival of the package and allowed the beginning
of the New Year to pass by without sending you, at least
158
Misunderstandings
a telegram to show you that my thoughts were with you.
This is precisely the point upon which I wish to be perfectly
frank with you, as nothing less than absolute candor seems
to me to be worthy of the pleasure your book has given me
and from which I am still drawing my mental refreshment.
The master was offended because you did not accept his
invitation and by the manner you took of announcing that
you could not come. At the time, I could not make up my
mind whether to tell you this or not, and finally decided to
leave it to time to repair the insignificant breach, and to
cause the true feelings to blossom forth again in all their
purity.
“Today, I can say that this has come to pass, and when
your name is mentioned, I no longer hear the slightest accent
of wounded friendship but only those of affection and grati-
tude for the new pleasure you have brought into our lives.
We were indescribably fascinated and impressed by the
thoughts expressed in the preface to the 'Homeric Con-
tests,' but why should this remain a 'preface to an unwritten
work'? It seems to me that here you are absolutely at home
and in your native element. Would it not be possible to fuse
the ideas contained in this preface and those of the preface
to the “Greek State into one complete whole? Would it not
be a truly “happy deed,' to make use of this unfelicitous
expression, to employ your intimate knowledge, as well as
your penetrating discernment, in showing to our age the
value of this culture? Nowhere could I find the cheerful
Greeks, but the cheerful centaurs, and if Goethe character-
izes his Faust as a tragelaphus, how then are we to charac-
terize the products of our modern culture—be it men or
books? But on the other hand, I think I can understand
159
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
why you do not wish to write Nos. 2 and 4-you see that
I indicate your prefaces by number as a certain pastor of
our acquaintance does his children-for a thoroughgoing
examination into the stupidity of mankind and the sense-
lessness of existing institutions would not only be a hope
less task, but a perfectly futile one as well. You would
be influenced by another reason in not wishing to work out
your 'Pathos of Truth' and this reason you have stated
with sufficient distinctness in the closing sentence of the
preface. Curiously enough, I have given much thought to
questions of philosophy and art and have always endeavored
to find a satisfactory explanation for the fact that I am
more powerfully affected by the latter. I had finally come
to the conclusion that it was because art reflects creation
in her creations, and that both are as enigmatic as life itself,
so that the soul experiences a sense of relief when these two
enigmas are brought into harmony. Philosophy, on the
other hand, condemned to deal with interpretations, bears
about the same relation to the primeval truths as Schopen-
hauer's allegorical dream does to the dreams that come to
us during a heavy sleep.
"I believe that a genuine philosophic knowledge must be
the basis of every intellectual task, but I also agree with
you in thinking that one should philosophize as little as
possible that is to say, to speak of such things as little as
possible, but on the other hand, to think and cogitate all
the more. From these few lines you will see how inex-
pressibly stimulating I have found this first preface. The
reason is that it agrees so perfectly with my own reflections
on the subject, just as No. 5 seems to me to be the approach
to that which is my ideal of right. . .."
160
Misunderstandings
0
)
Wagner made no attempt to clear away the misunder-
standing, but delegated this task to Frau Cosima. His next
letter was chiefly one of concern over the loss of the thesis
from the “Rheinisches Museum” and not until the close of
the letter, did he relapse into the old tone of confidential
friendship.
Later my mother learned from Gersdorff, who had spent
the Christmas holidays in Bayreuth, that Wagner had
literally raved and declared in endless repetition, how dear
my brother was to him, but that Nietzsche always held back
and preferred to go his own way.
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“O friend:
“I had bad luck, indeed! But how could you send the
package containing your philosophic treatise to Berlin?
To make a long story short-after I had returned home
and had had time to regain my equilibrium, I looked for the
brochures, and despite the most persistent search, found
nothing but the third volume beginning with page 211. In
place of the missing pages, I come across heaps of antiquar-
ian catalogues and brochures of Meistersinger motives and
the like, by the dozen. Would it be possible for you to
replace the missing parts? It would mean a great deal to
me.
"Do not demand—or expect anything from me that could,
in any way, be interpreted as an expansion of feeling. Last
night, I had my first good sleep for a long time undisturbed
by disgusting conditions. I have fallen out of conceit with
many things. There are moments when I lose myself in
161
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
deep reflection, and at such times, you usually appear before
me_always connected in some way with Fidi. But such
moments are of short duration and then Wagner societies
and Wagner concerts begin to dance around me in dizzy
circles. Therefore-have patience! Just as I am often
obliged to have it with you.
“Yours most faithfully,
“Bayreuth, Feb. 27, 1873.
Rich. WAGNER."
Upon the heels of this letter came a telegram, saying:
“Brochures packed by mistake with the score of the ‘Stair-
case Music.' Therefore found, no need re-order. Wagner."
Everything was thus explained, but my brother shook his
head dubiously and wrote to Gersdorff:“... I have received
splendid letters from Wagner and Frau Cosima. I learned
what I had not known before, that Wagner was deeply
offended because I did not put in my appearance at New
Year's. Of this I had not the slightest suspicion, but you
knew it, dear friend, and yet kept silent. Now all the clouds
have been cleared away and perhaps it is just as well that
I knew nothing about it at the time, as there are many
things that one only makes worse instead of better. God
only knows how often I unconsciously offend the master;
each time this is a fresh surprise for me and for the life of
me, I cannot get at the bottom of the matter. I am all the
happier, therefore, that peace has again been restored. Are
you familiar with Wagner's splendid essay on 'State and
Religion' which has just appeared in print although it was
written in 1864 as a private manuscript for the king of
Bavaria? It is one of the profoundest of all his literary
productions and is 'edifying in the noblest sense of the
S
162
Misunderstanding
word. ... Do tell me what you think of this repeated
giving of offense. I cannot imagine how anyone could be
more loyal to Wagner in all fundamental matters than I am;
if I were able to think of any way of showing this loyalty
more plainly, I should certainly do so. But it is absolutely
imperative for me to preserve my personal freedom in un-
important secondary matters, and a certain avoidance of
à too frequent personal intercourse is for me almost a
(sanitary' necessity. I only do this, however, in order to
be better able to preserve my loyalty in the truest and high-
est sense.
“Naturally, not a word can be said of all this, but I feel
it keenly and am thrown into despair when anger, distrust
and silence result therefrom. It never occurred to me for
a moment that I was giving offense this time, and I fear
that a repetition of such experiences will have the effect of
increasing my anxiety. Please, dearest friend, let me have
your candid opinion on the subject. ..."
But the friend only consoled him with comforting and
sympathetic words so that once more, the “flying gnats”
were frightened away.
In the letter from Cosima, quoted above, she said she did
not quite know what to make of the words: “in a pleasurable
frame of mind” used by my brother in the dedication of her
Christmas present. The fact is, that this simple, self-satis-
fying manner of working, common to philosophers and
scholars, was unknown to Wagner, who when engaged in
creative work always demeaned himself pathetically—one
might almost say, theatrically. Therefore the pleasurable
frame of mind” found neither understanding nor response
in Bayreuth. As early as the late autumn of 1872, I acci-
163
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
dentally learned how depressed the executive committee in
Bayreuth was over the slow progress being made on the
Festival Theatre and how slowly the funds for this purpose
were coming in. Upon hearing this, I felt called upon to
renounce a number of long-cherished plans, among them a
trip to Italy which I had arranged to take in company with
an English acquaintance. The money I had laid aside for
this trip was diverted to the purchase of a Patron's Cer-
tificate for my brother, but I frankly confess that the 900
marks sent to Herr Emil Heckel in Mannheim represented
an outlay that it was not easy for me to make. This had
to be carefully concealed from my mother and my brother
was vehemently opposed to my making such a sacrifice. The
low ebb of the Bayreuth finances may be judged by the fact
that even this insignificant sum (a mere drop in the bucket
compared to the total amount needed) received particular
mention in a letter Wagner wrote to Heckel on November
28, 1872:
“... When any payments are made to you, such as the
recent one from Fräulein Nietzsche, please transfer the money
immediately to Herr Feustel as I know from his latest report
that he is made very uneasy in regard to our undertaking
when no comforting assurances in the shape of contributions
are coming in. ..." Wagner was so deeply touched by the
“sacrifice I had made for his great cause,” that he in turn
presented me with a Patron's Certificate, purchased out of
the special fund contributed by friends of Bayreuth, during
his recent concert tour in Germany. He was mistaken, how-
ever, in thinking that the money I had spent was in the
nature of a deprivation, whereas it was only a passive sac-
rifice. Wagner wrote to me:
164
Misunderstandings
“My dear Fräulein:
“You are not the only person who can create Patrons.
I can also do this—the money you saved by economizing, I
earned by conducting, and I should like to know which one
of us perspired the more?
“At all events, when the time arrives, you will come to
Bayreuth as a full-fledged patron. Cordial greetings from
my wife.
“Yours sincerely,
“Bayreuth, April 8, 1873. RICHARD WAGNER.”'
Determined that no further estrangement should occur
between Wagner and himself, and remembering that Rohde
had expressed the desire of being alone with Nietzsche in
Bayreuth some time—my brother inquired if it would be
convenient for him to come with his friend for a short visit
at Easter. Wagner telegraphed the following answer:
“Always overjoyed by sensible suggestions, especially
when they take the form of announcing a visit herewith
heartily welcomed. Expect you Sunday.
“RICHARD WAGNER.”
Beside himself for joy, my brother wrote to Gersdorff on
April 5, 1873:
“Dearest friend :
“Telegrams are flying back and forth between Heidelberg,
Nürnberg and Bayreuth. Just think, I leave tomorrow for
an eight days' vacation and will be joined by Rohde day
after tomorrow? And where? Naturally, in Bayreuth! I
165
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
rapidly and unexpectedly. Eight days ago, neither of us
had thought of such a thing. I am already overcome with
emotion and my heart is beating high at the mere thought
of our meeting at the station in Bayreuth. Every step will
be full of memories of last year-of those days which were
the very happiest of my whole life. There was something in
the very air which I have never felt elsewhere, something
quite indescribable but filled with the richest promise. How
many things we shall have to talk over, you, of course, among
them. My delight today is of a quite irrational sort, for it
seems to me that everything is so splendidly arranged that
not even a god could wish for anything better. I hope that
this visit will atone for the mistake I made in not going at
Christmas, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart,
for your friendly and energetic intervention. ..."
166
CHAPTER XVI,
RENEWED DISCORDS.
(1873.)
Y brother's visit to Bayreuth was a disappointment
IVI to himself as well as to Wagner. Before going he
had written to Gersdorff, saying: “... I am taking
a new manuscript with me to Bayreuth on the 'Greek Phil-
osophy during the Tragic Age.'
"It is far from being in shape for publication, however, as
I grow more and more critical with myself, and shall allow
much time to elapse before I venture on another presenta-
tion of this material (the fourth on the same theme). More-
over, I have been obliged to take up the most remarkable
studies for this purpose, even mathematics had to be ap-
proached, (which caused me no great apprehension) as well
as mechanics, theory of molecules, etc. Again I have been
splendidly convinced as to what the Greeks are and were.
The way from Thales to Socrates is something simply tre-
mendous. ..."
I cannot say whether any part of this manuscript was
really read aloud or not, or whether Wagner manifested no
desire to hear it upon learning of its character. At all
events, this truly splendid treatise was the cause of another
painful experience as Wagner showed his disappointment
167
* The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
even more plainly than on previous occasions. He was evi-
dently not prepared for so remote a subject as the “Phil-
osophy of the Greeks,” but on the contrary, confidently ex-
pected something more directly connected with present prob-
lems, with the friends and enemies of Wagner's art and
the Bayreuth undertaking. At that time, Wagner's every
thought and effort was concentrated upon the Bayreuth
enterprise, as it was feared that the entire plan was about to
suffer shipwreck. Barely 200 Patron's Certificates had been
subscribed, whereas, a thousand certificates—at 300 thalers
each-in fact thirteen hundred, were necessary to guaran-
tee the complete success of the undertaking. This situation
was viewed very seriously in House Wahnfried, but this only
served to display Wagner in the best possible light, as he
never rose to greater heights than when confronted by the
danger of seeing his life-work wrecked and obliged to fight
for his ideals.
As soon as my brother had fully grasped the gravity of
the situation, he felt deeply mortified at the thought that he
had been dwelling on the distant heights in the company of
the Greek philosophers, far remote from the struggles and
disappointments of the little Bayreuth following. And yet
notwithstanding all this, he felt keenly disappointed at not
finding in Bayreuth, as in the dear, old days in Tribschen,
the same understanding for his own world of ideas. He was
seized with a dread presentiment that in order to remain
Wagner's friend he would be obliged to renounce his own
path of future growth and development. It was this thought,
which, despite the happy reunion with his beloved friend,
caused him to look back upon his visit in Bayreuth with a
heart full of melancholy misgivings. After taking leave of
168
Renewed Discords
Rohde, he wrote: “... I spent Monday in Nürnberg, and
felt myself as physically fit as I was depressed mentally.
And this despite the fact that the good burghers of Nürn-
berg were running around in the parks dressed in holiday
attire, and that the sun was as mild as if it had been autumn.
That night I steamed away towards Lindau and crossed
Lake Constance at the hour when the night and morning
constellations are struggling for supremacy. Arrived in
Schaffhausen in time for dinner; fresh fit of despondency,
then on home.”
Upon returning to Basle, he sadly laid aside his “Greek
Philosophy during the Tragic Age,” and resolved to fulfill
Wagner's expectations by devoting himself more to present-
day problems. But before doing this, he subjected himself
to the closest self-examination in his effort to decide just
how far his obligations to Wagner demanded such a sacri-
fice. He was greatly concerned about the question as to why
so great an idea as the one in preparation at Bayreuth, was
not better comprehended by the Germans, and after much
thought, he arrived at the conclusion that the German phil-
istines of culture displayed a deplorable satisfaction with
the narrow minds of their age, and by so doing had lost all
perception for all that was truly great. His reason for
choosing David Strauss* as a type of these philistines of cul-
ture, lay in the fact that Strauss' new book called: “The Old
Faith and the Never," had been the subject of much discussion
during his Easter visit to Bayreuth, Wagner, in particular,
speaking of it with scorn and aversion. A few weeks earlier,
Frau Wagner had written my brother: “Everywhere in the
* First "Thoughts Out of Season: David Strauss, The Confessor and
the Writer."
169
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
German Empire, I met with the greatest enthusiasm for the
new book by David Strauss, which on the strength of a quo-
tation from Helmholtz proposes to deliver us from redemp-
tion, prayer and Beethoven's music.” Such isolated ob-
servations led my brother to make a thorough-going examina-
tion of the situation, and he began to realize that during
the period immediately following the great victories (1870-
171), the Germans had grown coarser and more superficial,
and that even the academic world-next to our superb mili-
tary organization, the outstanding element in German life-
was resting upon its oars, so to speak, and leaning back
with disquieting complacency upon its past achievements.
This was particularly distressing to him in the case of so
sharp-witted a scholar as David Strauss, for that reason, he
chose him as a type, and began to write with astonishing
rapidity, his first “Thoughts out of Season: David Strauss,
the Confessor and the Writer.” But that this was not ani-
mated by any personal animosity against Strauss, but rather
out of sheer anxiety for Bayreuth, is shown by the fol-
“... Great emotional strain during the genesis of the first
'Thoughts out of Season.' . . . Anxiety for the genius and
his life-work, when compared to Strauss' smug complacency.
... The most spurious of all intellectual food. ... The
weakening of all conviction! Wavering morality in matters
of right and wrong, and the uncontrolled predilection for the
commonplace ... ! A false kind of happiness . . . !"
my brother did not cherish the deepest affection for his Ger-
man fatherland. On the contrary, it is only the indignant
170
Renewed Discords
wrath of the deeply loving son, that is voiced in these words:
his passionate desire was to see the German Empire become
truly great, permeated and transfigured by a true culture;
in other words, he wished to evoke a genuine German culture.
The German should not simulate, he should look the truth
squarely in the face, recognize his own imperfections, and
not avoid the struggle with his own weaknesses and the per-
versities of his own nature. And he believed that the German
was capable of doing this, for one of the oustanding quali-
ties of the German is courage. In a letter written to Gers-
dorff, at the time the latter returned home from the war, my
brother gave expression to the joy he felt in thus placing his
highest and supremest hopes in this development of the Ger-
man national spirit: “New duties beckon us; and if anything
is to remain from this wild game of war now that peace is
restored, may it be that spirit of sober-minded reflection,
which to my great surprise, I found fresh and unimpaired in
all its early Germanic vigor, within the ranks of our army.
This was a beautiful and unexpected discovery for me; upon
this we can build, and this justifies us in entertaining the hope
that our German mission has not yet been fulfilled. I have
never had greater courage than at this moment. ..."
No sooner was the work well under way, than my brother
wrote to Wagner, and it is impossible to read this letter
without being moved by the manner in which he endeavored
to assume the responsibility for the mild discords which had
threatened to overcloud their relations, and also by the
modesty he displays in calling Wagner's attention to the fact
that he has now written something more closely in conform-
ity with his own ideas.
171
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondenco
Friedrich Nietzsche to Richard Wagner.
“Most revered master:
“The days spent in Bayreuth live constantly in my mem-
ory, and in retrospect, the newly acquired knowledge and ex-
periences assume still greater dimensions. I can perfectly
well understand your not having been satisfied with me while
I was there, without being able to do anything to change this.
My excuse must be that I learn and perceive very slowly,
and every moment spent in your society I experience some-
thing about which I have never thought before and am en-
deavoring to impress this indelibly upon my mind. I
realize clearly, dearest master, that such a visit can be no
refreshment for you, in fact, that it must almost be unbear-
able at times. I have often wished for the appearance (at
least) of greater freedom and independence, but in vain.
Enough! I can only implore you to accept me as your pupil,
if possible with pen in hand, and a copy-book spread open
before me, and moreover as a pupil with a very slow and not
at all versatile ingenium. It is true, that I grow more mel-
ancholy each day in realizing how utterly incapable I am of
contributing anything to your diversion and recreation,
however gladly I would be of the slightest service to you.
“Possibly, I may yet be able to do this when I have carried
to completion the work I now have on hand, namely a polemic
against the distinguished writer, David Strauss. I have
just finished reading his "The Old Faith and the Newer and
have been moved to wonderment both by the dulness and
commonplaceness of the writer as well as the thinker.
“During my absence, the work of my house-friend, Over-
beck on the 'Christianity of Modern Theology' has made
172
Renewed Discords
splendid progress. It will be of so offensive a character to
all parties concerned, and on the other hand, is so irrefutable
and sincere, that when it is published he will also be agitated
against as one who has 'ruined his career'—to quote Prof.
Brockhaus in my own case. In time, Basle will become most
offensive.
"I parted with friend Rohde in Lichtenfels, where we found
a bust of you in the restaurant at the railroad station. On
Easter Sunday we took a walk to Vierzehnheiligen, about an
hour from Lichtenfels. Do you not think that I have splen-
did friends?
“Today I sent Renan's 'Paul to your wife with my best
greetings and will send the promised work of Paul de La-
garde together with Overbeck's book when the latter is
finished.
"I was so sorry not to have seen the dean. Farewell!
Farewell, dearest master, to you and your entire family.
“Yours faithfully,
“Basle, April 18, 1873. FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE.”
This touching letter was followed immediately by a
second, in which my brother inquired of Wagner whether
Fritzsch had confided to him the difficulty he was having
in the publication of Overbeck's book: “On the Christianity
of Modern Theology."
Wagner answered both letters at once:
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“My dear, good friend:
“Your first letter requires no answer. First of all, you
must know yourself how touched I was by it, and therefore,
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The Nietzsche-Wagner. Correspondence
nothing remains to be said except that you are not to allow
yourself to be frightened by your own fancies, and that you
are to proceed to make yourself burdensome' to me as
often as you like and in the same way.
“To tell the truth, Fritzsch was embarrassed at the
thought of disporting himself as a publisher of theological
works, but his hesitancy arose only out of consideration for
the author himself, who he feared would not be brought to
the attention of the proper public, by a publishing firm
such as that of Fritzsch. Thereupon I let myself be heard
from in my customary manner of getting at the root of the
matter. I pointed out to him the singular destiny he was
called upon to fulfill and he seemed to accept his fate in a
not ungracious manner. My advice to him was to publish
Overbeck's book. We were in Leipzig for a day and thus
could discuss everything by word of mouth.
"In regard to your Straussiana, my only feeling is one of
impatience to see the work. Therefore, out with it!
“After ten days of turbulent travelling, we returned to the
Dammallee yesterday, and hope not to be obliged to leave
home again soon. Tomorrow-God and Strauss permitting
- I mean to lay the corner-stone of the instrumentation of
the 'Götterdämmerung.'
“The latest story about Fidi is that when I was arranging
my books the other day, he stood looking on attentively, and
when I called to him: 'Fidi, hand me Creuzer's “Symbolism"
—he handed me Creuzer's “Symbolism.”,
"Every one sends greetings. This morning, Eva and Fidi
played “Uncle Nietzsche, and Rohde”. Remember me to
Rohde.
“Yours as ever,
“Bayreuth, April 30, 1873. RICHARD WAGNER."
174
Renewed Discords
Unluckily, work on the first “Thoughts out of Season”
did not progress as rapidly as my brother had anticipated,
the reason for this being that he was seized with violent pains
in his eyes and his short-sightedness made unusual strides.
Baron von Gersdorff hastened to his side, and in a letter
dated May 24, 1873, described to Rohde the condition in
which he had found my brother:
“... During the past semester, and even earlier than
that, Nietzsche attempted such heavy work in connection
with his studies for his pre-Platonic philosophy and later,
for his Straussiana, all of which was done in his small
cramped handwriting—that he finally reached the point
where he could work no more than an hour and a half at a
time before being forced to stop on account of the most
violent pains in his eyes. On Wagner's birthday (May 22)
I went with him to the oculist who diagnosed his case as weak-
sightedness of the left eye thereby forced into inactivity, and
in addition to that, acute shortsightedness of the right eye,
upon which rested the entire burden of the work.
“He ordered eye douches and a complete rest from reading
and writing for a fortnight.” Other oculists, who later
made an examination of my brother's case, also established
his trouble as being the result of over-taxing his eyes. How-
ever, this strain did not begin to show any effect upon his
general health until his naturally robust constitution, es-
pecially his former excellent digestive organs, became im-
paired as a result of the severe illness he went through with
after the campaign of 1870-71. The optic nerves and those
of the brain did not receive sufficient nourishment to support
so great a degree of intellectual activity, and this re-acted
175
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
upon his sight. On June 26, Gersdorff continued his sick
bulletins :
“... When the fortnight's respite was over, Nietzsche
endeavored to resume his work but all to no avail, as ex-
cruciating pains forced him to hasten to the oculist, who then
ordered a belladonna cure and a complete inactivity up to
the summer vacation. Belladonna is a clear liquid derived
from a plant; it is dropped into the eye and soon spreads
over the ball causing an extension of the pupil to twice its
normal size and producing an almost alarming appearance.
“This liquid could be recommended to vain persons as a
means of enhancing their beauty. Scientifically, it has the
effect of suspending the activity of the nerves of vision, thus
giving them the necessary rest and recuperation. In order
to protect the eye from the increased current of light now
streaming in smoked glasses of the darkest sort,' as the
people of Basle are wont to say, have to be worn. Despite all
these precautions, Nietzsche suffers greatly from the notice-
able intensity of the light here, which seems to me to be
genuinely southern in its force. In the meantime, the vision
has been somewhat improved by the belladonna cure and
the enforced inactivity, so that he is now able to use glasses
No. 3, whereas six weeks ago, No. 2 was barely sufficient.
His sister is here to console him and we do everything in our
power to alleviate his time of trial.”
As the result of our joint effort, the manuscript made good
progress and was soon ready to be sent to the printer,
leaving my brother free to go to Graubunden and continue
his cure.
When the first copy of this book was received on August
8, we celebrated the event with modest festivities, concern-
176
Renewed Discords
I
ing which, Gersdorff wrote to Rohde: “... The even-
ing was heavenly clear and pure, a never-to-be-forgotten
day. And thus we celebrated the anti-struthiade.* And
now let the adversaries come! To the devil with all of
them ...!"
Baron von Gersdorff had been good enough to attend to
the correspondence with Bayreuth and was therefore, the
first to receive the thanks and expressions of delight from
the Wagners in regard to the book. Finally my brother
felt himself equal to the task of attempting a long letter, and
it goes without saying, that the first of these was addressed
to Richard Wagner, (this letter is also missing in Wahn-
fried) which Wagner answered immediately:
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“Dear friend:
"It was a delightful surprise to see your handwriting after
so long a time. And yet, my first feeling was one of concern,
in fact, you cause me more anxiety than pleasure at present
and this is saying a great deal, as I know of no one in whom
I take greater delight than I do in you. And so the first and
most important thing I have to say to you today, is to
acquaint you with my solicitude, and it is best that I begin
at once to relieve my mind on this subject:
“Did your physician really give you permission to write
such a long and closely written letter? As for me, I shall
take great pains to write as far apart as possible, contrary
to my customary manner, and in this way, to justify myself
* This is Gersdorff's way of making a pun on the name of (David)
Strauss, the real meaning of which is "ostrich." Greek word: "Oyšovjós.''
177
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
for writing at all. If I have refrained from doing this for a
long time it has been with a mournful determination, as de-
spite Gersdorff's willing intervention I was vain enough to
believe that you would wish to read my letter yourself, and
feared that this would prove injurious to you.
“And yet I am doing this very thing notwithstanding the
fact that I have very little faith in the concessions made by
your physician, as I know from my own experience just how
much confidence is to be placed in these gentlemen. My
doctor has assured me, again and again, that I am an
indestructibly sound person despite the wretched complaints
by which I am plagued day and night. All of these he
laughingly dismisses as being the quite customary ‘maladies
of genius.
"Now God grant, that your medicus is of a somewhat less
optimistic temperament and that he may be in the right.
"But one thing was left out of this diagnosis of the ‘mal-
adies of genius' and this is the thing, above all others,
which causes me the most acute distress. Namely: an in-
corrigible aversion to expressing myself, particularly in
writing (on the other hand, this could be of great advan-
tage to your poor eyes). Since the third of May I have
again been hard at work on the instrumentation of my 'Göt-
terdämmerung,' and how far do you think that I have pro-
gressed? That day in which I finish one page of the score
deserves to be written down in red ink in the calendar of my
life. Scarcely have I seated myself at my work when 'letters'
arrive or other delightful news necessitating renewed in-
genuity on my part for my intercourse with the world, and
then my poor 'genial fantasy takes flight. And now you
come with your 'Strauss' and worse than that, Overbeck
178
Renewed Discords
with his Christianity' to be imprinted upon ‘Theology.'
“This is enough to set a man crazy; in fact I am reminded
of the Icelandic skal, Eigil, of whom I once told you, if I
am not mistaken. Upon returning home from a very fatigu-
ing journey, he found that one of his friends had left a mag-
nificent shield in his house. Enraged at the discovery, he
cried: 'He has just hung this here in order to force me to
write a poem upon it. Has he been gone very long? I will
hasten after him and strike him dead. But he was unable
to overtake him, so greatly vexed, he turned back to his own
house, took another good look at the shield and—wrote a
poem upon it!
"The moral is that Herr Overbeck must come himself if he
wishes to have his poem. As far as you are concerned, I
repeat the conceit which I recently expressed to my family,
namely, that I foresee the time when I shall be obliged to
defend your book against you, yourself. I have been reading
it again and I swear to you, by God, that I consider you the
only person who knows what I am driving at.
“All the rest belongs in the chapter of 'style' about which,
as you know, I am incompetent of judging, as I bristle up
every time the word 'style is mentioned, to your great vexa-
tion.
“Joyful Wiedersehen on October 31 (Feast of the Refor-
mation) and all other good wishes.
“A thousand heartfelt greetings,
“Yours,
“Bayreuth, Sept. 21, 1873. RICHARD WAGNER."
179
CHAPTER XVII.
NIETZSCHE'S APPEAL TO THE GERMAN NATION.
(1873)
OTHING occurred during the summer of 1873 to
diminish the anxiety felt in Wahnfried concerning
the erection of the Festival Theatre and the success
of the entire Bayreuth undertaking. In fact, a complete
fiasco was regarded as inevitable, in many quarters. This
belief was strengthened by a remarkable incident which had a
painful effect upon my brother's impressionable mind, but
unnecessarily so, as it later developed.
While I was visiting my brother in Basle during the
summer of 1873, I met a strange-looking, elderly woman on
the stairs one day who had evidently called upon him. In
reply to my question as to whom this remarkable person
might be, he answered in his humorous way: "Lisbeth, that
is a ghost who makes me periodic visitations and is in the
habit of talking to me in a mysterious manner as spirits are
wont to do.” I found out that this woman, by the name
of Rosalie Nielsen had made two previous calls and had
succeeded in greatly disquieting my brother by intimating
that the firm of E. W. Fritzsch, his publishers, were really
bankrupt and only being kept above water by the support
of a few friends. She also made mysterious intimations in
180
Nietssche's Appeal to the German Nation
regard to an international company which had under con-
sideration the purchase of the Fritzsch firm, and in this event,
ould attach particular value to retaining possession of my
brother's works. Owing to the fact that the “Christianity
of Modern Theology” was also to be published by Fritzsch,
Overbeck was vitally interested in the representations of the
mysterious stranger, and it was agreed that the next time
she called, the interview should take place in his room. Dur-
ing this conversation, it came out that the international
company mentioned as contemplating taking over the
Fritzsch business, was really doing so in order to get a hold
upon Richard Wagner whose prose writings were published
by this firm. Wagner, so ran her story, was in the direst
financial straits, the funds subscribed for the erection of the
theatre had been diverted to the building of his own residence,
and that it was the intention of the aforesaid international
company to ruin Wagner's entire enterprise. At this point
in her recital, my brother's customary amiability and
courtesy forsook him; his indignation was so great that he
was unable to speak a word, but he took a chair, opened the
door and gave the visitor to understand that the chair was
at her disposal--on the other side. But he was unable to
shake off the impression created by the mysterious woman,
as he was already much disquieted by the condition of
Wagner's affairs. Therefore he wrote a letter to Rohde, in
which he gave him a half-serious, half-humorous account
of this mysterious story of intrigue:
“... In the meantime, there is another matter which has
assumed gigantic proportions and threatens to grow beyond
our control. I can only give you an inkling of it here as it
181
The Nictssche-Wagner Correspondence
is not a matter to be discussed openly in a letter. Both
Overbeck and I are firmly convinced that disquieting
machinations are on foot by which the International hopes
to get hold of the Leipzig firm of — The plans we have
made to frustrate this scheme would be rendered futile the
moment a syllable of this becomes known. I really wanted
to make a hurried trip to Leipzig that I might have a per-
sonal interview. I am sorry not to be able to place the
entire apparatus criticus at the disposal of the astute critic
E. R. (I mean the letters and written testimony of the
female spook, R. N.) but from everything that is known it
has been possible for less well-trained minds to arrive at
appallingly definite conclusions." He closes his letter with
the humorous words “. . . Is your strong manly heart
knocking against your ribs? I do not dare sign my name to
this letter so filled with fearsome things.
“We are living in one of Samarow's novels, think only in
terms of mines and counter-mines, employ pseudonyms and
wear false beards. Hui! Hui! How the wind howls! In
the name of the conspirators, Hugo with the spectral
voice ..."
S
Rohde was right when he insisted that all these uncanny
stories originated in the brain of the mysterious caller, and
was soon able to inform his two friends that the publisher
E. W. Fritzsch had “also thrown out the spook.”
In an effort to make an end of the precarious conditions
in regard to the Bayreuth undertaking, the executive com-
mittee called a meeting of delegates from the Wagner So-
cieties to take place in Bayreuth during August. This meet-
ing was finally postponed until October, and in the mean-
182
Nietzsche's Appeal to the German Nation
time, Wagner commissioned Emil Heckel of Mannheim to
approach Nietzsche with the request that he work out an
appeal to the German nation to be laid before the delegates
assembled in Bayreuth.
Heckel did as Wagner requested, and my brother at once
turned to Rohde for co-operation in drafting this document:
“... The latest thing is an invitation I received today
to write an appeal to the German nation (a modest under-
taking !) in the interest of the Bayreuth work. This request
comes from the Committee of Patrons. The very thought
of such a thing terrifies me, as at one time, I attempted to
write such an appeal on my own initiative and made a most
miserable job of it. Therefore, I now turn to you, dear
friend, with an urgent plea for assistance; perhaps the two
of us working in co-operation, will be able to get the mon-
ster under control. The general sense of the proclamation,
is to implore young and old, as far as the German language
is spoken, to hasten to the nearest music-dealer's and there
deposit a sum of money. According to instructions given by
Wagner to Heckel (so it seems to me) the German public
is to be stimulated to this line of conduct by being enlightened
on the following points: 1. Significance of the undertaking;
significance of the promoter of the undertaking. 2. Dis-
grace for the nation, that despite the disinterested and per-
sonal sacrifice made by every one connected with this under-
taking, it should nevertheless be made to appear as if it were
the enterprise of a charlatan. 3. Comparison with other
nations: If a man in England, France or Italy who, in the
face of all the obstacles placed in his way by the general
public, had enriched the national stage by five master works,
D
183
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
produced throughout the land and everywhere acclaimed
with enthusiasm, should cry out: “The theatre as it exists
today does not represent the spirit of the nation, it is an
open disgrace to art; help me to establish a home expressive
of the national spirit! 4. Would such an appeal not meet
but a feeling of national pride? etc. etc.
“At the close, it must be stated that all desired informa-
tion may be obtained at every German book-shop, art and
music dealer's (3946 by the count) where subscription lists
will also be found. Don't be vexed about this, dearest friend,
but go to work on it at once ..."
S
Rohde, however, felt himself unequal to this task, as may
be seen by the following letter: “ .. Ah, dearest friend,
gladly as I would come to your assistance in regard to the
appeal, I am not able to do what you wish. What I have
in mind seems to give but little promise of success when I
think of the multitude to be addressed upon the significance
of a man and of a work, of which no one has the faintest
idea and which has, therefore, to be presented in a dis-
gustingly popular and superficial manner.
“Just now, when all my time and thoughts are occupied
with preparation for my university lectures--too long post-
poned-all the streams of vigorous popular language seem
to have dried up in me. In the meantime, should the spirit
move me I shall make another attempt; only under such con-
ditions could the work be successful as nothing is ever gained
by painstaking reflection. It is a terrifically difficult mat-
ter, because one realizes, beforehand, that the whole thing is
doomed to failure. In consequence of this the necessary en-
184
Nietzsche's Appeal to the German Nation
thusiasm is lacking, and the only thing that could impel one
to attempt it would be a sense of solemn obligation.”
Without waiting to hear from Rohde, my brother set to
work on the appeal and sent the rough draft for Rohde's
approval. He was not kept waiting long for his friend's
verdict, who wrote: “Only a few words today, dearest friend,
in great haste as I am overwhelmed with official duties. My
honest opinion of your 'Proclamation is that it will make a
strong appeal to the friends of the cause, who will find an
echo of your sentiments in their own hearts and regard the
appeal as expressive of their own vigorous and wrathful
feelings. But when it comes to the lukewarm brethren, to say
nothing of the enemies of the cause, for whose conversion
we are striving-it will scarcely have the desired effect as it
now stands, and this is most assuredly true of the tone of
the introduction. I do not mean to say that I regard this
as a mistake on your part, but only that when the entire
thing is subjected to close scrutiny, it becomes evident that
it is an impossibility, far exceeding human strength. How is
one to go to work so to draft a last and final appeal to the
lukewarm and disaffected Germans who have been brought
to the point of contempt and active antagonism by long
years of hostile criticism, without giving vent to one's own
extreme indignation? But, in reality, what is needed is a
conciliatory tone such as would be instrumental in converting
hesitating souls from the errors of their ways.
“The avowed purpose of this appeal, however, is to con-
vert the sceptics, and having failed to achieve this result, the
entire undertaking would be futilemin fact, it would only
make matters worse. When it has been proven that the
185
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
Bayreuth undertaking-quod di avertant—has not a ghost
of a chance for success, a suitable moment will always be
found for roundly chiding the contemptuous and unwilling
souls.
"It seems to me that you have lost sight of the chief diffi-
culty of this sheer impossible task, namely, that of stirring
the canaille to activity without tickling their vanity. I know
you will understand my misgivings on this subject, my dear
friend. I regard the entire appeal more in the light of a
thousand-fold well-deserved kick for the xaxoi than as an
enticement for the cur slinking behind the stove, whom the
appeal, in the last analysis, is designed to reach."
Rohde was right in his pessimistic estimate of the effect
of such an appeal, and later my brother wrote him:
“You were quite right, my dear friend; the appeal has been
rejected. Accept my best thanks for the sympathetic words
received in Bayreuth. The atmosphere there was warm and
cordial and very invigorating, the appeal drafted by Prof.
Stern is now appearing in all the papers, and my one wish, by
day and night, is that the collection boxes at the German
book-dealers, may become veritable depositories of wealth.
“To tell you the truth, Wagner, Frau Wagner and I are
convinced of the greater persuasiveness of my appeal, and it
seems to us to be only a matter of time until something of
this kind will be absolutely necessary.”
My brother gave a far more detailed and cheerful ac-
count of the meeting of the delegates to Baron von Gersdorff,
who had been prevented from coming to Bayreuth: “Well,
186
Nietzsche's Appeal to the German Nation
Y
I was enroute from Wednesday evening until Monday
morning, making the trip to Bayreuth alone and having
Herr Heckel's company as far as Mannheim on the way
back About a dozen persons all told, were in attendance,
all of them delegates from the Wagner Societies and I the
only 'Patron.'
“On the real festival day, we were vouchsafed the same
nasty weather made memorable by the Dedication Fes-
tival, and the result was that each one of the gentlemen was
again called upon to sacrifice a new hat. But mark you
well! On the day preceding and following the weather was
beautifully bright and clear!
“After making our tour of inspection in mud, fog and
darkness, we repaired to the City Hall for an executive ses-
sion, and it was here that my appeal was politely by firmly
rejected by the delegates. I, myself, protested against any
attempt to re-write it and recommended Prof. Stern for the
manufacture of a new article. On the other hand, Heckel's
excellent suggestion that all the book-stores throughout the
empire be utilized as collecting places, was unanimously ap-
proved. The entire session was a remarkable procedure;
half-inspiring, half-realistic and yet creating so strong an
impression on the whole, as most effectually to silence all the
lottery projects and schemes of that kind which were being
held in reserve by some of the delegates.
“A very successful, informal and harmful banquet at the
"Sonne closed the day with Frau Wagner and Fräulein
von Meysenburg as the only two women present. I was
given the place of honor between them and by reason of this,
was christened 'Sargino, the Protégé of Love' from an early
Italian opera. Batz proposed a toast to Frau Wagner and
187
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
for some incomprehensible reason united his praise of her with
some ideas about snuff-boxes and self-expression. A closing
session was held on Saturday morning in Feustel's office,
during which Stern's appeal was accepted. You will soon
have an opportunity of reading this, as it is to be given the
widest publicity. My document, considered by the Wagners
to be very good, was signed by important names and may
some time be of value in case the present optimistic appeal of
Stern's fails to achieve the desired results.
"In the afternoon, we again inspected the theatre, this time
under the light of the late afternoon sun. The children were
also there; I climbed up to the center of the royal box.
The structure looks much more beautiful and better propor-
tioned than we imagined after seeing the plans. It is im-
possible to view it under a clear autumn sky without being
deeply moved. We have a building and this is now our
symbol.”
From other persons present on this occasion, I learned
that Wagner was beside himself that my brother's document
was considered too serious and too pessimistic by the dele-
gates; he flew into a terrible rage and fairly stamped his
feet. It was my brother who persuaded him that an appeal
from Prof. Stern would undoubtedly meet with greater suc-
cess and that his own could always be brought forward in
case the necessity arose. It was only in this way that he suc-
ceeded in pacifying Wagner, who in order to show his
sympathy and affection for my brother, presented him with
nine beautifully bound volumes of his prose writings accom-
panied by the following dedication:
188
Nietzsche's Appeal to the German Nation
"Was ich mit Not gesammelt,
neun Bänden eingerammelt,
was darin spricht und stammelt,
was geht, steht oder bammelt,
Schwert, Stock und Pritzsche,
kurz, was im Verlg von Fritzsche
schrei, lärm oder quietzsche,
das schenk' ich meinem Nietzsche,
wär's ihm zu was nütze.
"RICHARD WAGNER.
“Bayreuth, All-Souls Day, 1873."
APPEAL TO THE GERMAN NATION.
We insist upon being heard, for we speak as an ad-
monisher and the voice of warning has always the right to
be heard, whoever may be the speaker and wherever his voice
may be raised. On the other hand, you to whom this appeal
is addressed, have the equal right of deciding for yourselves
whether or not your admonishers are honest and upright men,
who speak only because they realize your danger and are
frightened at finding you so passive, indifferent and un-
initiated. This we can affirm of ourselves, for we speak to
you from a pure heart and in so doing, have consulted our
own interests only in so far as they coincide with yours
namely, the wellbeing and the honor of the German spirit
and the German name.
You have been informed of the festival that was celebrated
in Bayreuth during May of the past year. The purpose of
this festival was the laying of a powerful corner-stone, be-
neath which were buried forever many fears and misgivings.
189
The Nictssche-Wagner Correspondence
-
At the time, we believed that this stone placed the seal upon
our dearest hopes, but today we say that we deluded our-
selves into believing this. For alas, there was a great deal
of delusion about the matter. These misgivings are still
alive, and altho' we have not entirely forgotten how to hope,
you will, nevertheless, see from this appeal that our hopes
are still exceeded by our fears.
It is you who have given rise to these fears; you do not
wish to know what is going on, and out of sheer ignorance are
about to prevent a great deed from being accomplished.
Such ignorance is no longer justifiable; in fact, it seems in-
conceivable that any one could still be found who knows
nothing of the splendid, courageous and indomitable struggle
in which Richard Wagner has been engaged for decades—a
struggle which has attracted the attention of practically
every nation to an idea which in its highest form and truly
triumphant perfection, is embodied in the Bayreuth art-
Fork.
If you are now minded to place an obstacle in the way of
his unearthing this treasure he intends presenting to you,
what would you gain thereby?
This is just the point that needs to be brought to your
attention publicly and urgently, in order that you may be
informed in due season and that you may no longer take
refuge in playing the role of uninitiated. From this time
forth, foreign countries will be the judges and witnesses in
this drama you are enacting; a mirror will be held up to you
in which you will see the reflection of your own picture as it
will some day be painted by a just posterity.
Let us assume that through ignorance, distrust, ridicule
or calumny you succeed in reducing to a purposeless ruin the
190
Nietzsche's Appeal to the German Nation
building now being erected on the hill outside Bayreuth. Let
us further assume, that prompted by uncontrolled antag-
onism, you do not permit this work to go into fulfillment, to
achieve its due effect and bear witness to its own greatness.
The result will be that you will not only be obliged to face
the verdict of posterity but will also be put to shame before
the eyes of the non-German contemporary world. Let us
suppose that a man in England, France or Italy had en-
riched the stage by five works of extraordinary great and
unique style, works which had been acclaimed from north to
south, and had then called out to his countrymen:“The stage
as it exists today is not representative of the spirit of the
nation, it is nothing short of a disgrace to the art it purposes
to present. Help me to establish a fitting temple for the
national spirit!"
Would not every one hasten to his support, even though
this be solely from a feeling of national pride and honor?
But what is needed here, is not merely a sense of national
honor, nor the blind fear of the disparaging verdict of a
critical posterity; you should be willing to become co-
workers, co-sympathizers, co-learners, and simply by re-
solving to help in this great work, learn to rejoice with us
from the bottom of your hearts. You have generously
equipped all your sciences with costly laboratories, and yet
when an attempt is made to build such a laboratory for the
groping and courageous spirit of German art, you hold
yourselves aloof, and will have nothing to do with such a
project.
Can you point to a more momentous period in the history
of German art, or one demanding the solution of more im-
portant problems, such as necessitate greater opportunities
191
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
for fruitful experimentation, if the idea characterized by
Richard Wagner as the “Art-work of the Future" is to be-
come a concrete and ocular reality?
Which one of us is sufficiently daring even to attempt to
picture to himself the extent of this movement of thoughts,
deeds, hopes and endowments to be ushered in when the gigan-
tic Nibelung structure with its four mighty towers, rears
itself from the earth to the rhythms imparted to it by its
creator before the eyes of the conscious representatives of
the German people? Can we foresee the movement that
will thus be inaugurated, the promise of which stretches out
into the most distant, the most fruitful and the most hope-
inspiring future?
At all events, no blame will attach itself to the originators
of this movement should the wave soon begin to ebb and the
surface again to resume its normal aspect as if nothing at
all had taken place. For altho' the completion of the work
must be our first and immediate care, we are no less op-
pressed by the misgiving that we may not be found suffi-
ciently ripe, prepared and receptive to guide the unquestion-
able immediate effects, on into deeper and wider channels of
development.
Wherever it has been, and still is, the custom to take
offense at Richard Wagner, we have noticed that there lies
concealed a big and pregnant problem of our national cul-
ture. But, when this antagonism results only in the most
mysterious ridicule and criticism, and only in rare instances
is productive of serious thought,—then we must be pardoned
for entertaining the humiliating suspicion that possibly this
celebrated “Nation of Thinkers" has already thought itself
192
out, and that obtuseness of thought has replaced genuine
thinking.
By what a distracting task did we find ourselves confronted
when we attempted to prevent the Bayreuth event of 1872
from being confused with the founding of a new theatre, and
at the same time to explain why the significance of this under-
taking was not to be compared to that of any existing
theatre? What a tremendous effort was necessary in order
to open the eyes of the consciously or unconsciously blind to
the fact that the expression “Bayreuth' did not signify alone
a certain number of persons, a group with specific musical
tastes, but that it comprised the entire nation; that, in
fact, it extended far beyond the borders of Germany and
appealed to all persons, wherever found, who were ready for
serious-minded and active participation, who had at heart
the ennoblement and purification of dramatic art, and had
grasped the true meaning of Schiller's wonderful prescience
as to the future when tragedy in a nobler form would grow
out of the opera.
Surely, everyone who has not forgotten the art of think-
ing, (be this only from a sense of honor!) must regard as
a remarkable phenomenon, morally speaking, an artistic
undertaking that is to be advanced and promoted by the
sacrificial spirit and disinterestedness of all the participants;
which is to be consecrated by the solemn convictions of all
those who think deeply and seriously of art, and arouses
hopes for the most significant development of our national
life, when German music and its transfiguring influence upon
the popular drama, has stamped it with genuine German
characteristics.
We believe in something still higher and more universal:
193
The Vitsachellymer Correspondence
0
namely; that the Germans will only appear worthy of re-
spiert und lesbike to exercise i salutary influence upon other
nations, when they have shown how formidable they can be,
and vet will succeed in making the world forget how for-
m abl they have been by the intensize: manifestation of the
highest (37147 roblest artistic and cultural forces.
Te regard it is our solemn duty to remind you of our
duty as Germans at a time when we are called upon to rally
to the support of the great art-work of a German genius.
We may expect a quick and sympathetic response from
those persons, or groups of persons, who have been able to
preserve their serious turn of mind during the agitated period
of our national history; the German universities, academies,
and art schools, in particular, will not be appealed to in vain
to support the projected undertaking, each according to
the measure of its ability, just as the political representa-
tires of German prosperity in the Reichstag (Imperial Par-
lament) will hare serious cause to reflect upon the thought
that, more than ever before, the nation is in need of the puri-
fication and re-consecration to be brought about by the en-
nobling magic and majesty of German art. In fact, they
will be compelled to do this, if the powerfully awakened im-
pulses of our political and national passions and the new
traits stamped upon the physiognomy of our national life,
are not to wring from posterity the humiliating confession
that in the chase after fortune and pleasure, we Germans
lost ourselves, just as we had, finally, found ourselves again.
I must here add a few words in regard to this appeal of
my brother. As already stated, it was rejected and never
194
Nietzsche's appeal to the German Nation
again mentioned, but neither could any great measure of suc-
cess be claimed for Prof. Stern's appeal, as may be judged
from the following passage taken from Chassberlain's
illustration of the intense neglect with which Wa.gner's grest
work-now redounding to the everlasting glory of the Ger-
man spirit-met with throughout the German empire. Dr.
Stern’s ‘Report and Appeal,' written at the request of the
Wagner Societies, was sent to four thousand book and
music dealers toward the close of 1873. Not a solitary one
of these four thousand took the slightest notice of the mat-
ter, and only a few thalers were subscribed by some students
in Giessen.”
195
CHAPTER XVIII.
CRITICAL PERIOD.
(1874)
THILE my brother was occupied with his second
“Thoughts Out of Season” at the close of the year
1873, the family at Wahnfried was oppressed with
increased anxiety in regard to the success of the Bayreuth
undertaking. The appeal had met with no success, and
Wagner's efforts to secure the necessary funds from King
Ludwig II seemed also doomed to failure. At first everyone
was at a loss to find an explanation for this: it was a bitter
disappointment to Wagner and he seriously considered writ-
ing a circular letter disclosing to all those interested in the
enterprise, the shipwreck of his plans. He was prevented
from doing this, however, by Emil Heckel of Mannheim,
whose faith in the ultimate realization of the Bayreuth idea
never faltered. He hurried to Bayreuth and met all of
Wagner's complaints and resolves with the one word: “That
must not be!" It seems that this splendidly energetic man
first made an appeal to the Grand-Duke of Baden, requesting
him to undertake the office of mediator at Berlin, with the
view of inducing the government to appropriate a part of
the required sum in return for which, the performance of the
Nibelung drama in Bayreuth would be given in commemora-
196
Critical Period
tion of the fifth Peace Anniversary in 1876. After a tre-
mendous effort 100,000 thalers were finally collected by
private subscription, and this sum, up to the very last
penny, was expended in paying the debts already accumu-
lated. But a further 100,000 thalers were necessary if there
was to be no suspension of the preliminary preparations, of
the building activity and the artistic plans. The Grand-
Duke refused to act as mediator, knowing full well that
Wagner's wishes and plans would meet with absolutely no
response in Berlin. After a period of great suspense and
anxiety, it was again the King of Bavaria who came to the
rescue of his artist friend, whereupon it came to light that
the king's unwillingness arose from the following cause:
Felix Dahn had written an ode to King Ludwig, and the
latter instructed that this be sent to Wagner with the re-
quest that he set it to music. Not aware of the fact that
this request came from the king, Wagner refused to comply,
thereby incurring the displeasure of his royal patron. One
of the gentlemen-in-waiting who was on friendly terms with
Wagner, explained the matter to the king, who then de-
clared himself ready to come to Wagner's assistance in his
usual munificent manner. However, the 100,000 thalers
from the king's treasury were only in the nature of an ad-
vance, which caused my brother to shake his head and say
be could not comprehend where Wagner ever expected to
get hold of the money to pay back these loans.
Upon my brother's return to Basle, at the beginning of
the year 1874, he was met by the disturbing news that the
Bayreuth undertaking was on the point of failure. The
news came from Gersdorff who was most unhappy and pessi-
mistic about the whole affair. How my brother passed this
U
197
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
miserable period of suspense, we learn from a letter written
much later to his friend Rohde:
“... I have been in a desperate frame of mind since the
beginning of the new year from which I was finally able to
rescue myself in a truly remarkable manner. I set to work
to investigate the reasons for the failure of the undertaking;
this I did in the most cold blooded manner, and in so doing,
learned a great deal and arrived at a far better understand-
ing of Wagner than I ever had before.” I must confess that
I was frightened when I read this statement and said to my
brother: “Were you really able to regard the matter so
coolly at that time?”—“Not always”, was his reply, "it was
only now and then that I forced myself to look the truth
squarely in the face."
In his note-book of this period, appears the sentence: “In
my student days I said, Wagner is a romanticist, not of the
art in its zenith, but in its last quarter: soon it will be night!
Despite this insight I was a Wagnerite; I knew better, but
I could not do otherwise.”
There was nothing my brother desired more passionately
than to find some being whom he could revere, and he, there-
fore, allowed himself to be carried away by Wagner's splen-
did energy and superb work (“Meistersinger” and “Tristan
and Isolde") to a point where he was willing to ignore every-
thing in Wagner's art of which he did not approve. But al-
though my brother invariably treated Wagner with the ut-
most courtesy and respect, there must have been times when
he unconsciously betrayed his inner doubts and antagonism,
and on such occasions, Wagner was given to making sus-
198
Critical Period
picious remarks which had the effect of increasing my
brother's inner scruples. He confided to no one this con-
tinual conflict with himself, and it was not until the year
1874 that he seemed to have fully sensed this lack of
harmony between them and to have formulated the reasons
for this. It is quite characteristic of my brother that al-
though he suffered inexpressibly by the threatened failure
of Wagner's plans, he did not give way to endless lamenta-
tions and reproaches, but went courageously to work to
investigate the reasons for this lack of success. He forced
himself to make a cool and sober examination of the facts,
and thereby endeavor to find a solution for the failure of
the undertaking in the very things he himself had felt and
thought, but had hitherto loyally suppressed out of love
and admiration for Wagner. No stronger proof has ever
been given of my brother's sincerity and uncompromising love
of the truth than in thus accepting the challenge of his con-
science, altho' this meant the shattering of one of his most
beautiful illusions.
The notes he made at this time seem to have been intended
for publication, as the headings of chapters and the large
number of aphorisms bearing on this subject, would seem to
indicate that he had in mind a book, which strangely enough,
was to bear the title of the fourth “Thoughts Out 0; Season;
Richard Wagner in Bayreuth.” But I can not think that he
seriously entertained this idea and at all events the fol-
lowing notes were not incorporated into the work eventually
bearing that title.
(The material here alluded to, ten heads of chapters and
numerous aphorisms, was eventually published in Volume X
of the Complete Edition of Nietzsche's Works, or Volume II
199 .
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
of the Posthumous Works. Isolated aphorisms appear in the
English edition of Nietzsche but not all have been previously
translated. Translator's note.)
I. Reasons for the failure. Above all, the antagonistic
element. Lack of sympathy for Wagner. Difficult.
Complicated.
II. Wagner's Dual Nature.
III. Passion. Ecstasy. Dangerous.
IV. Music and Drama. Parallelism.
V. Arrogance.
VI. Late Manhood. Late Development.
VII. Wagner as Author.
VIII. Friends. (Arouse fresh suspicions.)
IX. Enemies. (Awaken no respect.) No interest in their
contentions.
X. Antagonistic Element explained. Perhaps eliminated.
1
“Wagner endeavors to achieve the renaissance of art by
proceeding from the only existing basis, namely, the theatre.
Here the masses are genuinely moved and are not obliged to
resort to pretense as in museums and concert halls. To be
sure, this is a very crude mass, and as yet, it has been dem-
onstrated to be an impossibility to weaken the domination of
the theatre. Problem: Shall all art continue to live isolated
and segregated? Is it not possible to achieve sovereignty for
art? Herein lies Wagner's significance. He endeavors to
tyrannize by the aid of the theatre-going masses. There is
not a shadow of doubt in my mind but that Wagner would
have succeeded had he been an Italian. The German has not
the faintest conception of opera, and has always regarded
200
Critical Period
it as something imported and un-German. In fact, the entire
stage is not taken seriously by the Germans.”
“There is something comical about the whole situation.
Wagner cannot persuade the Germans to take the theatre
seriously. They remain cold and unresponsive--he be-
comes impassioned as if the whole salvation of Germany de-
pended upon this one thing. Now all at once, when the Ger-
mans believe that they are occupied with graver matters,
they regard anyone who devotes himself so seriously to art
as a cheerful fanatic."
“Wagner is not a reformer, for so far, everything remains
as it always was. In Germany each one is inclined to take
his own cause seriously, and therefore laughs at any one who
claims a monopoly of seriousness."
“Influence of the money crisis.”
“General uncertainty of the political situation.”
"Doubts as to the wise leadership of Germany at present."
“Period of art agitation (Liszt etc.) now over."
“A serious nation will not permit all levity to languish,
hence the attitude of the Germans towards the theatrical
arts."
“Chief thing: the significance of an art such as Wagner
represents does not fit into our present social and economic
conditions. Hence the instinctive aversion to an under-
taking that is considered untimely."
“Wagner's chief problem: Why am I not able to make
others feel what I feel myself? This leads to a criticism of
the audience, the state and society at large. He places the
artists and the audience in the relation of subject and object
this is most naïve."
“One of Wagner's chief characteristics : lack of dis-
201
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
.
cipline and moderation. Carries everything to the extreme
limit of his strength and feelings."
“The other outstanding characteristic is a born talent for
the stage, which has been diverted from its logical course
and turned into the next most available channel; voice and
figure are both lacking and he does not possess the requisite
modesty.”
“Wagner is a born actor, but like Goethe, a painter
without hands. His gifts seek and find other mediums of
expression.”
“Now let us imagine all these denied impulses working in
harmony."
“Wagner brings together all possible effective elements
at a time when popular taste is dulled and demands ex-
tremely crass and vigorous methods. Everything is em-
ployed—the magnificent, the intoxicating, the bewildering,
the grandiose, the frightful, the clamorous, the ecstatic, the
neurotic. Prodigious dimensions, prodigious resources.”
“The unexpected, the extravagant splendour creates the
impression of opulence and exuberance. He knows what our
age likes; moreover he still idealizes our age, and thinks much
too highly of it."
"Himself possessing the instincts of an actor, he wishes
to imitate mankind only in the most effective and realistic
manner. His extreme nature sees only weakness and insin-
tremely dangerous thing for artists. The intoxicating, the
sensual, the unexpected, the ecstatic, the being-moved-at-
any-price. Alarming tendencies.”
“Wagner unites everything that still has charm for us
modern Germans. Character, knowledge, all go together.
202
Critical Period
He makes a determined effort to assert himself, and to domi-
nate in an age antagonistic to all art. Poison is an anti-
dote to poison. Every sort of exaggeration is polemically
arrayed against the forces hostile to art. Religion and
philosophical elements are introduced, aspirations for the
idyllic-in short, everything, everything."
“One thing should be remembered: Wagner's art speaks a
dramatic language; it does not belong in a room, in camera.
It is the language of the folk-epics, and even in its noblest
passages, is not intelligible without being grossly exagger-
ated. It is meant to be heard from a distance, and to weld
together the chaos of the masses. For example the Imperial
(Kaiser) March.”
“Wagner has a dictatorial nature. He overlooks many
minor circumstances and does not occupy himself with small
matters but disposes of things in “a grand style. There-
fore, he is not to be judged by isolated details—such as
music, drama, poesy, the state, art, etc. The music is not
of much value, likewise the poetry, and the drama even less.
The dramatic art is often only rhetoric, but taken as one
comprehensive whole it maintains itself at the same great
level.”
“He has the feeling of unity in variety; and for that
reason I consider him as one of the world's culture-bearers."
While my brother was unburdening his heart after this
fashion, he suffered intensely from the fear that Wagner
would never be able to carry out his plans. When, however,
news reached him of the success of the undertaking, he re-
garded it as nothing short of a "miracle” and wrote to
Rohde:
203
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
“... If this miracle be true, the result of my investiga-
tions will nevertheless, remain. But if it be really true, let
us rejoice and make it a feast-day.”
He added: “We know from Frau Wagner and this is a
secret shared only by the friends of Bayreuth—that the
King of Bavaria has again come to the rescue with a loan of
100,000 thalers, so that work on the stage machinery and
scenery can be pushed forward rapidly. Wagner himself
writes that the date of the festival is fixed for 1876. He is
full of courage and firmly convinced that the undertaking is
now on the high road to success. God grant this! This
waiting and anxiety is hard to endure, at times, I have really
abandoned all hope."
My brother was plunged into a mood of deep melancholy
by the result of these investigations. He once said that one
of the most important elements of self-discipline was to be
able to raise the veil and to draw it down again when it be-
came necessary, and that one's feelings should be the best
judge as to whether this had been done at the right moment
or not. He felt that the time had not yet arrived for him
to lift the veil and disclose his real feelings for Wagner, and
upon realizing this, he sorrowfully drew it down again, or at
least endeavored to draw it so closely that no one should
learn the state of his mind.
204
· CHAPTER XIX.
SECOND “THOUGHTS OUT OF SEASON."
(1874)
TN the meantime, the second "Thoughts Out of Season”
on the “Use and Abuse of History" had been finished
and sent to Bayreuth, eliciting from Wagner and Frau
Cosima cordial expressions of approval. My brother also
interpreted their letters as being friendly and sympathetic
and informed Gersdorff that he had “received splendid letters
from Bayreuth.” But somewhat later we learned from
Fritzsch that the work had been spoken of in a rather cool
and derogatory manner at Wahnfried.
This is not difficult to understand if one keeps in mind
that Wagner was engaged in a supreme struggle for the reali-
zation of his idea, and at such times, demanded of his friends
that they neglect their own affairs and devote themselves
heart and soul, to his cause. In other words, he expected
them to suffer when he suffered and rejoice when he rejoiced.
This my brother did unreservedly, but at the same time, he
took the liberty of writing books which had nothing to do
with Bayreuth. Privy Councillor Ritschl had once said that
Nietzsche was of no use in party factions and to my
brother's way of thinking, Bayreuth had already become a
party fight, that is to say, a matter for the masses. This
205
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
explains why my brother, despite his solemn exhortation to
the Germans, was unable to manifest the proper degree of
zeal and partisanship demanded by Wagner, and also ac-
counts for the unfriendly comments on the book made in the
presence of Fritzsch. It is also possible that Wagner was
repeating what he had often said: “Nietzsche always goes
his own way, and one has to take him as he is.” However
this may be, the letters acknowledging the receipt of the
book, were not lacking in warmth and cordiality:
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
S
“Dear friend:
“Eight days ago we received your new work from the
bookdealer and have deliberately devoted three evenings to
the reading of the same. I wished to write to you while we
were reading it, but the worst thing about it was that the
thoughts thereby suggested at once mounted into the hun-
dreds of thousands, until they finally reached the propor-
tions of a veritable dissertation and could not be disposed of
within the limitations of a letter.
“There was one thing, however, which I should have liked
to call out to you, briefly. That was, that I am made very
proud by the thought of being relieved of the necessity of
saying anything in the future, but can now leave everything
to you. Everything 'in the future? Yes, one takes fright
at the very thought, but nevertheless, it is a comfort to know
that the subject has been approached in the right way.
“You certainly do not expect praise from me! It would
be a fine thing, indeed, for me to presume to praise your wit
and your fire. My wife always finds just the right tone for
206
Second “Thoughts Out of Season”
anything of that sort, for else why should she be a woman?
She will not fail to let you hear from her on the subject.
“Now may God bless us all together! Nor will He have a
very big task as there are so few of us.
"My big affair will soon be in shape. It will take place
in 1876. Full rehearsals next year as it is imperative that
we give ourselves plenty of time.
“Our own house will be ready in May, and then your room
will always be at your disposal. I hope that sometime you
will come here for a good, long rest; there are plenty of
mountains nearby.—My wife will write very soon, at present
she is suffering with her eyes. That seems to be the fashion
now-a-days. Overbeck is the only one who pleases me be
cause he does not wear glasses. Give him my best regards,
but Gersdorff will always be revered as the absolute ideal.
“Yours,
“Bayreuth, Febr. 27, 1874.
RICHARD. WAGNER.”
Frau Cosima's letter went very much more into detail and
therefore sounded more friendly than Wagner's, but later
my brother realized that the beautiful words were only sweet-
smelling flowers used to conceal the bitter truth that this
latest work of his was "inaccessible” not only for the larger
public, but also for the master himself.
Frau Cosima wrote: “. . . At first we were greatly sur-
prised, as one is apt to be at present, to find expression given
to such deep thoughts, and one involuntarily exclaims:
“Wherefore, for whom is all this meant? We already know
these things and those who do not, have no need of knowing
them until we are made to understand by the course of your
207
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
development why you were obliged to begin in such an ab-
stract fashion. This is not intended as a reproach for your
book, but is merely mentioned as one of the difficulties, which
will make it inaccessible, I fear, for the larger public. How-
ever, this is of no importance, as those who are able to
follow you (and to do this requires, I might say, a certain
initiation into the secrets of our educational institutions)
will not only be grateful to you, but will also be conscious of
a certain exaltation at the thought that you have preserved
your courage in spite of your keen realization of things as
they really are.
"And how well armed you step into the arena, ready for
battle, deliberate and sure of yourself, in fact, so much so,
that I greatly fear you will find no opponent and will be
obliged to content yourself, as did Frithjof, who overturned
the idols and set the temple in flames without being given
an opportunity for combat.
“But that which personally affects me most strongly in
your work, is the certainty, now made clearer to me, that a
knowledge of the sufferings of genius has been the means of
enlightening you as to conditions in the world at large, and
that you now see not alone with the eyes of intelligence, but
also with those of the heart. Just as the Indian prince was
instructed in the essential character of things by being
brought into contact with beggars, old men and corpses, and
the Christian is made a saint by the sight of Christ on the
cross—so your sympathy with genius has made it possible
for you to gain an all round view of. our present-day world of
culture. It is this which invests your work with its mar-
vellous warmth, a warmth which it will retain, I am firmly
208
Second “Thoughts Out of Season”
convinced, long after our petroleum and gas stars have been
extinguished.
"I think it possible that you would not have been able to
have felt with us so deeply, had you not had so complete a
mastery over the.manifold phenomena of life. Your irony
and humor also spring from the same source and create a
much deeper and more powerful impression by being pro-
jected upon this background of compassion and sympathy,
than were they only the result of your play of intelligence.
“But now, who is going to read the 'History'? I greatly
fear that you have interfered with the circulation of the
same by having given it too elegant a binding, as those who
would gladly pay fifteen silver 'groschen' for the ‘Beet-
hoveni may not be able to find the thaler necessary to have
unrolled before their eyes the uses and abuses of history,
however great their enthusiasm for the subject. You should
not be compelled to look for your reading public among the
circle of the well-to-do culture-philistines, but rather
among the literary nomads' who today, as in days of yore,
preserve the genuine German spirit. But be that as it may,
you have written a very beautiful treatise and as for the
rest—'let Hans Sachs take care of that," and by 'Hans
Sachs,' I mean the German nation. I say this as one who
has both great hopes and great fears. We have so often
discussed form and style when we were together, that I
should like to say something to you on this subject, although
I realize that it is the most difficult of all questions if one
hopes to make one's self perfectly intelligible.
“One recognizes in your work the influence of aristocratic
surroundings, but misses a note of complete freedom. In this
respect, I believe that the classic models remain inimitable,
209
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
from the very fact that they imitated no one but aspired
to the beautiful as it was in and around them. Moreover,
a certain carelessness is apparent to me in your great artistic
intention, such as, 'where did he get that'; this seems to me
to be too familiarly expressed to fit into the tone of the
whole, and I further notice a somewhat too intentional
avoidance of the relative pronoun 'which. You nearly
always say, 'he that does this or that, for that work that
pleases. Why do you do this? And finally, can one say
of himself that he is a 'classical philologist? Would it
not be better to say “professor of classical philology?' But
while I am putting these unimportant criticisms on paper, I
am reminded of the splendid moments of your work irrespec-
tive of the contrast between the inner and outer qualities
of the same, and I find it very foolish to be thus inflicting
you with my purisms without having half adequately ex-
pressed my delight at the richness of your thought and the
striking originality of your point of view.
"It is ever thus when one is chatting with an intimate
friend; one is apt to cling to a discussion of some minor
point and not touch upon the true greatness of the work,
simply because one has been pleasantly stimulated by agree-
ment on the main issues under discussion.
“But you understand, do you not, my dear friend, just
how much pleasure you have given by what you have writ-
ten? ..."
I must add here that Cosima always found something to
criticize in my brother's writings from a standpoint of style.
And despite his profound admiration for her intellect and
his gratitude to her for pointing out his faults, he could
not refrain from smiling at her comments, as strictly con-
210
Second "Thoughts Out of Season"
sidered, Frau Cosima was a foreigner. Moved thereto by
criticisms like the above, my brother once made the heretical
remark that if she were so keen about achieving an improve-
ment in German literary style, it would be well to direct her
energies, first of all to Wagner's well-known transgressions
in this respect.
It was weeks before my brother was able to overcome the
depression resulting from the self-examination to which he
had subjected himself in regard to his feelings for Wagner's
art. Now that he no longer considered Richard Wagner
and his art as representing a transcendent ideal, and no
longer felt it to be the one and only purpose of his life to
work for this ideal-he began to look upon himself and all
his previous efforts as utterly futile. He began to feel as if
he had been moving around and around in a circle of ideas,
and had been lacking in the ability of seeing and creating
a wider and greater field of activity. It was in this strain
that he wrote to Gersdorff:
“... Dear faithful friend:
“You have much too good an opinion of me. I am firmly
convinced that the day will come when you will be keenly
disappointed in me, and I now start the work of disillusion-
ment by declaring that to the best of my knowledge, I
deserve not one whit of all your praise. Could you only
know what discouraged and melancholy thoughts I entertain
about myself as a productive being! I long for nothing
more than a little freedom, for the genuine breath of life.
I am both angry and rebellious when I think of how really
fettered I am. There can be no question of real productive-
ness so long as one is conscious of constraint and weighed
211
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
down by the burdensome feeling of suffering and oppression.
Will I ever be able to achieve this feeling of perfect freedom?
Doubt is piled upon doubt; the goal is too remote and by the
time one has reached the goal, his strength has been ex-
hausted by the long struggle. One achieves the wished-for
freedom and is thereby as exhausted as a day-fly when night
comes. I have such a haunting fear that this will happen
to me. It is a misfortune to be conscious of this struggle
so early in life. Nor have I any deeds to show for it as
has the artist or the ascetic. How wretched is this everlast-
ing mire-drumming complaint! For the moment, I am
heartily sick and tired of the whole thing.
“As to my health, it is excellent--you may be quite reas-
sured on that point. But I am very much dissatisfied with
nature, who should have endowed me with somewhat less
intelligence and given me instead a stronger heart. The best
thing is always lacking with me and the realization of this
is nothing short of soul-torment. Routine work in any
profession is a good thing, for it brings with it a certain
degree of mental torpor and thereby one's suffering is
reduced. ..."
D
He also wrote in the same melancholy strain to Bayreuth,
and Frau Cosima replied saying that Wagner would like
to start at once for Basle and take my brother off home with
him. I must explain here that Frau Cosima firmly believed
that the atmosphere of Basle was chiefly responsible for my
brother's despondency. She wrote: "For a long time I have
wished that you could get away from Basle, notwithstanding
the fact that I fully appreciate the many good qualities of
this little world and the advantages you gain by remaining
212
Second “Thoughts Out of Season”
there. But on the other hand, I also am familiar with the
gloomy, calvinistic atmosphere and know how little calcu-
lated it is to help anyone in meeting a difficult situation.
However worthy they are of our highest respect, and what-
ever sense of their peculiar characteristics is felt by the good
people themselves, they nevertheless lead an empty life, and
are like ghosts moving about in their own peculiar garb so
that intercourse with them produces the strangest sort of
melancholy."
My brother entertained quite different feelings towards
Basle and Wagner also displayed a far greater understand-
ing of the situation, ascribing Cosima's animosity to the
place to a disagreeable experience she once had there.
Wagner wrote a pleading letter to my brother, begging him
to come at once to Bayreuth. In this letter he made use of
all sorts of joking allusions which he knew my brother would
be apt to employ in searching about for an excuse for not
going
D
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“O friend:
Why do you not come to us?
I can find an excuse for everything—or whatever
you like to call it.
Only don't hold yourself so aloof! If you persist
in doing this I can do nothing for you.
You room is ready.
However–or, on the contrary:
Nevertheless!
or yet:
213
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
'if it must be'!
Written the moment after your last letter ar-
rived.
More another time.
“Cordial greetings from
"Yours
R. W.”
This cordial invitation of Wagner's and my brother's
inability to accept it would again have given rise to un-
pleasantness had not there been something so touchingly
mournful about my brother's letter that Wagner felt only
compassion for the unlucky genius whom fate seemed to be
pursuing so relentlessly.
Much of my brother's melancholy arose from his disap-
pointment in regard to Wagner, who had not reached the
heights he should have scaled by reason of the irritating
antagonism of a contemptuous contemporary age. Nor had
Wagner realized my brother's ideal of the artist and the
man. It is true that my brother expected far too much
from his "ideal,” and had been led into the mistake of trans-
forming Wagner into a sort of supernatural being as to
endowment and character. He made humorous recognition
of this error some years later when he wrote: “Such gifted
creatures as I then imagined geniuses to be have never
existed."
214
CHAPTER XX.
"SCHOPENHAUER AS EDUCATOR."
URING this period of doubt and inner conflict, my
brother would most assuredly have turned to Rohde
for sympathy, had not this well-beloved friend been
of a far more melancholy turn of mind than Nietzsche him-
self, and therefore in constant need of being buoyed up by
his friends rather than asked to share their burdens. Rohde
had written the following appealing letter to my brother:
“... I implore you, dear friend, to let me have frequent
tokens of your friendship and sympathy, without which I
could neither live nor breathe. . . A horrible lack of self-
confidence renders futile all my plans, hopes and wishes, so
that often I awake suddenly in the night, as if oppressed
by a terrible nightmare. At such times, I seem to be wan-
dering about in a desert, without friends, unbeloved of all
men, and even my very existence seems so uncertain as to
make any serious attempt to formulate hopes or plans for
the future appear like a veritable absurdity. . . I know
these are all delusions of the brain and not borne out by
actual conditions; and yet to one who has had the misfortune
to be born under an unlucky star-it is just these thousand
and one little things which become entangled in a magician's
snarl, and form a source of endless irritation and hindrance
to one as sensitive as I am. At such times, any insignificant
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
disappointment can be made to appear as a symbol of a life
wholly wrecked. ..."
In an effort to comfort his friend, my brother describes
the means he employed to extricate himself from similar
depressing experiences. This he did, first of all, by com-
posing and then by submerging himself into a creation of a
new literary work. He writes: “... I have made good use
of my time during the last six weeks by finishing my 'Hymn
to Friendship and writing it out carefully for four hands.
This song breathes hope and courage and was sung for all
of you. If this mood can be preserved, I believe that all of
us will be able to endure the world for some time to come.
And No. 3 of my 'Thoughts Out of Season' is so well along,
that I am only waiting for a warm, fructifying rain to see
it shoot up like a stalk of asparagus."
As a matter of fact, this third "Thoughts Out of Season,"
entitled “Schopenhauer as Educator,” proved the greatest
consolation to my brother during this period of doubt and
dissatisfaction. In this work he portrayed in manifold
forms and disguises, the conflict through which he was pass-
ing, and his deep yearning to invest his own life with per-
manent and significant values. In a way, it is an attempt
at self-justification for having placed himself solely at the
service of Schopenhauer and Wagner, regardless of his own
unique gifts and intellectual needs. In a passage of won-
derful beauty, we find the following expression of feeling
concerning his future development:
. “. . . In what way may your life, the life of the indi-
vidual, retain its highest value and deepest significance? And
how may it be least squandered?
“Forsooth, only by living for the good of the rarest and
1
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“Schopenhauer as Educators
most valuable types, but not for the betterment of the ma--
jority, who taken as individuals, are the most worthless
types. And it is precisely this way of thinking that should
be implanted and cultivated in the mind of youth; he should
be taught to regard himself as somewhat of a failure of Na-
ture's handiwork, but at the same time, as a testimony to
her larger ideas. “She has made a mistake,' he should say,
(but I will do honor to her great idea, by placing myself at
her service, in order that she may succeed better the next
time.
“Animated by this resolve, he consciously enters the
charmed circle of that culture, which is the child of every
man's knowledge of self and dissatisfaction with self. Every
one who acknowledges this culture thereby confesses : let
every one help me to achieve this, as I will help all those who
know and suffer as I do, to the end, that finally that man
will appear, who feels his love and insight, his vision and
power to be complete and boundless, and who in his univer-
sality, lives in and with Nature, as the judge and appraiser
of all human values.
"It is difficult to impart this feeling of indomitable con-
sciousness of self to anyone, because it is impossible to teach
love, and it is from love alone that the soul gains not only
the clear, analytical, understanding vision of itself, but love
also creates the desire to get out of one's present self and
search, with all one's might, for a higher and nobler self,
still latent. Therefore, it is only by clinging with devotion
to some great man (as a prototype!) that the individual is
vouchsafed the first consecration of culture. He may know
this by his sense of mortification without resentment, by his
hatred of his own narrow-mindedness and warped vision, by
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
his sympathy with genius ever rearing its head from the
murky wastes of mediocrity, by his prescience for all that is
nascent and struggling, and by the innermost conviction
that Nature in distress is everywhere to be met with, as she
presses closer to man, as she feels anew a sense of failure,
and at the same time, sees the success of her marvellous
conceptions, forms and designs. The men in whose midst we
live, therefore, are to be likened to the fragments of those
precious plastics, who cry out to us: Come and help us, piece
us together as we belong, for we have an inexpressible long-
ing to be made complete.
“... The sum total of these processes I have called the
'initial consecration into culture. I have now before me
the infinitely more difficult task of describing the effects of
the 'second consecration. This is the transition from the
inner life to the valuation of outer processes and manifesta-
tions. From now on our look is turned outward to search
through the great world of thought and action for that
culture known to us from our own earlier acquisitions. The
individual must utilize his own strivings and aspirations as
an alphabet whereby he will be able to interpret the strivings
2
must rise still higher. Culture demands from him not only
these inner processes, and the true valuation of the outer
world in which he lives and moves, but primarily and finally
-action. That is to say he is called upon to fight for
culture, and to oppose all those influences, customs, laws
and institutions, in which he does not find his own goal-
namely, the creation of genius."
Every one who reads this passage will be forced to admit
that Nietzsche ever remained consistent in his views. His
218
“Schopenhauer as Educator"
goal was the perfection of mankind, and for him humanity's
genuine salvation and worth were to be found only in the
highest types. That which he here calls "genius,” making it
the supreme type of human aims and aspirations, he later
characterized as the “Superman.” .
A large part of “Schopenhauer as Educator” was written
during a delightful spring sojourn we made at the Rhine
Falls near Schaffhausen, one of the most beautiful spots in
German Switzerland. Superb weather and a holiday mood
prevailed, and my brother's melancholy was gradually ban-
ished by the auspicious influences. Until now, he had suf-
fered from inordinate modesty, a trait also established by
the graphologists, who had made a study of his hand-
writing. He conceived his first duty to be a whole-hearted
service to Schopenhauer and Wagner, but in the joy of
creating this new work, he felt for the first time a marvellous
presentiment of his real worth and the true significance of
his creative powers.
We wandered about in the magnificent country surround-
ing the Rhine Falls until we found a cozy nook where my
brother could write diligently in his note-book, while I passed
the time reading Gottfried Keller. We were in the best of
spirits and fond of indulging in the childish pastime of using
only one verb in our conversation, my brother explaining
humorously, that it was quite unnecessary to take so much
trouble about acquiring a large vocabulary, as a compara-
tively few words suffice to make one's meaning clear. The
verb we chose for this game was "snuffle” (“schnobern”), the
persistent use of which gave rise to no end of jokes and
misunderstandings. We got the idea from Wagner who had
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
once signed a letter relating to executive matters, with the
words:
“RICHARD WAGNER,
(ever snuffling around to find a trace of the German spirit!)"
0
)
“Snufling" was finally advanced to the dignity of a noun,
and ever little nook and corner in the magnificent forest
bordering the Rhine, which became associated with my
brother's studies and writings, was christened the “chief
snuffling place.”
But whatever we did, whether we walked about talking,
or sat silent, each of us occupied with his own thoughts, we
were always conscious of the deep, booming organ tones of
the falls, which formed an accompaniment to all our
thoughts, and sent us a faint echoing greeting even when we
strayed far a-field.
While my brother had succeeded in dispelling the feeling
of depression, Frau Cosima and Gersdorff, who spent a
great deal of his time at Bayreuth-continued to worry
about him and take counsel among themselves as to the best
way of helping him. Frau Cosima insisted that he should
leave Basle, but as no other university found favor in her
sight, the friends hit upon the amusing plan of marrying
my brother off to some rich woman, whereby he would be
enabled to come and go as he liked and choose his own place
of residence, which Frau Cosima never doubted would be
Bayreuth.
My brother found this idea of a marriage council very
diverting and wrote in this strain to Gersdorff: “... It is
really a delicious idea to picture you and the Bayreuth
220
“Schopenhauer as Educator”
friends sitting in a sort of marriage consideration commis-
sion. Yes-s-s—but! I must say to that, particularly when
the deliberations end with the advice that there are plenty of
women in the world, but that it is my business to find the
right one. Am I then to fare forth like a knight of the Cru-
sades in quest of the promised land of which you speak? Or
inspected, and let me decide which one of them was the right
one? I find this theme a trifle impossible, dear friend; or
why do you not make a personal application of the efficacy
of this theory?"
My brother was really much annoyed that so much should
be said about his depression which he had entirely shaken
off under the inspiration of creative work. He wrote re-
peatedly saying that he was not depressed and that his
letters had apparently created a false impression, but all
his protestations were to no purpose and finally he was
obliged to write to Gersdorff: “... My dearest, best and
very best friend, I am really somewhat annoyed that none
of you will believe me when I say that I am well, uncom-
monly so, at least, as well as I have any right to expect.
I cannot say that I am 'very well, (censor No. 1) but
what is one to expect here under the changing moon? But
who knows, perhaps I shall even bring my health up to No.
1 just to spite all of you."
Although no unpleasantness had arisen from my brother's
failure to accept Wagner's invitation, he came very near
falling out with Gersdorff, who was on an intimate footing
in Bayreuth and consequently felt himself called upon to
reproach my brother for his non-appearance. In fact, he
went so far as to threaten to absent himself from the reunion
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
of the friends in Basle, if my brother did not come imme-
diately to Bayreuth. Not even his most intimate friend had
a suspicion that Nietzsche was then struggling with inner
doubts and misgivings, and a strong letter was necessary
in order to put an end to Gersdorff's persistent reproaches :
"I got no further than good intentions. In regard to
Bayreuth; it seems to me that their home and their life is
in such a state of unrest that a visit from us would be un-
timely. I trust that all of you are now satisfied as to the
state of my health as you seem to have outdone each other
in pessimism. I can think of nothing else, at present, but
of finishing my No. 3 to my satisfaction. By the way, my
dear friend, how did you hit upon the droll idea of attempt-
ing to force me to Bayreuth by using a threat? You almost
make it seem as if I did not wish to go there voluntarily,
although I was there twice last year and had two meetings
with the Bayreuth friends the year before, making the trip
from Basle, despite the inconvenient arrangement of our
holidays. We both know that Wagner is naturally very
suspicious, but I should not have thought it a wise thing to
encourage this feeling. Finally, I beg of you not to lose
sight of the fact that I have obligations towards myself, and
that these obligations are difficult to discharge on account
of my none too robust health. Really, no one shall force
me to do anything. ..."
Believing that Wagner was genuinely offended at my
brother, as otherwise Gersdorff's intervention seemed utterly
incomprehensible, my brother begged me to write to Frau
Wagner and first of all, to ease her mind in regard to his
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“Schopenhauer as Educator"
health, and then explain to her how dearly he would have
welcomed an opportunity of seeing his beloved friends, had
he not felt compelled to finish his third "Thoughts Out of
Season” before granting himself this pleasure. Frau Wag-
ner replied at once in a most cordial tone, from which it was
plainly to be seen that Gersdorffs representations had been
made without their knowledge. One thing revealed by this
correspondence was that Gersdorff had so endeared himself
to Wagner and Frau Cosima, that as the latter wrote: "He
is absolutely the only person at whom one can never take
offense.”
My brother did everything he could to re-assure me, but I,
nevertheless, felt a certain apprehension kept him from
going to Bayreuth, and this reluctance will be well under-
stood if one bears in mind the private memoranda made at
this time. It is true that he had drawn a heavy veil of
forgetfulness over these soul-searching observations, but a
certain degree of uneasiness remained, and there was the
ever-present danger of betraying his change of heart. And
this really did happen when we went to Bayreuth in August.
In the spring, we had heard a performance of Brahms'
“Song of Triumph" in the minster at Basle, a work that
made a deep impression upon my brother. He bought the
score and took it with him to Bayreuth, without having the
faintest idea (as I then thought!) that this would be mis-
interpreted by Wagner. But later I came across this sen-
tence in my brother's note-book: “The tyrant admits no
individuality other than his own and that of his most inti-
mate friends. The danger is great for Wagner when he is
unwilling to grant anything to Brahms or to the Jews."
From this it will be seen that my brother wished to make
S
223
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
an effort to induce Wagner to be just and generous towards
Brahms. This Wagner must have suspected, as the “Song
of Triumph” created an extremely painful scene, in the
course of which, Wagner indulged in an uncontrollable fit
of temper quite out of keeping with the insignificant cause.
Wagner, himself, described the entire scene to me some
months later, in the rare way he had of speaking ironically
of himself: “Your brother laid the red-bound book on the
piano, so that my eye fell upon it every time I came into
the room and enraged me as a red rag does a bull. I knew
perfectly well that Nietzsche wished to say to me: 'See here!
Here is some one else who can also compose something worth
while! I stood it as long as I could, and then one evening
I let go of myself and how I did rage!” Wagner laughed
heartily as he recalled this scene.—“What did my brother
say?" I asked anxiously. “Not a word," was Wagner's
reply, "he grew red in the face and stared at me with a look
of astonished dignity. I would give a hundred thousand
marks all at once if I were as well-bred as Nietzsche; he is
always the aristocrat, always dignified. Such deportment
is of the utmost value to any one.”
This is the truth of the story which certain Wagnerians
have embroidered into the following romance. My brother
showed Wagner an opera he had composed, whereupon
Wagner, enraged, had replied: "It is a worthless piece of
work.” My brother was deeply offended, and his apostasy
dated from that episode. But la bêtise humaine can find no
other explanation for a change of mind except wounded
vanity and therefore, invents such unpsychological fables.
As a result of my brother's “well-bred behavior” this
episode had no unpleasant results, as Wagner always made
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“Schopenhauer as Educatoris
S
an especial attempt to be agreeable when he found that he
had offended Nietzsche, and when agreeable, was always
irresistible.
It has always remained a mystery: to me why my brother
did not tell me of this incident. It must have been because
he took it much more to heart than Wagner would have me
believe. When I later questioned him about it, he was silent
for a moment and then said softly: "Lisbeth, at that moment
Wagner was not great!”
To all intents and purposes, the friendly feelings still re-
mained unchanged, but little scenes such as that just de-
scribed throw a strong light upon the state of my brother's
mind. I have already mentioned that Wagner's indifference
and adverse criticism of the second “Thoughts Out of Sea-
son" had a depressing effect upon my brother at Easter
1874; it was then that he said to himself with a heavy heart:
“It has become plain that my only value lies in my being a
Wagner commentator: I am to be nothing more. I am
permitted to admire only that which is stamped with the seal
of Bayreuth's approval.”
Was there ever a great spirit willing to have its course
circumscribed and mapped out by another? At that time,
the current of my brother's development was flowing in
broader and deeper channels than ever before and was he
now to permit it to be dammed up into a corner? This
thought agitated and rankled—and yet all the time was
urging him to greater freedom. In June of 1874, I plucked
up my courage and spoke to Fritz of his hidden grief, where-
upon he answered emphatically: “Ah, Lisbeth, each one of
us has a worm gnawing at his vitals, and I am no exception.”
And in a letter dated July 9, he wrote to Gersdorff: "Many
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
things are fermenting in me, among them much that is ex-
treme and daring. I should like to know just how far I
should be justified in communicating these things to my
best friends, naturally not in writing.”
Cold superficial souls will not be able to comprehend the
inner conflict with which my brother had been struggling
during the past four years. What do such persons know
of a passionate friendship such as bound my brother to
Richard Wagner, what of the agitation of a loving heart all
a-quiver with pain at the thought of the heart-breaking
hours preceding the final farewell? My brother was not
only grieved at the thought of what this break would mean
to him but of the distress he would, thereby, be causing
others; but it is possible that he had an exaggerated idea of
Wagner's feelings on the matter.
Upon returning from Bayreuth to Basle in August of
1874, my brother at once set about re-writing a part of
“Schopenhauer as Educator.” Apparently other and newer
thoughts had come to him during his sojourn in Bayreuth
and it is therefore, most regrettable that the first draft of
the work is no longer available, so that a comparison might
be made, with a view of establishing the changes made out
of affection and deference for Wagner. On the twenty-
fourth of September, he wrote to Gersdorff: “... The
closing weeks of our summer semester was a difficult time
for me, dear friend, and I draw a deep breath now that it is
over. In addition to all my other work I was obliged to
re-write a comparatively long section of my No. 3, and
the inevitable fatigue and soul-exhaustion attendant upon
such studies came very near upsetting me, and I have not
yet entirely recovered from the child-bed fever. But at all
TOT
S
226
"Schopenhauer as Educator"
events, I can console myself by the thought that something
worth while has been brought into the world, and a work in
which you will take the keenest delight.”
The forthcoming publication of the third “Thoughts Out
of Season” was also announced to the friends in Bayreuth, as
is to be seen from a draft of a letter found in an old note-
book. The letter itself, like so many others, was destroyed
in Bayreuth, but the replies of Wagner and Frau Cosima in-
dicate that the rough draft agrees in the main with the letter
as it was finally written.
Friedrich Nietzsche to Richard Wagner.
(Draft of Letter written about Oct. 10, 1874.)
“The summer has now come and gone as well as my
autumn vacation, and nothing came of the meeting of my
friends arranged to take place at this time, or rather it all
turned out quite different from what we had planned Gers-
dorff was expected from day to day and finally arrived just
as I was in the thick of my heaviest school work; Rohde
had even worse luck during the fortnight he spent in Basle
as we were all over-run with work to an almost unendurable
degree and were consequently unable to do much for my
friend. Krug passed through Basle with his wife, Deussen
was also here, but young Baumgartner deserted me to ab-
solve his year of military service with the Hussar regiment in
Bonn. We three friends in ‘Baumann's Cave' take long
walks together but not without that feeling of making our-
selves ridiculous that always attaches itself to an isolated
trinity. As evening comes and we see our three long shadows
stalking along near us, the thought of the 'Three Just Comb-
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
Makers' (the title of one of Gottfried Keller's novels)
occurs to us and we laugh ourselves to death.
"Within the next few days, I hope to send you my No. 3
which I recommend to your sympathetic good-will and con-
sideration. The average reader will think that I am talking
about the man in the moon, but in the long run, I only care
about 6 or 7 readers. The work must now take its course
and I know of nothing more to say about it. In the mean-
time, ideas for the succeeding number are already pressing
in upon me, but heavy duties, particularly in the way of
Greek literature, make it seem highly improbable that I shall
be in a position to put my hand to this task.”
Copy of a telegram sent by Richard Wagner to Nietzsche
upon receiving the above-mentioned copy of his “Schopen-
hauer as Educator":
“Deep and great. Presentation of Kant boldest and most
original idea. Verily, only intelligible for those who are
possessed. I can picture to myself the three just men.
May they cast long shadows in the sun-land of the present.
“Yours,
“R. W."
This third “Thoughts Out of Season” was greeted with
enthusiasm in Bayreuth, and made the subject of much
rejoicing. It was received with quite different feelings from
the second which had provoked only a moderate degree of ap-
proval, not unmixed with antagonism. Frau Cosima wrote
a wonderful letter on the subject:
“This is my 'Thoughts Out of Season,' my dear friend,
and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the pleas-
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“Schopenhauer as Educators
urable stimulation the book has given me. The feelings,
thoughts, ideas, intuition, power and knowledge therein
displayed, have amazed me and I have warmed my soul at
the fire of your enthusiasm,-here burning so bright and
clear—just as I did in the case of your ‘Birth of Tragedy.'
And how beautiful and characteristic is your language!
It is easy to see that here you had a concrete and inspiring
theme which you were able to grasp in its entirety, and the
depths to which you have moved me are only to be measured
by the strength you have displayed in your comprehension
of this theme. I find your introduction extraordinarily
beautiful and artistic; it suggests those magnificent intro-
ductions employed by the master musicians in leading up
to their Allegri. And you could not have introduced the
name of Schopenhauer more effectively and beautifully, and
at the same time, done more to arouse the interest of the
reader, than by expounding to us, first of all, the debt we
owe to culture. I find it particularly beautiful that you
write here subjectively, for as you say later on, the effect
of Schopenhauer's genius is almost uncanny, and for that
reason it is of the utmost importance to learn the personal
testimony of one of the elect.
“The comparison with Montaigne, the distinctive qualities
of cheerfulness, in the case of greater and lesser men, the
three elements comprised in the impression created by
Schopenhauer completely satisfied my curiosity as to how
you would succeed in characterizing this powerful genius.
Your very correct discrimination between Kant and
Schopenhauer brought to my mind a picture, in which the
former in his life, works (and quite abnormal genius!) was
to be compared to Bach, while Schopenhauer could only be
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
compared to Beethoven; Beethoven also certainly prized his
own music more highly than did his contemporaries. But
the most beautiful thing of all-in fact, that part of your
essay which moved me to tears—was your presentation of
the three dangers by which genius is confronted, and more
particularly the picture you draw of the third danger. I
feel that your eloquence and illuminating prescience has
furnished me with the key to Luther's visitations, and when
you affirm that you take no pleasure in the German lan-
guage, you are magnanimously punished by the noble muse,
who has endowed you with a gift of persuasion and impres-
siveness, to be attained through the medium of no other
language, in this particular field of thought. Do you not
see, dear friend, that this is German (not national), that it
is felt as a German would feel it, spoken as a German would
speak it? Having arrived at this point, I should like to
ask you if you do not think that nations, as well as indi-
viduals, are unique, and that therefore, Germany is not to
be treated as only one little corner of the earth (compared
to larger territorial areas) for she is unique both in her
good and her bad qualities, and our only wish should be that
her development may not be retarded by the worms and
caterpillars gnawing at her vitals?
“Personally I do not share the feeling of impending danger
upon which you touch; I regard our democracy as so mis-
erable a thing, that to me, it seems to be very far removed
from Rousseau's 'Image of Man, nor do I think that it
will ever be able to achieve the same results. I can imagine
that one fine day the Socialists will have vanished, as you
so splendidly forecast in regard to the professors of
philosophy (in many ways, one of the most beautiful pas-
230
“Schopenhauer as Educator”
sages in your entire essay). Socialism is disharmonious, as
is everything, of necessity, that is achieved by force, and
will disappear from the moment it is no longer fortified by
genuine non-German support. But you are right in saying
that anxiety on this score, whether justified or not, has a
most demoralizing effect. The Goethe man is very correct
and beautiful, however incapable we are in youth of appreci-
ating this image of man, and would like to place a sword at
his left. Even more beautiful was your portrayal of the
“platonic idea' in Schopenhauer's philosophy. Hail to you,
dear friend, for your capacity of establishing the innermost
nature of genius thereby rescuing this treasure from the
dark shaft of knowledge, and bringing it again to the clear
light of day. Your penetrating vision, your firm resolve,
your assured boldness of action (I call your writings
‘acts') are abiding qualities whether recognized or not by
the world, at present. It is said that there are persons, who,
wandering about at random, are able to establish for a cer-
tainty the presence of minerals or water in the ground upon
which they are treading, and in the same way, you seem,
quite intuitively, to have apprehended the nature of genius.
You not only understand the language of genius, but your
perspicacity bores through the deep shaft of moral values
and the infinitely deeper one of the sufferings of genius.
I was deeply moved when I read what you say of the de-
generacy of the sensitive natures in Germany, as this is the
one thing about our Fatherland which grieves me inex-
pressibly. What shall I say further of your presentation
of Nature in her so-called extravagant mood, of your won-
derful picture of the relationship existing between animals
and men, of the aim and abuse of culture, of the present-day
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
philosophers, who read newspapers and attend concerts in
their leisure moments, and of the relations between philoso-
phy and the state! Should I attempt to do this, there would
be no end to this letter, and I should most probably not
succeed in making myself clear or intelligible; what I have
already written will surely suffice, despite its cursory char-
acter, to give you a picture of the impression created upon
me by the reading of your book. On the whole, it seems to
me that in none of your previous works, have you so fully
proven yourself a master of form and content, and as a con-
sequence of this, your wit and humor flow more freely in this
essay. It is also `cheerful as you say of Schopenhauer's
works, and I am of the opinion that it will cut a deep furrow,
did not things look as they do with us! But who would dare
indulge in a prophecy under the present confused conditions?
You will completely win over the 6 or 7 for whom you write,
and in the long run, this minority will also have a word to
say. ..."
This splendid letter of Cosima's is not to be regarded
merely as an expression of her own personal expression on
“Schopenhauer as Educator," but also reflects Wagner's
views on the subject. Wagner himself once told me that
when Cosima was reading the book aloud to him, she kept a
note-book and pencil at hand, and jotted down his comments.
Every one of my brother's works was read aloud and com-
mented upon in the same fashion. Therefore, Cosima's
letters containing discussions of my brother's books are to be
regarded as of particular value, mirroring, as they do, an
accurate picture of Wagner's mood at the time of reading.
On the other hand, I should not like to state positively
that my brother expressed himself as candidly in his letters
232
“Schopenhauer as Educator"
to the Bayreuth friends. There were several reasons for
this, one of them being his desire to avoid everything that
could possibly give offense to his dearly-beloved friend,
and furthermore, his regard for the formalities of polite
intercourse. My brother often carried this delicacy so far
as to express adverse opinions of men and things, if he
thought that by so doing, he would please the person to
whom he was writing or speaking. For example, attacks
upon the Jews are often to be found in his letters to Wagner
which expressed Wagner's views on the subject rather than
his own. This hyper-courtesy was often a great burden to
him and he was angry with himself with yielding to this
feeling. The knowledge that he was not able to keep up
the same freedom of intercourse with Wagner and his family
as he had done in the happy Tribschen days also added to
his depression and it is easy to understand his feelings
when he writes:
“... Ah, we lonely, free souls. We see that we con-
tinually seem to be other than we really are; while wishing
for nothing so much as to be honest and sincere, we are
caught in a net of misunderstandings and despite our most
passionate desires, are unable to prevent a haze of false
meanings, compromises, and erroneous innuendoes from ob-
scuring our real deeds and thoughts. A cloud of melancholy
settles on our brow, for the thought that speciousness is
a necessity is as hateful to us as that of death, itself. ..."
S
Without a knowledge of the above-mentioned reasons, it
would be impossible to understand why my brother wrote
such melancholy letters to Bayreuth during the winter of
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
1874-75. Otherwise, he was in fairly good spirits; his
“Schopenhauer as Educator” had convinced him that he was
on the right road, his health was excellent and great activity
reigned in Basle social circles that winter. A few of the
German professors and their wives had formed a little circle,
in true German fashion, with a fixed date for reunions. To
this belonged the philosopher Max Heinze, the political
economist, von Miaskowski, Immermann of the medical
faculty, Professor Overbeck, Dr. Romundt and my brother.
The time was passed in music-making, readings, tableaux
and even dancing. Frau Miaskowski has published passages
from her correspondence at that time, which would have
seemed quite incredible to the friends in Bayreuth had they
compared it with Nietzsche's letters to them of the same
period. She says: “One evening, we took along a young
woman who happened to be our guest at the time. Upon
reaching home, she remarked that she had never been in an
atmosphere of such innocent jollity, and the queerest part
of it all was that the two chief fun-makers were Nietzsche
and Overbeck, both of them known throughout Germany
as the worst sort of pessimists and Schopenhauerians.”
High spirits also reigned in Bayreuth where Christmas
was being celebrated for the first time in Wagner's new
home, christened “Wahnfried.” The Christmas tree, placed
in the large reception hall, stretched out its branches until
they reached the golden gallery. Frau Wagner wrote us
a detailed account of the festivities and described how she
stood in the gallery, taking the part of the “dear God” to
the young musicians of the Nibelung “Kanzelei,” who were
climbing up and down the ladder disposing of the decora-
tions according to her instructions, while Wagner in the
234
“Schopenhauer as Educatop"
role of Jacob, but not a sleeping one, attended to matters
at the foot of the ladder. My brother's letter of birthday
greeting to Frau Cosima introduced a minor strain into
this symphony of gayety and Christmas cheer, and so an-
noyed Wagner that he replied at once and took this oppor-
tunity of airing all the grievances he had been cherishing
for the last year:
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“Dear friend:
“Your letter has given rise to renewed uneasiness about
you. My wife will write you at length on this subject in
a few days, but I happen to have a free quarter of an hour
on the second holiday and this I am going to devote to
you, possibly to your annoyance. I must let you know
what we have been saying about you; one thing was that
never in my entire life did I have such opportunities for
masculine companionship as you seem to have in Basle;
but if you are all determined to be hypochondriacs, then
this intercourse will be of no value to you. There seems
to be a lack of young women, but as my old friend Sulzer
used to say, 'Where can we get them unless we steal them?'
I should say that in a case of extreme necessity, one would
be justified in stealing. Of one thing I am firmly convinced,
and that is that you must either get married or write an
opera. One would do you just about as much goodmor
harm!—as the other. But of the two, I advise you to marry.
"In the meantime I can recommend a palliative, but you
are so in the habit of looking after your own apothecary
that it is impossible for any one to prescribe for you. For
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
example, when we built our house, we made arrangements
to offer you an asylum at any time, such as was never
offered to me even in the time of my direst necessity. The
plan was for you to spend your entire summer vacations here
with us, but no sooner has winter set in than you cautiously
announce your intention of spending the summer on a high
and remote peak of the Swiss Alps. Can that be otherwise
construed than as a refusal of our invitation in advance?
We could be of great help to you. Why do you scorn this
assistance on every occasion? Gersdorff and all the others
always enjoy being here. There will be a great deal going
on here. All of my Nibelung singers will be passed in re-
view, the scenic painter will be at work, the machinist will
be busy fitting up the stage and all of us will be head over
ears in the matter. But-every one knows this and other
peculiarities of our friend Nietzsche.
“I shall say nothing more on this subject, however, as I
realize that is not of the slightest use. For Heaven's sake,
do marry a rich wife! Why was Gersdorff born a man?
Or go off on a long trip and enrich your mind with all the
beautiful experiences which make Hillebrand so versatile
and enviable in your eyes!) and then-write your opera
which I know will be scandalously difficult to perform. What
Satan made a pedagogue of you? You see how radical I
have become under the influence of your letter; but God
knows, I cannot look on and remain quiet.
"By the way, Dr. Fuchs gave me great pleasure by quot-
ing a passage from Overbeck's book, which interested me
so much that I am now re-reading it.
“For the second time, by the way! Full rehearsals next
0
236
“Schopenhauer as Educator"
summer (with orchestra) in Bayreuth. The Festival in
1876. We cannot be ready before then.
"I am taking daily baths, because I can no longer endure
the misery in my abdomen. Do you also bathe, and eat
meat?
"Heartfelt greetings from
"Yours faithfully,
“Second Christmas Day, 1874.
R. W."
The mention of Prof. Hillebrand of Florence refers to
a disagreement my brother had with his friends in Bayreuth
the preceding year. My brother wrote to Gersdorff : "Here
is a splendid piece of news. Order immediately from Görlitz
"Twelve Letters From an Aesthetic Heretic, published by.
Robert Oppenheim, Berlin, 1874. You will take unbounded
delight in this book, but I shall leave you to guess the name
of the author. New courage is ever springing up in my
heart and our little "Society of Hopeful Ones" seems to
be steadily increasing."
The book to which reference is made here, was written
by Carl Hillebrand, of Florence, whom Gersdorff knew and
esteemed very highly. The views therein expressed coincided
so exactly with my brother's well-known theories that even
Jacob Burckhardt assumed that the author must be an
intimate friend of Nietzsche's, possibly Gersdorff.
My brother and his little circle of friends in Basle thought
so highly of this book that he sent it to Bayreuth, but
despite his warm recommendations, it found but scant recog-
nition from Wagner and Frau Cosima. The latter wrote:
“Upon your recommendation, I have read Hillebrand's little
work and while some very delightful ideas are expressed
237
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
therein, I, nevertheless, found much to censure. First of all,
a certain diffusiveness and carelessness of form, an arrogant
tone, and a conspicuous lack of warmth, depth and humor.
I should like to say to him what was said to Malvolio: Just
because you are virtuous is no reason that there are no
cakes and wine in the world. . . . Further, I find that the
essay has an entirely erroneous fundament; had he really
found the picture given as the raison d'être of the letters,
then it was plainly his duty to reveal the secret and give
the name of it. Even though it were proven later that he
had been mistaken, this error would have been condoned
as the result of misguided enthusiasm, and in any case,
would have been of more service than his coquettish half-
veiled allusions. An error of judgment, later confessed, is
always a courageous deed. His constructive hopes also
appear rather insignificant; they were unquestionably in-
fluenced by the ‘Birth of Tragedy,' 'Opera and Drama,'
‘Art and Politics, etc., but he did not possess sufficient in-
tellectual strength and courage to ally himself to these
‘hopeful ones, but was bent upon reserving a little special
niche for himself and his work. To me, this little niche
looks very much like a sulking corner. And then his cita-
tions— Tom Jones' and 'Orestria.' . . . And furthermore,
to expect the Germans to know what the expression Tarte
à la crême signifies! Do you think the same thing could be
expected from the French had he quoted from the German
without giving the name of the author? The result is that
the reader recognizes the intention and at once becomes
disgruntled. And to my mind, Goethe is quite another sort
of universal genius from Molière. On the whole, I found
that a great deal of bad taste was displayed in this little
238
“Schopenhauer as Educators
book which is forever harping upon the question of
taste. ..."
I can not give the exact reason for Frau Cosima's harsh
verdict but only remember that Wagner always displayed
a particular aversion to the expressions "taste” and “taste-
ful” and for this reason the little book (the exemplification
of “good taste” in the best sense of the word) found no
favor in her eyes. My brother had no particular reason
for breaking a lance for Hillebrand, as the latter's criticisms
of my brother's writings were not entirely sympathetic.
But however that may be, my brother found ästhetic ten-
dencies coinciding with his own and possessed sufficient
objectivity of judgment to make acknowledgment of this,
irrespective of any personal feeling in the matter.
239
CHAPTER XXI.
WINTER IN BAYREUTH.
ACY brother spent the Christmas holidays of 1874-75
very quietly with us in Naumburg, and we again
discussed many “big plans," the most immediate
of these being my long cherished trip to Italy where I was
to be joined by my brother at Easter. But nothing turned
out as we expected. On January 17, 1875, I received a
letter from my brother saying: “My dear Lisbeth, this year
is going to be quite different from the plans we made at
Christmas. See enclosed letter from Frau Wagner as to the
pians that are brewing in Bayreuth."
Frau Cosima's letter read as follows: “I come to you
with a big request and one that you will think is most un-
usual, my dear friend. While making preparations for our
approaching tour, it has become more and more difficult
for me to leave the children behind, although I know that
they will be well taken care of here. My first thought was
to send the two older girls to the Louisa Institute somewhat
earlier than originally planned, but I had no sooner re-
ceived permission to do this from the prioress than I became
frightened at the idea of leaving the younger children alone
the others come home for the Easter vacation. I would
solve the problem by taking all five of them with me, did I
240
Winter in Bayreuth (1875)
not fear the ridicule of newspaper reporters. In this
dilemma, I turned to Fräulein Maier and begged her to come
to my rescue and this she promised to do, but now writes
that there has been a calamity of some sort in her family
which will require her presence at home. Before resorting
to the desperate alternative of sending the children away to
school, I am writing to ask whether your sister would do
us the great favor of coming to us at the beginning of
February and remaining here as a mother to our children
when we leave on our tour the middle of March.
“They have their governess (a good-natured young girl)
and the household consists further of the housekeeper, her
sister Kuni, whom you know, the gardener, and the stable-
boy, all of them most reliable. The whole thing resolves
itself into a moral sedative to quiet my mother heart. I
would introduce your sister to our circle of friends here,
who, no doubt, would do all they could for her during our
absence. I have not written directly to your sister, wishing
to spare her the embarrassment of refusing, and thinking
that you would know best whether this request can be
granted or not. I fully recognize the difficulties with which
every one has to struggle and the restraint circumstances
place upon our movements. That I presume to ask so great
a favor from you and your sister, will most assuredly prove
to you the light in which I regard our relations. ..."
To this my brother added: “I beg of you unconditionally
to grant this request and I feel assured in advance of our
mother's joyful assent.” On this last point my brother
greatly erred, as this plan not only brought to light my
mother's hitherto concealed antagonism against the Wagners
at this time, but aroused her indignation at my brother for
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
having so freely disposed of me without consulting her. My
brother was in the habit of monopolizing me for six months of
the year in Basle and it made her very angry to learn that
she was to be deprived of my company during the winter
months also. A somewhat excited exchange of letters took
place between the two members of my family, but finally they
came to an agreement and this helped to remove the uneasi-
ness I felt at assuming so great a responsibility. The fact
that I had spent the greater part of my life in the company
of so superior a person as my brother, had robbed me of the
necessary self-confidence. I had come to think of myself
as a very unimportant member of society and had acquired
the habit of concealing my best and most original qualities
as if they were something to which I had no right. On the
other hand, no amount of appreciation bestowed upon my
brother seemed to me to be unwarranted. This lack of self-
confidence led on the one hand to a rather exaggerated self-
depreciation and on the other, to all kinds of surprises for
others as well as for myself, for, as a matter of fact, when
any responsibility was imposed upon me, I suddenly de-
veloped qualities and gifts, hitherto unexpected. I only
mention this by way of explanation, as it was not the pros-
pect of the stay in Bayreuth that occasioned my excessive
nervousness, but only the thought that I might not be able
to fulfill my brother's expectations.
Early in February I set out for Bayreuth in high spirits,
as it made me very happy to think I could be of service to
friends whom I admired so greatly and who had always
been so uncommonly kind to me. My brother was even
happier than I at the turn affairs had taken, and wrote:
“Dear Lisbeth, I am delighted at your decision. I attach
242
Winter in Bayreuth (1875)
great importance to this visit, which, in the long run, will
be a sort of high school for you. Moreover, I know of no
other way by which you could be so thoroughly initiated
into my Bayreuth relations, and it is fortunate for future
developments that things have so shaped themselves. I am
overwhelmed with joy every time I think of it. ..."
As has been seen from Wagner's earlier letters, he wished
to appoint my brother Siegfried's legal guardian, and this
will explain my brother's repeated references to the impor-
tance of my becoming more closely acquainted with con-
ditions in Wahnfried. He once wrote: “When I think of
the manifold obligations I shall some day be obliged to
assume towards Wagner's family, it seems to me to be of
the highest importance that you should also be on a familiar
footing with them."
I was given a most friendly reception in Bayreuth and
was made to feel perfectly at home there: Cosima took me
with her to pay thirty-two calls, as a result of which I was
deluged with invitations as soon as the Wagners had set
out on their journey to Vienna. I was soon the best of
friends with the five well-behaved, lovable children. Daniela,
the eldest, was then fifteen and almost a young lady, so that
I could take her with me to all the coffee parties given in
my honor, but this distressed the other children so greatly
that I curtailed my social activities as much as possible.
Later Frau Cosima wrote my brother a letter filled with
the children's lavish expressions of endearment, and in a
letter to Fräulein von Meysenburg, he repeated one of
Siegfried's remarks about me: “... Siegfriedchen said to
my sister, 'I love you more than I do myself? ..."
I took the children for long, daily walks, and remember
243
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
11
particularly an excursion to the “Fantasie," where the little
ones were given a special treat in my brother's name. A
carriage was ordered for the occasion and the children were
allowed to have chocolate and cake to their heart's desire.
They enjoyed being the chief personages at the feast and
Daniela proposed a very pretty toast in verse to the “Good
Uncle Nietzsche." Upon learning of this, my brother wrote:
“Thank the children for the dear Uncle-Nietzsche toast ati
the Fantasie picnic; it gave me a ridiculous amount of
pleasure.”
I was somewhat surprised to find comparatively little
understanding in Bayreuth for Wagner's art, but on the
other hand, tremendous interest in all the external circum-
stances connected with it. I must have written something
of this sort to my brother, as he answered: “I perfectly
understand your remarks in regard to the good people of
Bayreuth; I do not remember ever having claimed that it
was an “enthusiastic city. But you will surely have noticed
that it is a place where we all share in the government, even
though this be only the control of gossip; in other words,
that one can live there just as he pleases and the people
soon adapt themselves to conditions."
But that which gave the greatest pleasure during this
sojourn in Bayreuth was the fact that my admiration for
Wagner and Frau Cosima increased rather than diminished
upon closer acquaintance, as I thus gained a better under-
standing of their unique qualities of head and heart.
Wagner was an ideal head of a family; I have seen him
leave his work to play "horse and wagon” with the children,
and all difficulties were met with an assumption of cheer-
fulness.
(
1
244
Winter in Bayreuth (1875)
But he could also manifest great impatience when ap-
proached with all sorts of tiresome requests; one thing that
was extremely distasteful to him being the examination of
new compositions. Some days the mail brought heaps of such
compositions and at such times Wagner raged in a manner
truly Jovian. One incident of this nature has remained
indelibly impressed upon my memory because of the part
I took in it. An unusually bulky parcel arrived one day,
containing an opera composed by the director of such and
such a bank. When Wagner told me this, I said, “Oh, I
know his name, as I have some stock in that bank.” Wag-
ner raised his finger with a warning gesture, saying: “Little
girl, sell those stocks at once; a bank director who writes
operas does not pay sufficient attention to business.”
Thereupon, banker Feustel took the matter up and reassured
us as to the liability of the bank in question. But in this
instance, the artist's intuition was correct, as the bank later
became quasi-bankrupt and my disregard of Wagner's ad-
vice cost me several thousand marks. On the other hand,
Wagner was always ready to comply with any reasonable
request made by his friends whether it were the inspection
of manuscripts or the autographing of photographs [tasks
for which he had no great fondness). For instance, my
brother asked him for a picture for Frau von Moltke, the
sister-in-law of the field marshal, which Wagner sent at
once with the following note:
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“Dear friend:
"Here is the photograph selected by my wife, and your
sister also approved of this one. It does not please me at:
245
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
all, and moreover, I wear my hair much more becomingly
at present. But as it is intended for a woman, it is a matter
for the women to decide.
“I have now become a regular mån of business; that is
to say, a theatrical promoter. The thought makes me dizzy,
not once in a while, but every day. We are leaving for
Vienna day after tomorrow. Delightful thought! The only,
thing pleasant about it is the opportunity it gives me to
play the Götterdämmerung excerpts for my wife. I imagine
you receive frequent reports from Wahnfried. The most
gratifying news that could come to me from Basle is that
you are well.
“Cordial greetings from
"Yours,
"RICH. WAGNER."
I shall never forget the quiet evenings, when the children
had been sent to bed and we sat together in the library
talking of all manner of things. At first, my brother was the
chief topic of conversation and I can still see the significant
looks exchanged between Wagner and Frau Cosima as I
related how cheerful my brother had been during the Christ-
mas holidays and how many diverting things he had to tell
us of the Basle "circle.” “Then why does he always write
us such melancholy letters ?" asked Wagner, almost angrily.
“Does he do that?" I replied, genuinely astonished, and upon
receiving an affirmative, hastened to explain that in writing
to Wahnfried he was always made to realize how far away
he lived, and could no longer share all their intimate
family experiences as in the dear old days at Tribschen.
Wagner seemed somewhat mollified, declaring that it did him
246
Winter in Bayreuth (1875)
good to hear this explanation. And of a truth, my stay in
Wahnfried did much to dissipate Wagner's distrust of my
brother's loyalty, and this in turn, pleased my brother
tremendously.
During the course of our conversation, I heard much of
Wagner's inward sufferings, and it was from these confi-
dences that I learned of the heavy burden borne by geniuses
who, standing as they do in direct contact with all the great
movements of thought and culture, are exposed to endless
friction. Wagner's wrath at the German people (to which,
as far as I know, he continued to give expression to the
end of his days) can only be explained by the fact that his
entire life, his work and his aspirations had been rendered
extremely difficult by the antagonism met with in Germany.
When reminded of this, even in the remotest way, he flew into
an uncontrollable fit of rage. I often had the feeling that
these outbursts of wrath to which Cosima and I were forced
to listen, were in reality intended for the spirits of his ad-
versaries hovering about him, to accept a theory once
expressed by my brother. Although Cosima never gave the
slightest cause for such outbursts, he often turned upon
her, and the equanimity with which she endured these injus-
tifiable attacks heightened my admiration for this remarkable
woman. On the whole, it must be admitted that being the
wife of a genius is not the easiest position in the world to
fill.
During my visit a warm friendship sprang up between
Cosima and myself and we began to use the familiar “Du”
in addressing one another. Great fortitude was demanded
of her at this time, as a subtle form of blackmail was em-
ployed against her, and although these attacks were repelled
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
va
with true greatness and dignity, she nevertheless suffered
inexpressibly. I endeavored to console her as best I could,
without knowing the true nature of these accusations at the
time. As a result of these machinations, she was obliged
to dismiss a number of the servants who had been in her
employ while she was still the wife of Hans von Bülow.
As they were on the whole rather incompetent, they were
easily replaced by one reliable man servant and the re-
maining honest Bavarians of the household were glad to
know that this mischief-making element had been dismissed.
From this time forth, Wagner's former dissolute household
developed into a veritable "idyll,” as Cosima later wrote me.
I have often been asked to describe Cosima's appearance
and character and I shall here make an attempt to do this.
She had a good skin and a wealth of very beautiful hair, a
very large mouth and nose, which she inherited from her
father, Franz Liszt, to whom she bore a striking resem-
blance. Like him she was also tall and thin, too much so
for a woman. But after all, her appearance was a matter
of complete indifference, as she possessed so much charm
as to make every one oblivious of her external traits. In
fact, no one would have wished her to look other than she
did, as her entire appearance was admirably suited to her
character and dominating personality. For me, Cosima was
the personification of “will to power” in the noblest sense
of this term; so long as Wagner lived, she exercised these
powers by and through him, by which I do not mean to say
that she ruled him, but only that his art, his fame, his great-
ness, and his puissance, were her instruments of power. It
is only since his death, at least so it seems to me, that her
eminent gifts have been given their fullest expression. To
248
Winter in Bayreuth (1875)
judge Cosima by any other standards would be to misunder-
stand her splendid character, her abandonment of Bülow for
Wagner, her entire rich and full life and her later evolution
into the “Margravine of Bayreuth," as my brother jokingly
christened her.
A German writer, sadly lacking in psychological instincts,
started the absurd report that my brother had entertained
a grand passion for Cosima. Wagnerians, who were in-
dignant with my brother for his apostasy to Wagner (en-
tirely overlooking the fact that this was done from purely
artistic and philosophical convictions) endeavored to make
capital out of this invention by misrepresenting the entire
origin of the relationship existing between Wagner and
Nietzsche and the causes leading up to the final rupture.
Any one who has followed the course of these relations from
chapter to chapter in this little book, will be convinced of
the absolute absurdity of this gossip.
My brother always spoke in terms of the greatest
respect of Frau Wagner and pronounced her the most
sympathetic woman," in fact, “the only woman possessing
the grand manner" whom he had met during the course of
his whole life. Any thought of an alleged "grand passion”
would most assuredly have seemed ridiculous to him.
In one of his aphorisms, my brother has very clearly de-
scribed how a feeling of great love arises in a man. (Nat-
urally he was speaking here objectively.) "... Whence
springs this deep and sudden passion of a man for a woman?
Least of all from sensuality but rather when the man dis-
covers weakness, dependence and at the same time, pride
in some woman. His soul as it were, boils over, he is at
wo.p.
S
249
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
once touched and yet resentful, and it is in this moment that
love springs up in his heart.”
The attributes here described are fundamentally different
from those possessed by Cosima : “Weakness, a clinging na-
ture, pride”—I am moved to laughter at the thought of the
very opposite qualities awakening the grand passion in my
brother.
It was a great delight to my brother to learn so many de-
tails of the life in Bayreuth from my letters and later
verbally, and all that I told him only strengthened his belief
in Wagner's friendship. Gersdorff confirmed these reports
so that my brother had no reason to doubt the absolute
footing at Wahnfried, and Wagner looked upon him as the
only person to whom he could confide his thoughts about
Nietzsche. This is shown in the following letter:
Richard Wagner to Baron von Gersdorff.
“My faithful friend:
“You do me a great honor in regarding my opinion as
of such vital importance to you in your decisions. I should
be very well satisfied with myself, did I really think that
I had exerted so great an influence upon you, as you carry
out your resolves with such manliness, energy and per-
sistence that I should like to be able to say that I had been
of assistance to you. On the other hand, close contact with
injurious, effect. By this I do not mean solely our beloved
Nietzsche, though I must confess that I cannot see how he
would have been any happier had he never met me. Be that
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Winter in Bayreuth (1875)
as it may, he came across my path in a field of life that
could easily have become a quagmire had we not been able to
fly away at the right moment. You on the other hand,
tread upon firm ground, bear fruit and introduce a stimu-
lating current into our lives. Upon closer scrutiny, I be-
lieve that I am nearly always stuck in the mire, but I affect
not to notice it and this I attribute to my peculiar gifts.
But best of all is my ability to make my dearest friends
think that I am floating in the air, and this is your doing.
“Therefore, good luck to your speedy and honorable
discharge from Hohenheim. I can already picture you to
myself on your carefully cultivated estates where all of us
will be assembled for a rural festival, myself attired in Don
Quixote's arcadian costume.
“Things are going fairly well with us, in fact, the children
are too well and positively rampageous. The devil will
soon be to pay here, and then you must not fail us!
whom I take great delight.'
“That sounds like the dear God speaking.
"Yours,
“Bayreuth, May 31, 1875.
RICHARD WAGNER."
“P.S.—In six days we celebrate the sixth anniversary of
Nietzsche's first visit to Tribschen.”
Gersdorff, who after the death of his two older brothers fell
heir to entailed estates of his father. Hohenheim, alluded
to in Wagner's letter, was an agricultural college where,
by Wagner's advice, Gersdorff was taking a course of train-
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
ing preparatory to assuming the active management of his
properties.
When I met my brother in Baden-Baden at Whitsuntide,
1875, there was no end to our exchange of confidences and
ideas in regard to Bayreuth. The big rehearsals for the
Festival were to take place during the summer of 1875 and
he was beside himself with joy in anticipation of this event.
During the winter he had written me: “Are you not delighted
that my summer vacation fits in so well with the Bayreuth
rehearsals and festivities? To me, it seems nothing short
of a miracle.” But again fate intervened. Without any
particular warning my brother fell very ill, and as it was
his stomach this time that revolted, he was told by his
physician that the hotel cuisine was responsible for these
conditions and that he must set up his own menage where
a prescribed diet could be followed. The doctor also for-
bade my brother going to Bayreuth, as he deemed such an
exertion far too strenuous both for his eyes and his general
nervous system. Gersdorff was chosen as the friend to
apprise Wagner of this fatal news, the letter in which my
brother appointed him as his mediator, reading as follows:
“... Under these circumstances it has become imperative
to establish my own home with the help of my sister. We
have taken an apartment near the former one and expect
to move in just after the summer vacation. In spite of
everything, I have managed to keep up my studies and lec-
tures, not allowing anything to interfere with these tasks
except on the very worst days when I am forced to remain
in bed. My plans for the summer depend upon the success
of the cure I am now taking, but in any case, it will be some
spa. I have great faith in this new domestic arrangement
252
Winter in Bayreuth (1875)
with my sister and we shall endeavor to live very systemat-
ically. To prove to you that I have not entirely lost heart,
I must tell you that I have just finished drawing up an
outline for my university lectures for the next seven years.
But life has many vexations, and aside from that, there is
something so undignified about sicknesses of all sorts, as
they cannot even be regarded as accidents.
“Will you prepare the friends in Bayreuth for my not
coming in July? Wagner will be very much annoyed, but
not any more than I shall be. ..."
I did not believe that it would be possible for my brother
to remain away from Bayreuth, as he had been living for
years in anticipation of this event and the friends had
planned to have a reunion there. Gersdorff was also of my
opinion, and my brother seriously considered disregarding
the advice of his physician. With this in mind, he wrote
to Gersdorff: "I am almost of your opinion in regard to
Bayreuth. It simply will not do; I could not endure to
be the only one absent. Let us wait a little! I shall surely
be able to find some way out of the difficulty."
It was also an inexpressible disappointment for me to
give up the rehearsals, but after discussing all the pros and
cons of the case, my brother came to the conclusion that it
would be folly for him to attempt it.
From Steinbad, near Bonndorf in the Black Forest of
Baden, he wrote to Rohde: “Dear friend, all of you are as-
sembled in Bayreuth today and I am the only one missing
from our circle. My half-formed plan of appearing sud-
denly in your midst one day, and refreshing my soul by the
sight of my friends, has proven an impossibility. It can
not be! I can say this today with conviction. I have just
253
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
had a long conversation with Dr. Wiel about my condition,
as I was kept in bed yesterday by a violent headache and
during the afternoon and night had several spells of vomit-
ing. The lesser trouble, dilation of the stomach, has
yielded somewhat to the cure I have been taking for the
past fortnight, but much more time will be required before
any positive results will be seen in the nervous affection of
my eyes. The only thing to be done is to observe the régime
very strictly and have an infinite degree of patience. I had
a few very good days, the weather was fresh and cool and
I roamed around in the forests and mountains quite alone,
but I cannot tell you how cheerful and agreeable it was.
Nor would I dare to put into words all the hopes, plans,
and possibilities upon the realization of which I have set
my heart. Almost every day is made memorable by the
receipt of dear, affectionate letters; the thought that I
belong to you and that you belong to me, beloved friends,
always fills me with pride and emotion. If one only had a
little happiness to impart!
“That which causes me the greatest anxiety and im-
patience is the thought of being absolutely good-for-nothing,
and of being obliged to let things take their course, however
pitiless that may be. And again, at other times, it seems to
me as if I were a sort of lucky upstart who had escaped
all the severest knocks and blows of fate.
"I have not dwelt sufficiently on the stupidity and ma-
liciousness of fate, and am not at all worthy to be classed
among the host of the truly unfortunate. In other words,
I am trying to say that after all, I have some happiness to
give to others, if I only knew how. ..."
Poor Rohde was involved in a very unfortunate love affair
254
Winter in Bayreuth (1875)
at this time, and took a more melancholy view of the situa-
tion than was, perhaps, necessary. Knowing this, my
brother was now prepared to share with his friend some
part of his own good fortune. In this we find an unconscious
admission that he had not been made inconsolable by his
enforced absence from Bayreuth, but on the contrary, re-
garded it as a sort of fortuitous escape from some disagree-
able experience by which he was threatened. Other friends
besides Rohde were also in trouble, until suddenly he gave
his own case a serious examination and then wrote to Rohde:
“... Desperation on all sides! and I am not desperate.
And yet I am not in Bayreuth. Can you tell me how to
construe this? I can find no explanation for it. And yet
I am there in spirit at least three or four times every day
and like a ghost my thoughts are continually hovering
around Bayreuth. Tell me more about it, dear friend.
You need have no fear of arousing desperate soul-longings.
When I am out walking, I conduct long passages (all those
that I know by heart) with my walking stick and sing the
music as best I can. Remember me affectionately to the
Wagners."
My brother came back from Bonndorf in good spirits and
enthusiastic about his new domestic arrangements. Gers-
dorff and Rohde paid him a visit in the autumn and once
more plans were made for a visit to Bayreuth and again
frustrated.
One day I said: “Fritz, you will not have been in Bayreuth
once during 1875.” He replied quickly: “But you were
there for a long time and so was Gersdorff. Besides all of
the friends met there during the summer."
255
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
“Oh, Fritz,” I said, “do you honestly believe that all of
us put together could take your place in Wagner's affec-
tions?” “No," Fritz softly replied, “Nor can any one else
take Wagner's place in my affections."
256
CHAPTER XXII.
"RICHARD WAGNER IN BAYREUTH."
(1876)
1
TORDIAL letters received from his friends in Bayreuth
during the summer of 1875 again revived my broth-
er's old love and admiration for Wagner and for
the time being his severe criticism of Wagner's art was
relegated to the background. By referring to my brother's
notebook of that period, it would seem that the following
aphorism was written only for his own private gratification:
"I know of no other way by which I could have been
vouchsafed the purest, serenest delight than through the
Wagner music, and this, despite the fact that it by no means
speaks always of happiness, but more often of uncanny
subterranean forces, of human conduct, of suffering in the
midst of happiness, and of the finiteness of all human happi-
ness. The enchantment, therefore, that radiates from this
music must lay in the manner in which it speaks to us. It is
not difficult to realize what manner of man Wagner is and
what his music means to him, if we consider the scenes, con-
flicts and catastrophes in which he seems to take the keenest
delight. No poetry in the world contains anything more
beautiful than Wotan's relations to Siegfried, his love, the
obligatory hostility and the joy in pure destruction. All
257
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
of this is symbolical of Wagner's own nature: love for that
by which one is redeemed, judged and annihilated, but the
whole conceived in a truly god-like manner.”
Professor Holzer once said of this aphorism: “Wagner
himself would have been god-like in his nature, had he been
able to feel towards Nietzsche as Wotan did towards Sieg-
fried. But between the lines of Wagner's and Cosima's
letters one can read the paltry fear that Nietzsche could
outgrow Wagner. He was always being metaphorically
'ducked', and there is scarcely one of Cosima's letters in
which she does not give some intimation that Nietzsche's
real vocation should be to place himself completely in the
service of Wagner's genius.”
This statement is exaggerated, but be it as it may, I can
only state with the utmost confidence, that at no time during
this period did my brother ever maintain that he bore the
same relation to Wagner as Siegfried did to Wotan, nor that
he was obliged to fight him in order to be absolutely loyal
to him. On the contrary, he was never weary of recalling
the sixteen years of inexpressible delight that Wagner's art
had brought into his life, as well as the beatific hours of
close friendship by which they were bound during the
Tribschen period, and he always confessed how poverty-
stricken his life would have been without the friendship and
art of Richard Wagner.
It was in this mood that he began to write his fourth
“Thoughts Out of Season: Richard Wagner in Bayreuth."
This title was originally intended for the fifth “Thoughts,"
and “We Philologians," at that time practically finished
but never carried to completion, was to be published as
No. 4.
258
“Richard Wagner in Bayreuth”
My brother worked on his Wagner essay from August
until October, and the greater part of the manuscript was
read aloud to me. Suddenly, he declared that he could
proceed no further with the work, as it did not please him,
Richard Wagner will remain unpublished. It is almost
finished, but it falls so far short of the standard I have
set for myself, as to possess no further value than that of
a new orientation upon the most difficult point of all that
which we have hitherto experienced. I do not stand suffi-
ciently above the matter and I am conscious of the fact that
I have not been entirely successful with this orientation, to
say nothing of the correspondingly trifling value it could
have for others.”
How dissatisfied he was with his preliminary work on his
new “Thoughts” may be seen from the draft of a preface
which he also read aloud to me and then tore into pieces,
accompanying this act by all sorts of humorous and serious
observations. After persistent search, this preface has
been brought to light in one of my brother's notebooks:
“There are, possibly, a few quite superficial persons who
know nothing of Bayreuth and the idea associated with this
name; and then there is a large class which claims to be
initiated into this idea and is given to circulating false im-
pressions of the same. But how colorless are even the
sincere and splendid things that remain to be written about
it as compared to the feelings of those who are candid
enough to confess them, and on the other hand, how inar-
ticulate must those others admit themselves to be, when
glowing with the fire of this spirit, they attempt for the
first time to speak to the world of their personal experiences.
259
: The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
S
“I, myself, stand midway between those deficient in per-
ception and the inarticulate class. To confess this is neither
arrogant nor overly modest, but highly painful, but it is
not necessary that anyone should know just why this is so.
But just by reason of my middle position, a sense of duty
compels me to speak and say certain things more distinctly
than has hitherto been done in reference to these events. A
feeling of necessity restrains me from giving concrete ex-
pression to the various considerations by which I have been
influenced. By employing a certain art of subterfuge, it
would be a comparatively easy matter to convey the im-
pression of having accomplished something complete and
finished, but I prefer to remain honest and say that it has
been impossible for me to do this any better than I have done
here, however badly it may have been done."
My brother was far too proud to publish anything with
which he was not absolutely satisfied. Furthermore, he
was occupied at that time, in extending and finishing off his
magnificent work on “Greek Philosophy During the Tragic
Age” and many other alluring vistas of activity were opened
up to him during the summer of 1875. As we have already
seen he was outlining literary work which would have suf-
ficed to keep him employed for seven years.
This renewed activity had again imposed a great strain
upon his poor eyes, and as I have already said, he was the
victim of a false diagnosis, as his stomach was believed to be
the seat of all his disorders, whereas, the condition of that
organ was directly the result of overstrained optic nerves.
At the turn of the year (1875-76) my brother was in such a
poor state of health that he was obliged to curtail his uni-
versity work and finally, to go over to Lake Geneva for a
260
“Richard Wagner in Bayreuth”
complete rest. Gersdorff accompanied him and he returned
from this visit very much refreshed in body and mind. Now
that so much was being said about the Bayreuth Festival,
and definite plans were being made for our participation in
this long-anticipated event, my brother felt that it would
be impossible for him to keep silent any longer on this sub-
ject. Gratitude for all the blissful hours and the untold
inspiration that Wagner had brought into his life, impelled
him to resume work on his unfinished “Thoughts Out of
Season: Richard Wagner in Bayreuth.”
In the following letter, my brother enumerates very dis-
tinctly everything he owed to Wagner and it may be easily
imagined that Wagner's reply stimulated him to further
effort, as Wagner granted him permission to "look on in
his own way."
Friedrich Nietzsche to Richard Wagner.
“Basle, May 21, 1876.
“Deeply revered man:
"Only sentiments of the most intimate personal nature
are in place on a day which has the distinction of being
your birthday. Every one who has been brought in contact
with you has had experiences which have affected him per-
sonally, in his innermost being. Such experiences cannot be
added up into one great total and were this possible, birth-
day felicitations in the name of the many would signify less
than the most modest wish of the one,
“It is now nearly seven years since I paid my first visit to
Tribschen and I know of nothing to say to you on your
birthday more than this: since that time, I have regularly
261
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
III
celebrated my spiritual rebirth in May of each year. Since
that meeting, you live and work in me as unceasingly as a
drop of blood, but one which, most assuredly, was not in my
system previous to that time. This new element that had
its origin in you, incites me, makes me ashamed, encourages
me, spurs me on and gives me no rest, so that I should almost
feel inclined to be vexed with you for thus disquieting me,
did I not feel that it is just this feeling of unrest that impels
me and will eventually make of me a freer and better man.
For this reason I can only be most deeply grateful to the
man who has stirred these feelings to life in me, and my dear-
est wish for the approaching events of the summer is that
you will have the same effect upon many others, who seized
by this same feeling of unrest, will, thereby, be permitted
to participate in the greatness of your character and your
career.
"My only birthday wish for you today is that this may
come to pass, for where is any other happiness that I could
wish you? I beg you to accept this wish in the most
friendly spirit from the mouth of
“Your very faithful,
“FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE."
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“O friend:
“Only get strong and well! The severest calamity that
could have befallen us during all the seven years of which
you write is that you were so often kept from us by so much
outward “dislocalität (give me the word, please!) and in-
ward 'dyskolie' (Also good!).
262
“Richard Wagner in Bayreuth"
“Unfortunately, I have reached the point where I am only
able to rescue myself from the quagmire of existence by call-
ing good and bad jests to my aid. Yesterday we had an
improvised banquet in the artists' restaurant near the
theatre, and one of the guests proposed a toast to the effect
that my reputation would be tremendously increased through
the success of the Festival. I replied that I had found a
hair in my reputation and was therefore ready to transfer
this ‘hide and hair to Albert, the very competent manager
of the restaurant. I stormed at my coachman because he
did not congratulate me on this witticism! Otherwise every-
thing was very nice, chiefly because it was over with. The
"enterprise, on the whole, has cost me enough trouble and
annoyance, and everyone connected with it fears me as he
would the devil.
“When all this is over, I hope to stretch myself out at
full length-probably in Italy, where I have resolved to
take my ease with wife and child and live on the receipts of
my American march.
“But for the present, on through thick and thin! If I feel
that you are looking on in your own way I shall know that
the trouble has not been in vain. 'Natura nihil facit
frustra,' said Schopenhauer to me recently and this was a
comforting thought.
“Remain full of courage and in good health and give our
best greetings to the little sister. It will not be long before
we shall see each other again.
"It is something quite extraordinary for me to write so
long a letter—as a usual thing, I only write telegrams.
“Yours most sincerely,
“Bayreuth, May 23, 1876.
RICHARD WAGNER."
263
The Vätssche l'agner Correspondence
liv brother at once set to work on his book, to which he
added the closing chapters (Parts 9 to 11), written during
it sojourn in Badenweiler. It came from the press about
the end of June and was therefore ready to appear in good
time for the Festival which was to open the middle of July.
Strangely enough, my brother feared that the book would
meet with Wagner's disapproval, and as a matter of fact, it
contains many passages which reveal something of the con-
tradictory feelings with which my brother was then
struggling. But in my opinion, Wagner was too much ab-
sorbed at the time to read carefully between the lines.
Drafts of my brother's letter accompanying the author's
copr of this book, and also that of his letter to Cosima, have
happily been preserved, and I will first quote two passages
from the rough copy not to be found in the final letters. I
do this, because they show very distinctly my brother's state
of mental agitation at the time these words were written:
"It is as if I had once more put everything to the ven-
ture. I implore you, let bygones be bygones, and vouch-
safe your compassionate silence to one who has never spared
himself. Read this essay as if it had nothing to do with
you and as if I had not written it. As a matter of fact,
my work should not be spoken of among the living, as it is
only for the shades.
“... In looking back over a year filled with suffering,
in conceiving and working out this essay, and it is a matter
of pride for me today to be able to produce the fruits borne
during this period. This might not have been possible, not-
withstanding the very best intentions on my part, had I not
264
“Richard Wagner in Bayreuth”
been carrying around with me for the last fourteen years
the thoughts of which I have now dured to speak ..."
Although the two letters which follow exist only in rough
drafts, there is no reason for supposing that there is any
deviation from the exact text of the letters finally dispatched
by my brother to his friends in Bayreuth.
Friedrich Nietzsche to Richard Wagner.
(Original Draft.)
"July, 1876.
“Here, dearest master, is a sort of Bayreuth Festival
sermon. It has been impossible for me to keep my mouth
shut as there were certain things that I felt compelled to say.
My pride and my confident hope is that I will thereby in-
crease the joy of those who are now rejoicing. But how
you, yourself, will take my confessions, it is impossible for
me to surmise this time.
“One of the disagreeable results of my literary habits is
that each time I publish a work of any kind, some element
in my personal relations is called into question, and it is
only by an expenditure of humor that this can be set right
the degree in which I feel this quite particularly, today. I
grow fairly dizzy with embarrassment when I consider what
I have dared to do this time, and I appear to myself like the
'Horseman on Lake Constance'
"In one of the very first letters you wrote me, however,
you said something about your firm belief in German freedom
of thought; and it is to this belief that I address myself
265
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
today. It is only by keeping this in mind that I have found
the courage to do what I have done.
“With a full heart,
“Yours humbly,
“Fr. N.”
Friedrich Nietzsche to Frau Cosima Wagner.
(Original Draft. July, 1876.)
“... There is no need to assure you that the thoughts
of all the friends of Bayreuth are now turned to you with
sentiments of the greatest sympathy. Which one of us but
wishes to prove in some way his deepest gratitude to you at
the present moment? It is in this spirit that I crave your
indulgence for the attempt I have made to give you some
slight degree of pleasure, by sending you and the master two
festival copies of my latest work. (Under the pressure of
the heavy cares and burdens you are carrying you will have
neither time nor inclination to read the same until the
summer is past and gone.)
“But you will see from this little work that I could no
longer endure the thought of remaining in my remote soli-
tude and preparing myself for the stupendous and over-
whelming occurrences of the summer, without giving vent to
my joy. My only hope is that here and there I have divined
something of your joy and given expression to this along
with my own. I can think of nothing more beautiful to
wish for."
Both Wagner and Frau Cosima replied immediately.
266
“Richard Wagner in Bayreuth"
Richard Wagner to Friedrich Nietzsche.
“Friend:
“Your book is simply tremendous! Where did you learn
so much about me? Come to us soon and accustom yourself
to the impressions by attending the rehearsals.
“Yours,
"R. W."
Frau Cosima to Friedrich Nietzsche.
(Telegram.)
"July 11, 1876.
Prof. Nietzsche,
“Schutzengraben 49,
“Basle.
“To you, dear friend, I now owe my sole refreshment of
mind and elevation of spirit, aside from the powerful artistic
impressions received here. May this serve to express my
thanks.
“COSIMA."
267
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE BAYREUTH FESTIVAL.
(1876)
TPON receiving these words of warm commendation
from Wagner and Frau Cosima, my brother began to
make the most enthusiastic preparations for going
to Bayreuth. We see from his private correspondence that
his doubts had been completely banished and he hoped to
fall under the old spell in listening to Wagner's music.
For example, he writes:“... I could wish for such a degree
of rhythmic, visualizing endowment as would enable me to
survey the Nibelung work in its entirety, as I have, at times,
succeeded in doing with the single dramas. But here I an-
ticipate rhythmical delights of a very special kind and de-
gree. For instance: the scene of Siegfried and the
Rhine Maidens in the second act of the last drama; the scene
between Alberich and the Rhine Maidens in the first act of
the first drama; the love rhapsodies of Siegfried and Brunn-
hilde upon finding each other in the last act of ‘Siegfried';
the parting rhapsodies of the lovers in the first act of
‘Götterdämmerung': the scene of the Nornes at the begin-
ning of the first act (Vorspiel) of the 'Götterdämmerung'
and so on."
It was with anticipations of this nature that Nietzsche
268
The Bayreuth T'estival
1
set out for the Bayreuth Festival, devoutly hoping for new
revelations by which he would be brought more closely to
Wagner's art.
I wish that a benign fate had kept my brother away from
Bayreuth so that he might have clung a little longer to the
belief that he was to find there the fulfillment of his most
beautiful dreams. In a few words he expresses his fcel-
ings: “I made the mistake of going to Bayreuth with an
ideal in my breast, and was, therefore, doomed to suffer the
most bitter disappointment. The preponderance of strong
spices, the ugly and the grotesque thoroughly repelled me.”
I shall not attempt to describe here the external happen-
ings of the Festival of 1876, as these have been told else
where, and in any case, it was not these tragi-comical oc-
currences, having no direct bearing upon the performance
that so disheartened my brother, but the inner conflicts
which arose between Wagner and himself and between the
art-works and the audiences.
First of all we must ask ourselves the question: What did
Nietzsche expect from Bayreuth both for himself and for
other like-minded natures? No better answer could be
found to this question than a passage from his fourth
“Thoughts Out of Season":
“Bayreuth signifies for us the morning sacrament on the
day of battle. No greater injustice could be done us than
to suppose that it is only the art of the thing we are con-
cerned about, as if this art was to be looked upon merely
as a means of healing or stupefying us and thus ridding our
consciousness of all the misery about us. In this tragic art-
work at Bayreuth we see rather the struggle of the in-
dividual against everything which seems to bar his path-
269
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
against irresistible necessity, power, law, tradition, conduct,
and the entire established order of the universe.
“There can be no more beautiful life for the individual
than to hold himself ready to sacrifice himself and to die in
the fight for love and justice. The look vouchsafed us from
the mysterious eye of tragedy neither lulls nor paralyzes.
Nevertheless, she demands tranquillity so long as her gaze is
fastened upon us, for art does not serve the purposes of
war, but is merely for the rest pauses before and in the
midst of the conflict and for those moments--when looking
back and yet dreaming of the future—we seem to under-
stand all that is symbolical, and experience the same feeling
of relaxation as that resulting from a refreshing dream.
Day dawns, and the fighting begins; the sacred shadows dis-
appear and art seems very remote, but her sweet ministra-
tions hover ever over the fighter."
As will be seen, my brother made the mistake of expecting
to find only kindred spirits assembled in Bayreuth, all look-
ing forward to the Festival as something by which their
entire life was to be consecrated. That such a unique
audience was possible had been proven at the ceremonies
of the laying of the cornerstone in 1872. On that occasion,
the elect of Europe had come together, all of them idealists
who had been working for years for the success of the Bay-
reuth idea and now stood on the threshold of the consumma-
tion of that idea. To them Wagner could say, as the cor-
nerstone was being lowered into the ground: “May this
building be consecrated by the spirit which inspired you to
listen to my appeal, and gave you courage to have the
fullest confidence in me and my undertaking, despite the pre-
vailing scepticism; by the spirit which could speak directly
270
The Bayreuth Festival
to you because it found a response in your own hearts; and
by the German spirit which shouts a youthful morning
greeting to you across the centuries.”
Of this earlier body of listeners my brother had written:
“In Bayreuth, the spectators themselves are worthy of
being seen. A wise, contemplative sage passing from one
century to another for the purpose of comparing the cul-
tural movements, would most assuredly find much to interest
him here. His sensations would be those of a swimmer who
suddenly comes upon an unexpected warm current of an
entirely different temperature from the surrounding water,
and he would say to himself that this current must have its
origin in other and deeper sources. Just so, all those par-
ticipating in the coming Bayreuth Festival will be regarded
as men born out of season, whose explanation must be sought
for elsewhere than here and now.”
My brother failed to take into consideration the widely
differing conditions existing at the preliminary festival of
1872. At this earlier event, the participants were all invited
guests known to Wagner and his co-workers as persons of
like ideals and aspirations. On the other hand, any one
able to pay the sum of 900 marks for the twelve perform-
ances was free to come in 1876, and the result was that
Bayreuth became the rendezvous of the customary “first
night” audiences from the larger centers, for the most part
people who came to be seen and boast of having been present.
Thus it was not the rare souls of 1872 who gave the cachét
to the Festival of 1876, but this new and objectionable ele-
ment, and unfortunately, this was not only true on the Festi-
val hill, but also at Wahnfried, where my brother came in
contact with people who had not the vaguest idea of the
271
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
ideals lying at the bottom of the undertaking. In fact, it
almost seemed as if these ideals had been lost sight of by
the chief personages concerned, which explains the bitter
words my brother wrote later: "It was not only that I then
became convinced of the illusory character of Wagner's
ideals, but above all, I saw and felt that even those most
closely concerned with the success of the undertaking, no
longer regarded the “ideal as paramount, but laid chief
stress upon quite other things. Added to this, was the tire-
some company of 'Patrons, both men and women, all very
much enamored with each other, all very much bored and all
unmusical to the point of nauseation !"
It seemed as if the entire leisure rabble of Europe had
met here and everyone was free to go in and out of Wagner's
own house as if the entire Bayreuth undertaking was some
new and fascinating sort of sport. And as a matter of fact,
it was scarcely anything more. This class of rich idlers had
found a new pretext for idling, this time “grand opera"
with obstacles, and Wagner's music, by reason of its con-
cealed sexuality, was found to form a new bond for a social
class in which everyone was bent upon following his or her
own plaisirs.
I do not mean to say that there were not many refined,
highly intelligent persons present, but they were entirely lost
sight of in the flashing brilliancy of this world of elegant
toilettes and splendid jewels. Only once did I have the
feeling that among the Bayreuth visitors were to be found
people quite differently constituted from the customary
hydra-headed public. One morning I went to make a call
at Wahnfried and was waiting in the small reception room,
as the large hall was crowded with visitors. I looked in and
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S
saw about forty persons, conductors, young artists and
authors who were waiting for an audience with Wagner.
(Owing to the rush of visitors, Wagner was obliged to hold
these audiences, en masse. On the opening day of the Festi-
val, alone, five hundred cards were left at Wahnfried.)
While waiting for the servant to announce me, I had an
opportunity of observing these interesting artist heads and
fine intellectual faces; the older men spoke together in sub-
dued tones and the younger ones listened with a beautiful
expression of reverence on their eager young faces. "The
Ring of the Nibelung” should have been performed before an
audience of genuinely artistic people and the right of free
discussion should have been granted the listeners at the close
of the performance. How much greater would thereby have
been the influence exerted by Bayreuth upon the develop-
ment of art. I do not mean to say that this audience should
have consisted solely of fascinated young Wagnerites as
not much could have been learned from persons too carefully
trained in partisanship, despite the fact that, at one time,
Wagner and my brother regarded such persons as the “ideal
type of listener.” The incurable Wagnerites, for the most
part members of the various branches of the Wagner
Society, were to be found assembled every evening in Anger-
mann's tap-room. But these were not the most delectable
type of visitors, as they beat upon the table with their fists,
raised their beer glasses threateningly on high and were
ready to engage in a hand to hand fight with any one who
presumed to express a thought that could be regarded as the
slightest deflection from the strict Wagnerian code. Wag-
nerites of this kind seemed to my brother to be a parody on
themselves.
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It is not difficult to imagine how this "human, all-too-
human” reality affected my brother. Moreover fate had
willed that his two most intimate friends, Gersdorff and
Rohde, were both involved in love affairs which, as every one
will agree, not only makes the best of men unbearable, but
also utterly indifferent to things otherwise regarded by them
as being of the highest importance.
My brother was thus compelled to lock up in his own
breast his most intimate thoughts and feelings. He wrapped
himself in that deep pythagorean silence to which he had
admonished his readers in his fourth “Thoughts Out of
Season” and wandered around like a man in a dream. Many
years later he wrote of this: “Any one who had the faintest
idea of the visions which even at that time had flitted across
my path will be able to judge of my feelings when one day I
suddenly came to my senses in Bayreuth. It was just as if
I had been dreaming. ... Where was I? Nothing seemed
familiar to me, not even Wagner himself. It was in vain
that I turned the leaves of memory! Tribschen-remote
isle of bliss; not a shadow of resemblance! The never-to-be-
forgotten days of the cornerstone laying; the small company
of the elect which participated in this event, all of them
persons far from lacking fingers for the handling of delicate
things; not a shadow of resemblance !"
I recall one evening when we had given our seats to rela-
tives as the performances had proven so exhausting to my
brother. Our guests had taken leave of us and the streets
were filled with the noisy crowds on their way to the Festival
Theatre. Carriages rattled by on their way up the hill,
returning in a slower tempo, until at last an almost uncanny
silence spread over the little city. We discussed a mul-
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21
1
titude of things that lay remote from our real thoughts,
until I finally ventured to say: "How strange that we two
should be sitting here alone on the evening of a festiva!
performance!" With a peculiar intonation, my brother
replied: “This is the first really happy hour I have had
since I came." I knew that he was deeply moved but could
not trust himself to put his feelings into words.
Nothing was more painful to him than to be obliged to
discuss his latest work: "Richard Wagner in Bayreuth."
One day a very discerning woman said to me: “Tell me,
why does your brother avoid all mention of his last work?"
When I repeated this to him, he said with some passion:
“Why can not people let these old stories rest?” to which
remark I gave the astonished answer: “But Fritz, the work
only appeared five weeks ago." "It seems five years to me!"
was his only reply.
Somewhat later, he made a careful comparison between
the two works “Schopenhauer as Educator" and "Richard
Wagner in Bayreuth," and discovered to his great joy that
the third “Thoughts Out of Season” represented the first
step towards his own emancipation. ... “The Schopen-
hauerian man drove me to scepticism towards everything I
had previously respected, cherished and defended (even
towards the Greeks, Schopenhauer and Wagner); towards
genius, sacred things, the pessimism of knowledge. By this
devious route, I came out on the heights where fresh winds
were blowing. My work on Bayreuth represented a pause,
a falling back a breathing spell. Here for the first time I
realized that Bayreuth was no longer indispensable-to me."
Bayreuth was no longer necessary for him! It will not be
an easy matter for the world of today to realize what this
Ibu
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The Nictssche-Wagner Correspondence
meant to my brother. But far greater than the disappoint-
ment he felt in the festival audiences was that created by the
art-work itself. He sensed nothing of the long-anticipated
revelations nor of the irresistible fascination of the Wagner
music, but only the depressing confirmation and justification
of all his inner doubts and scruples. But I shall here let my
brother speak for himself by quoting a series of observations
he made later upon Wagner's art as expressed in the “Ring
of the Nibelung."
“This music is addressed to inartistic persons; all possible
means are employed by which an effect can be created. It
is not an artistic effect that is achieved, but one operating
solely upon the nerves.
“Wagner has no genuine confidence in music, in order to
invest it with the quality of greatness, he calls to his aid
related emotions. He tunes himself to the key of others, and
first gives his listeners an intoxicating drink in order to
make them believe that they have been intoxicated by the
music itself.
“His soul does not sing, it speaks, but always in highly
impassioned accents. Naturally, tone, rhythm and gesture
are primary essentials to him; the music, on the other hand,
is never quite natural, but is a sort of acquired language,
with only a limited vocabulary and a different syntax.
“Just listen to the second act of the 'Götterdämmerung'
detached from the drama. It is inarticulate music, as wild as
a bad dream, and terrifyingly distinct, just as if it were
trying to make itself heard by deaf people. This volubility
with nothing to say is distressing. The drama comes as
genuine relief. Can it be interpreted as praise to say that
this music is only intolerable when heard alone (with the
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The Bayreuth Festival
exception of intentionally isolated passages)? Suffice it to
say that this music when detached from the drama is a per-
petual contradiction of the highest laws of style governing
the earlier music, and he who becomes thoroughly accus-
tomed to it, loses all feeling for these earlier laws. But has
the drama, on the other hand, gained anything from this ad-
junct? It is true that a symbolical interpretation has been
added, a sort of philological commentary, by which re-
straint has been placed upon the inner, free fantasy of the
imagination—it is tyrannical! Music is the language of the
explicator, who, however, talks all the time and gives us no
breathing spell. Moreover, he uses a language so compli-
cated that it, in turn, demands an explanation. He who has
mastered, step by step, the drama (the language!), then
transformed this into action, then studied out the symbolism
of the music until he has gained a perfect understanding of
its intricacies—will then be prepared for enjoyment of an
uncommon character. But what an exacting task! It is
quite impossible to do this, save for a few moments at a
time, simply because this ten-fold intensive application of
the eye, ear, intellect, and feeling the highest activity of
all the senses, without a corresponding productive re-action
-is far too exhausting!
“... Only a very few are capable of such application.
How then shall we explain the effect that this music has upon
so great a number? Simply because they give it only inter-
mittent attention—that is to say, they are unreceptive for
whole passages at a stretch, listening now to the music, now
to the drama, or watching the progress of the stage action-
in short, they are dissecting the work.
“But by so doing, the type we are discussing is destroyed;
S
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
not the drama, but merely a moment of it is the result-
or an arbitrary selection. It is just here that the creator
of a new genre should be on his guard; the arts should not
always be served up together, but he should imitate the
moderation of the ancients which is truer to human nature.
“The length of the work is at variance with the violence
of the emotions aroused. This is a point upon which the
author himself can not be considered an authority: having
taken a long time in the construction of his work, he has
gradually accustomed himself to its length. It is quite
impossible for him to put himself in the place of the recep-
tive listener. Schiller made the same mistake, and the
pruning-knife had also to be used on the works of the earlier
classicists.
“Apparently, Wagner wishes to create an art for all,
which explains his employment of coarse and refined means.
And yet he was bound by certain laws of musical æsthetics,
namely by moral indifference..
“Wagner's Nibelung cycle, strictly speaking, are dramas
to be read with the aid of the inner fantasy. High art genre,
as it was with the early Greeks.
“Epic motives for the inner fantasy: many scenes, for
example, the dragon and Wotan---lose very much in effect
when visualized.
“We have no point of contact with wild animals display-
ing sudden paroxysms of sublimated tenderness and wisdom.
Think of Philoctetes, by way of contrast.
"Wotan, in a rage of disgust: let the world go to pieces.
Brünhilde loves : let the world go to pieces. Siegfried loves :
why bother himself about the means of subterfuge. (Wotan
like-minded.) How it all disgusts me.
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“Certain tones of an incredible realism, I hope never to
hear again; if I were only able to forget them (Materna).
“Wagner has made the dangers of realism very acute.
An effort to employ the terrifying, the intoxicating, etc., for
its own sake. But there is an undeniable wealth of material.
"Paroxysms of beauty: scene of the Rhine Maidens, flick-
ering lights, exuberance of coloring, like the autumnal sun;
nature in her varying phases-glowing reds, purples, melan-
choly yellows and greens, all running into each other.
"I utterly disagree with those who were dissatisfied with
the declarations and stage machinery at Bayreuth. On the
contrary, far too much industry and ingenuity was applied
in captivating the senses, and expended upon material which
did not belie its epic origin. But the naturalism of the atti-
tudes, of the singing compared to the orchestra. What far-
fetched, artificial, and depraved tones were to be heard
there. What a travesty upon nature.
“Several ways are open to musical evolution (or were
open, before Wagner's influence made itself felt): one of
these was an organic creation in the form of a symphony
with a drama as pendant (or mimicry without words?);
and then absolute music, to which the laws of this organic
creation were applied, and using Wagner only as a stepping-
stone-a preparation. Or again, to out-Wagner Wagner,
dramatic choral music. Dithyrambic music. Effect of
unison. ...
“The trend of evolution has been disastrously interrupted
by Wagner, and the path cannot be regained. I had visions
of a drama over-spread with a symphony. A form growing
out of the Lied. But the alien appeal of the opera drew
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
Wagner irresistibly in this other direction. All possible
resources of art here brought to the highest climax.
“We are witnessing the death agony of the last great art:
Bayreuth has convinced me of this."
It must not be forgotten that all this criticism was directed
against the Nibelung Tetraology and its author, and not
against Tristan and its creator. At that time, Tristan had
practically been relegated to the background, or made the
object of scathing criticism by some of the most fanatic
Wagnerians. Even in Wahnfried, Tristan was seldom
mentioned, and due courtesy and respect was also with-
held from that noble woman, Madame Mathilde Wesen-
donck, who, as all the world knows, was the direct inspiration
of the work. Had Tristan been the work chosen for per-
formance at the first festival, it is quite certain that my
brother's criticisms would have been of quite a different
character and his disappointment by no means so keen.
Having gone this far, we may as well go still further and
ask: Was Wagner, himself, a disappintment for my brother?
He has given us the answer to this question: "I no longer
recognized Wagner, or rather I realized that I had been
cherishing in my mind an ideal portrait of the Wagner I
thought I knew.” Mournfully, he wrote in his notebook:
“I must bear the fate of all idealists, who see the object of
their adoration tumbling from its pedestal. Ideal monster:
the real Wagner shrinks away to nothing.
"My mistaken estimate of Wagner has not even the merits
of individuality, as there are many others who have said
that my picture is a correct one. One of the outstanding
characteristics of such natures is their stupendous ability of
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The Bayreuth Festival
deceiving the painter and we are apt to commit an error of
justice as much by our goodwill as by our illwill."
From the writings of a Frenchman, M. Ed. Schuré, we
may get an idea of Wagner as he appeared at that time to
his other admirers. “Wagner, a youthful Wotan despite his
sixty-three years, enjoyed the legitimate triumph of having
created a new world and set in operation a colossal enter-
prise in which he was called upon to manipulate thirty-five
principals, including gods, goddesses, dwarfs, nymphs, men
and women, to say nothing of the chorus, the stage
machinery, and the orchestra..
“During the brief hours of respite snatched from this
herculean task, he gave free rein to his buoyant gayety, to
that exuberance of wit and humor which was like the foam of
his genius. Before being able to transmit his spirit and his
thoughts into these creatures of flesh and blood, he was
obliged to turn actor and stage manager, and by no means
the least formidable part of this task was the endeavor to
preserve the amour propre of his ensemble and to maintain
an equilibrium of the passions and rivalries of his regiment
of actors and actresses.
“Ever a subtle charmer and subduer of the fair sex, he
always gained his point by employing a judicious admixture
of violence and caresses, and never once lost sight of his
goal whether indulging in outbursts of choleric temper or
sincere emotions. Living thus in the midst of the whirlwind
which he had conjured up and was now called upon to reduce
to a system, he was unable to give but a divided attention to
his disciples and admirers.
“Confronted by the prodigious artistic deeds accom-
plished under our very eyes every day, none of us took this
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
Y
to heart, thank God! but only experienced the same feeling
of astonishment that Mime must have had in the presence of
Siegfried when the latter was re-forging the sword broken
into pieces by his father, after having first reduced it to
filings and cast it into the crucible.
“Did Nietzsche's pride, perhaps, not suffer from being
thus treated like an inferior? Were not his acute sensibili-
ties often wounded by certain familiarities and rudenesses on
the part of Wagner?”
The closing sentence in these observations is approxi-
mately correct, as my brother was not particularly fond of
Wagner's witticisms, a fact thoroughly recognized by Wag-
ner, who once said: “Your brother is exactly like Liszt in
not enjoying my jokes.” But aside from this, M. Schuré
was mistaken in regard to my brother, as he was not suffi-
ciently familiar with Nietzsche's relations to Wagner to be
able to judge and observe correctly. For example, M.
Schuré is absolutely in the wrong when he says that Wagner
neglected my brother. The latter had never the slightest
cause to feel offended, and as a matter of fact, Wagner
seemed eager to single him out and to do honor to him on
every possible occasion. It was my brother who endeavored
to ward off these noisy demonstrations, as Wagner's
boisterous praise was extremely distasteful to him. More-
over, both of them felt that something unexpressed lay
between them and there were none of those deep and great
moments together which might have bound my brother anew
to Wagner. Was not such a moment once very near? I
remember quite well that we walked out to Wahnfried one
morning and met the master in the garden on the point of
going out. I. cannot recall just what Wagner said, but I
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The Bayreuth Festival
remember that my brother's eyes suddenly lighted up and he
fairly hung on the master's words with an expression of the
most tense expectation.
Did he think that Wagner would say: "Oh friend, the
entire festival is nothing more than a farce! it is not in the
least what we both have dreamed for and longed for. My
music also should have been quite different; I now see this
and I will return to melody and simplicity."
Did my brother cherish the false hope that Wagner would
say something of this kind? If his opening remarks gave rise
to this hope, it was soon dispelled by the further conver-
sation. The light died out of my brother's eyes, as he saw
and felt that Wagner was no longer young enough to take
sides against himself.
I shall never be able to convince myself that Wagner, in
his innermost soul, was really satisfied with the Bayreuth
Festival. He only made a pretense of being satisfied. He
could not have entirely forgotten the picture he had drawn
of the festival while he was still living in Tribschen. Some
of these idealistic plans had been noted down by my brother:
“Future of the Bayreuth Summer. Union of all really
creative persons; artists to come with their art creations,
authors to produce their new works, reformers to present
their new ideas. It will be a universal soul-bath and a new
realm of untold blessing will be revealed there."
One can see from these notes what marvellous visions
floated before my brother and I honestly confess that it is
one of my dearest and most profound wishes to see estab-
lished here in Weimar such a festival of great souls. I am
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The Nictssche-Wagner Correspondence
waiting for some one to come to me with such plans, as I am
not in a position to carry them out in the same sense which
my brother had in mind. I am growing old and have neither
the means nor the physical strength for such an undertaking.
But it is my dearest wish that the time may come when the
Nietssche Foundation may be able to carry into fulfillment
my brother's vision of the future.
After the first rehearsals, my brother left Bayreuth, or
it would be nearer the truth to say that he fled to Klingen-
brunn in the Bohemian Forest, there to write down these
harsh verdicts. He returned in time for the first cycle-on
my account, he said—but if the truth were told because
he wished to confirm his impressions and convince himself
that his judgment was a final one. But the strain upon his
nerves became so unendurable, that before the close of the
Festival, he took his departure from the old Franconian
town which had been the scene of so many heart-breaking
experiences.
"Ah, Lisbeth, and that was Bayreuth!” he said to me as
he bade me good-bye. His eyes were filled with tears.
284
CHAPTER XXIV.
END OF THE FRIENDSHIP.
(1876-1878.)
HUS my brother bade farewell to that which the world
today calls “Bayreuth.” When he set out for the
Festival, there floated before his mind's eye a vision
of an event in which the art-works presented and the
listeners of these works would be equally worthy and ad-
mirable. But now all that he had to look back upon was a
festival bearing a strong resemblance to the clamor of a
Rhenish Music Festival, or the excitement prevailing at the
famous Baden-Baden races. And it was for this that he
had fought and made soul-wasting propaganda for years!
He was seized with a fit of impatience at his own blindness
and he longed to be free from outside influences, in order
that he might gradually come to his senses and be able to
follow his own tastes and inclinations. The period of youth-
on such extravagances..
Not only had he been disappointed by the musical side of
the Festival, but his ethical and ästhetic taste had also been
offended. His very soul had been nauseated by the Wag-
nerian operatic figures with their "erotic obsessions," by
the "re-modelling of the Edda myth, by the aid of the per-
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
verse traits of French romance” (for example, Siegfried's
origin), and by the sultry sensuality which lies at the bottom
of all the Wagner music. He longed again for healthy, virile,
well-balanced sentiments held in check by joy, pride and the
pleasure in being moderate, just as the fiery steed is reined
in by the powerful rider who takes pleasure in his task. He
longed for music full of happiness, pride, high spirits,
limpidezza, gigantic power, and yet held well within bounds
by the highest laws of style. He had expected music of
this kind from the Wagner who had created the figure of
Siegfried, but this was not the music he found in Bayreuth.
Furthermore, my brother's health had suffered greatly
from his stay in Bayreuth, and the oculist in Basle, who by
this time, had been able to form a clearer idea of my brother's
troubles, reproached himself severely for not having pro-
tested more vigorously against my brother's participation
in the festival. A severe strain had been imposed upon his
eyes by being required to look at the stage so intently, as
well as by his diligent reading of the score. As my mother
insisted that I return home upon leaving Bayreuth, my
brother was obliged to get along without me, but as the
doctor had commanded an entire rest from reading and
writing, he was looked after and assisted in his work by Dr.
Paul Rée and the musician, Heinrich Köselitz Rée read
aloud to him and Köselitz took down his dictations; in fact,
it was to this friend that my brother dictated the sentences
noted down during his stay in Klingenbrunn and afterwards
incorporated in his “Human, all-too-Human."
Wagner seems to have sensed nothing of my brother's
changed feelings, but appealed to him by wire to make some
purchases for him in Basle, there being certain articles which
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End of the Friendship
he fancied only that city could furnish in the desired quality.
My brother's feelings upon receiving these commissions are
expressed in the following letter:
02
Friedrich Nietzsche to Richard Wagner.
“Highly revered friend :
“You have made me very happy by the commission you
intrusted to me as it reminds me of the dear old days at
Tribschen. At present, I have a great deal of time to devote
to thoughts of the past, the remote as well as the immediate,
as I am kept in a darkened room by an atropin cure found
necessary upon my return. This autumn, following upon
this summer, is more of an autumn for me than ever before,
and I do not doubt that this is the case with many others.
Back of the great events, lies a streak of the blackest melan-
choly, and there seems to be no other way of rescuing one's
self from this but by starting for Italy or by plunging into
creative work—perhaps by combining the two.
“When I picture you to myself in Italy, I always remember
that it was there that you found the inspiration for the
beginning of the 'Rheingold music. May it ever remain the
land of beginnings for you! There you will be rid of the
Germans for a time, and this seems to be necessary now and
again, if one hopes to be able to do anything to help them.
"Possibly you have heard that I am starting for Italy
next month, but in my case it is not to be a land of begin-
nings, but one where I shall end my sufferings. These have
again reached a climax and it is the highest time for me
to take this step. My school board knows full well what it is
about in granting me a year's leave of absence, despite the
0
)
7
287
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
sacrifice thereby entailed upon this little community. But
had they not seen fit to open up this alternative to me, I
should have been lost to them in an entirely different way.
Thanks to my long-suffering disposition, I have clinched my
teeth and endured agony upon agony during the last few
years, and at times it seems as if I had been born into the
world for this and nothing else. I have paid tribute in the
fullest measure to the philosophy that teaches this long-
suffering. My neuralgia goes to work as thoroughly and
scientifically as if it were trying to probe and find out just
what degree of pain I am able to endure, and thirty hours is
required for each of these tests. I must count on a repetition
of this research work every four or eight days, so you can
see that, at least, I have the malady of a scholar. . . . But
now the time has come when I can no longer endure it, and
either I wish to live on in good health or not at all!
"A complete rest, mild air, long walks, darkened rooms
all this I expect to find in Italy. I shudder at the thought
of being obliged to see or hear anything while I am there.
Please do not think that I am morose; it is not sickness but
only human beings who are able to put me in a bad humor,
and yet I am constantly surrounded by the most helpful and
considerate of friends.
“At first I had the moralist, Dr. Paul Rée, and now I
have the musician Köselitz, who is writing this letter at my
dictation. I must not forget Frau Baumgartner in enumer-
ating my good friends, and possibly you will be interested
to hear that a French translation of my last work
(R. W. i. B.) from her hand, will go to press next month.
"Did the spirit descend upon me, I would put my good
wishes for your journey into verse, but this stork has not
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End of the Friendship
built his nest in my neighbourhood of late, an oversight for
which he may be pardoned. Therefore, please accept my
heartfelt wishes as they are and may they ever abide with
you—with you and your revered wife, “my most noble friend,
to make use of one of the most unpermissible Germanisms of
the Jew Bernay.
“As ever faithfully yours,
“Basle, Sept. 27, 1876. FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE."
It is plain to be seen from this letter that my brother
had not taken an eternal farewell from Wagner himself,
even though he had renounced his art as presented in Bay-
reuth. The leave of absence to which my brother refers in
his letter was about to begin, and he endeavored to forget
all else and occupy himself with his preparations. But when-
ever this subject was referred to in later years, my brother
always confessed how infinitely sad was the period that
elapsed between his Bayreuth experiences and his visit to
Italy. During this interim period he lived in Overbeck's old
chambre garni with his former landlady, Frau Baumann, in
the so-called “Baumann's Cave” where he had lived for six
years. He often declared that during this time, he was "as
melancholy as were ever the old cave-dwellers,” but in reality,
the house was light and cheerful and aside from its arbitrary
name, had nothing in common with a cave.
When Dr. Rée saw that he could be of great service to my
brother in the way of saving his eyes, he offered to accom-
pany him to Italy, a plan which met with the approval of
our old friend, Fräulein von Meysenburg, who was going to
look after my brother and had made all the arrangements
for his stay in Sorrento. He started for Italy on the first
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
day of October, 1876, stopping on the way at Bex in the
Savoy Alps, from which place he wrote to me:
“Dear sister:
"It is the day before my departure. The Föhn is blow-
ing from the south and I can hardly believe that I shall be
as well off in Italy as I am here. Bex was an excellent
choice; to be sure, there has been no marked improvement,
and yet the last attack (day before yesterday) did not last
as long as usual (possibly owing to a new salve Schiess pre-
scribed to be rubbed on my temples). I also have a slight
cold. My heartfelt thanks for all your good wishes. By
the way, the fifth 'Thoughts Out of Season' is finished and I
only need some one to whom I can dictate it."
This fifth “Thoughts" was never finished and the material
collected for the preliminary work was incorporated in
“Human, all-too-Human.” My brother arrived in Sorrento
the end of October and was enchanted with the place. He
was obliged to make his letters very brief, but verbally he
could not say enough of the magic influence of the south and
particularly of the Bay of Naples. A touching description
of impressions received here is given in the following
aphorism:
“I have not sufficient strength for the north. Sluggish
and superficial souls predominate there who labor as con-
sistently and urgently upon precautionary measures as the
beaver on his house. I passed my entire youth among these
people, and this came over me anew as I watched evening
fall over the Bay of Naples for the first time, tinging the
heavens with tones of velvety gray and red. Thou couldst
have died without having been permitted to see this, I cried !
I shuddered and was sorry for myself at having begun my
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End of the Friendship
life by being old, and I shed tears at the thought that I
had been saved at the last moment. I have intellect sufficient
for the south!"
When he attempted to describe the happiness and the
radiance of the south, his words became music. Listen to
the following strophes :
“The Midland sea lies in white sleep
Save for a single purple sail.
Cliff, fig-tree, tower and harbor keep
Their pagan innocence; the sheep
Bleat in this peace that does not fail.
“Weary of the stark North was I
And of its slow, methodic tread.
I bade the wind lift me on high
And learned with all the birds to fly
And southward over ocean sped."
From this time forth, the south was ever his refuge from
the heavy air of the north, but although he made many
visits to Italy, he always remembered with peculiar affection
this first sojourn on the shores of the Bay of Naples. As
late as 1887, he wrote to Fräulein von Meysenburg: "I have
retained a sort of longing not unmixed with superstition for
the quiet sojourn down there. It seemed to me as if I were
able to breathe more freely, even if only for a few seconds,
than at any other time and place during my entire life. For
instance, when we took our very first drive out to Posillippi.”
But this paradise of Sorrento was not without its dangers
and difficulties. By that I do not mean that the traditional
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
serpent made its appearance, but I am firmly convinced that
in that soil grew the tree from which my brother was obliged
to pluck the fruit of knowledge concerning Richard Wagner.
On the way to Italy, he learned that the Wagners had also
chosen Sorrento as their place of sojourn and although
frightened by this news at first, he later welcomed the oppor-
tunity of coming to an understanding with Wagner.
In leaving Bayreuth, my brother had not broken away
from Wagner himself; in fact, he had not yet arrived at any
definite conclusions in regard to his feelings of loyalty for
the dearly beloved friend and his innermost convictions con-
cerning Wagner's art works.
This is proven by a private observation which reads:
“Just at first one has faith in his intellectual sympathies,
but when his better judgment begins to make itself felt,
defiance appears and says, we will not yield our ground.
Pride says that we possess sufficient intelligence to look
after our own affairs. Arrogance has a comtemptuous
regard for this evasion and thinks it arises from a low, faint-
hearted standpoint. Lustfulness enumerates the joys of
pleasure and doubts exceedingly if our better judgment is
able to offer us anything more worth while. Added to this
is our compassion for our idol and his sad fate, whereby we
are prevented from examining his imperfections too closely.
To a still greater degree, we are affected by our feeling of
gratitude. But most of all, by the intimate intercourse, by
our loyalty while breathing the same air with our idol, and
the sharing of his happiness as well as his danger. And ah!
his confidence in us, his letting himself go in our company
has the effect of frigtening away any thought of his falli-
S
n
292
End of the Friendship
bility as if it were an indiscretion, if, indeed, not direct
treason."
At first, both Wagner and my brother gave unmistakable
signs of joy at being thus reunited and Fräulein von Mey-
senburg declared later that they hurried to each other
every day as if nothing at all had occurred. My brother
never gave me to understand that they met so frequently,
er
each other, as Wagner was reading the third “Thoughts out
of Season" of which he had spoken most enthusiastically be-
fore leaving Bayreuth. The Festival was a tabooed subject,
the reason for this being that it had closed with an enormous
deficit and the executive board in Bayreuth was in despair
as to how this deficit was to be covered. (160,000 marks
was the sum mentioned.) Letters from Bayreuth threw
Wagner into a terrible rage and Malvida implored my
brother to do everything in his power to prevent the conver-
sation from turning upon the Festival, to which my brother
readily agreed as there was no lack of other material for
discussion. I am unable to say whether the two friends ever
had one of those deep moments so frequent at Tribschen,
but I do know that this meeting was marred by a painful
incident to which my brother referred again and again in
his private correspondence.
It was on the last evening they were together; my brother
and Wagner took a walk along the coast and up the hill
from which the famous view is to be had of the bay, the
coves and the islands. It was a beautiful day, the air soft
and mild and a certain melancholy in the light effects which
betokened the approach of winter. “A farewell mood,"
Wagner called it. Suddenly, he began to talk of his “Parsi-
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
fal” and to my brother's intense surprise, spoke of it not
as an artistic conception, but as a personal religious experi-
ence. Possibly Wagner felt that a "Stage Consecrating
Play" conceived and written by so pronounced an atheist as
Wagner was known to be during the Tribschen days, in fact
all through his life-would be regarded as a glaring incon-
sistency.
My brother's amazement may, therefore, be imagined
when Wagner began to speak of his religious feelings and
experiences in a tone of the deepest repentance, and to con-
fess a leaning towards the Christian dogmas. For example,
he spoke of the delight he took in the celebration of the Holy
Communion, meaning, of course, the rather austere ceremony
of the Protestant church. Had he had in mind the pic-
turesque ritual of the Catholic church, which always creates
a deep impression upon sensitive artistic natures, my brother
would have had less reason to doubt his sincerity. (Many
years ago, I met a highly intelligent Catholic priest, with
whom I discussed “Parsifal.” “We do that sort of a thing
much better!” he said with a sweeping gesture as if brush-
ing “Parsifal” to one side.) My brother had the greatest
possible respect for sincere, honest Christianity, but he con-
sidered it quite impossible that Wagner, the avowed atheist,
should suddenly have become à naive and pious believer.
He could only regard Wagner's alleged sudden change of
heart, as having been prompted by a desire to stand well
with the Christian rulers of Germany and thus further the
material success of the Bayreuth undertaking. My brother
was confirmed in this belief by a remark Wagner made when
referring to the unsatisfactory attendance at the first Fes-
tival; almost angrily, he exclaimed: “The Germans do not
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End of the Friendship
wish to hear anything about gods and goddesses at present,
they are only interested in something of a religious char-
acter."
While Wagner was speaking, the sun sank into the sea
and a light mist came up blotting out the fair scene. This
atmospheric change seemed to have awakened Wagner to
the change that had taken place in my brother, and he asked:
“Why are you so silent, my friend?” My brother evaded the
question, but his heart was full of anguish at what he con-
sidered the pitiable subterfuge on the part of Wagner. It
was this that he had in mind when he wrote:
"It is impossible for me to recognize greatness which is
not united with candour and sincerity towards one's self.
The moñent I make a discovery of this sort, a man's achieve-
ments count for absolutely nothing with me, as I feel that he
is only playing a part and everything he does is based upon
insincerity.”
Had Wagner frankly said to my brother: “In this age of
Christianity, and heightened religious consciousness, there is
a great temptation for the artist to put these feelings into
musical form." Or had he said with his customary roguish-
ness: "Now I am going to translate the feelings of the age
into music," my brother would have had the most perfect
understanding of his motives and been in full sympathy with
his artistic plans. But this make-believe on Wagner's part
and this pretense of having become a naive, pious Christian
was more than my brother could stand. He was made inex-
pressibly sad by the fact that Wagner, who once stood out
for his principles against the halloo of the entire world,
should now weakly surrender to the spirit of the age and re-
pudiate all his theories of life. I must admit that there is a
295
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
strong doubt in my mind as to whether the atheistic or the
Christian-pessimistic views of redemption expressed the deep-
est needs of Wagner's own nature. Lohengrin and Tann-
hauser, at all events, would seen to confirm the latter theory.
Much time had elapsed before my brother was able to
discuss this last painful meeting with Wagner. If we ask
ourselves what really took place on this last eventful evening,
we find that only one explanation offers itself. Two pas-
sionately cherished ideals stood opposed to one another;
on the one hand, the Catholic-romantic figure of Parsifal,
implying negation of life on the other, the powerful figure
of Siegfried, god-like, transfigured, and the personification
of life affirmed. To my brother's mind, Wagner had always
personified the latter ideal, and hence his bitter disappoint-
ment! . . . Malvida was only able to remember that my
brother was noticeably sad on that evening and withdrew to
his room earlier than was his custom. He seemed to have a
presentiment that he and Wagner had met for the last time,
and thus the paradise of Sorrento was to live in his memory
as the place where he said farewell to the most beautiful
dream of his entire life.
He had always hoped that Wagner and he would develop
together, in fact, along the lines of Nietzsche's own views.
Only in Tribschen where all conditions were most auspicious
would this have been possible, as my brother's influence is
clearly to be felt in Wagner's essays of that period. As a
matter of fact, Wagner, his art and his leaning towards the
northern myths, would have fitted in very well with my
brother's fundamental views as they gradually developed.
But Wagner was too old to assimilate any new thoughts and
to take sides against his own earlier views. It is my firm con-
296
End of the Friendship
viction that my brother frequently had reason to think that
in his heart of hearts, Wagner was inclined to accept his
new ideas and that he recognized the correctness of
Nietzsche's critical judgment. “Wagner confessed as much
to me more than once during our confidential conversations,"
wrote my brother, “but I only wish that he would do so
openly, for wherein lies true greatness of character if not
in the ability to take sides even against one's self, if truth
demands this?"
Many years later I said to my brother: "How I wish
that Wagner had been twenty years younger when you made
his acquaintance. I am convinced that you would have been
able to have converted him to your way of thinking.” “I
also hoped and believed that at one time," answered my
brother, “but then came 'Parsifal and destroyed all hope,
yea every possibility of such a thing. In the meantime, I had
recognized the fact that my faith in Wagner was based
upon an error; we were too essentially different in our inner-
most natures and this was bound to cause a separation,
sooner or later."
My brother remained in Sorrento the entire winter of
1876-77 without the expected improvement in his health.
His ill-health was not noticeable as he was very sunburned,
looked strong and well, and in intercourse with others seemed
cheerful and full of his customary esprit. But in reality, he
was subject to the same ups and downs; as long as he did
not attempt to write, had everything read aloud to him, went
for long walks and had pleasant diversions, he felt com-
paratively well, but as soon as his creative powers gained
the upper hand and he plunged again into literary work,
the excruciating pains came back with redoubled force. Un-
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
fortunately no physician had the foresight and the energy
to prescribe a year of total abstinence in the matter of read-
ing and writing.
"If I were totally blind, I should be strong and healthy,"
my brother said of his own condition. At the time this
sounded like a paradox, as none of his doctors, the oculist
included, were by any means convinced that his trouble came
entirely from the affection of the optic nerve. It makes me
miserably unhappy to think of all the suffering my brother
might have been spared had it been possible to locate the
real seat of the trouble-a matter made all the more difficult
by his extreme sensitiveness to the slightest change in the
barometer,
But it would be a mistake to make his physical maladies
responsible for all that he suffered at this time. Many things
which robuster natures would have shaken off caused in-
expressible torture to his extremely sensitive soul. As I
have already said, one of the acutest causes of his mental
distress was that of being obliged to appear other than he
was, and during his entire stay in Sorrento he was endeavor-
ing to bring his outer life into harmony with his innermost
feelings, and thus this period served as a good preparation
for the conditions surrounding him in later life.
When the sirocco began to blow in Italy, my brother re-
turned to his beloved haunts in the mountains of Switzerland
which he greeted as jubilantly as if he were again in his
native land. He used to say: "The air of Southern Italy is
too enervating for me."
We met in Lucerne and to my great joy, I found him
looking remarkably well and full of courage for the beautiful
plans he was making for the future. He spoke of Wagner in
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End of the Friendship
the warmest and friendliest tones, as he had now become
reconciled to the thought that he must let Wagner go
his own way and hoped to receive the same latitude on the
part of Wagner in regard to his own activities. In this way,
he would no longer be obliged to subscribe to anything an-
tagonistic to his own feelings and judgment and in conse-
quence of this, there would be no necessity for any deception
or subterfuge on his part.
"All this came very near spoiling my amiable disposition,"
he said impatiently, in speaking of his last visit to Bay-
reuth and his repeated melancholy letters to Wagner. But
impatience was not the predominating feeling in these
reminiscences, for he realized full well what a degree of self-
knowledge had been gained from these repeated efforts to
bring his own views into harmony with those of Wagner,
and from his endeavor to find in Wagner those qualities
which he could admire and revere despite the discrepancies
in their convictions.
Through these experiences, he was afforded an oppor-
tunity of studying at close range that most interesting of
all subjects—a genius, which served as invaluable training
in psychological matters. In realizing all this, he could
look back upon this period with a feeling of genuine grati-
tude.
During the fortnight that we spent at the Pension Fel-
senegg in Lucerne, my brother was in a cheerful and opti-
mistic mood in regard to the future, and this was reflected in
his conversation and in the observations to be found in his
notebooks of that period.
“I feel as if I were recovering from a long illness. I think
299
The Vietssche-1Vagner Correspondence
!
of the sweetness of Mozart's Requiem with inexpressible de-
light.”
"The 'Ode to Joy' (May 22, 1872) was one of the highest
emotional moments of my life but it is only now that I am
beginning to feel myself in this course-Frei wie seine Son-
nene fliegen, wandelt, Brüder eure Bahn.'* What a de-
pressing and superficial festival was the one of 1876. ...
But later, it became the means of opening up to me a thou-
sand springs in the desert. This period was of incalculable
value to me as a cure for premature development.”
“Now the significance of antiquity and of Goethe's judg-
ment have dawned upon me. Now, for the first time, I have
possessed the antidote with which to counteract the effects
of a deadly pessimism."
Even though his health had not been completely restored
by his sojourn in Sorrento, he had at least the satisfaction
of knowing that he was on the right road to freedom and
.
CD
S
self-confidence despite the chaotic and unstable character
of his plans for the immediate future. Thoughts such as
- these undoubtedly occupied his mind at this time: "Were I
already free, this struggle would not be necessary and I
could turn my thoughts to some work or course of action
upon which I could expend my full measure of strength. I
can do no more than hope that, little by little, I shall be
come free; and I already feel that this is taking place. And
so my day of real work is still to come and the preparation
for the Olympian games may be considered as ended.”
* From Schiller's “Ode to Joy” used by Beethoven in the Finale of
his "Ninth Symphony."
300
End of the Friendship
“I will restore to mankind that repose without which no
culture can grow and exist, as well as the simplicity, tran
OU
also I will give a faithful portrayal of this endeavor as the
result of the concentrated powers of my nature."
Upon returning to Basle, we again established ourselves in
our apartment although my brother had already recognized
the categorical necessity of giving up his professorship, as
under no circumstances could he impose upon his eyes the
strain of his classical studies, particularly that of the Greek
lettering. There were times when his resolution weakened,
but his longing for complete freedom always returned. This
meant not only freedom from his professional duties, and
all the considerations belonging thereto, but also included
freedom from the influence of friends and foes alike. Even
in Sorrento, he had suffered greatly at times, from being
in the society of his highly revered friend, Fräulein von Mey-
· senburg, as his courtesy and consideration for her often led
him to agree to plans far removed from his own inclinations.
"I must have absolute solitude," was the burden of all of
his future plans, and for that reason he welcomed the
change from Sorrento to Switzerland. His feelings in re-
gard to this are beautifully expressed in a letter to Frau
Baumgartner:
“There is a higher destiny for me to fulfill than that
afforded me by my eminently respectable Basle position. I
know it, I feel it! I am more than a mere philologian, in
spite of the fact that I can make use of philology for my
higher task. 'I thirst for myself'; that has been my constant
theme for the last ten years. Now that I have lived alone
with myself for a year, everything has become quite clear
301
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
OUT
and distinct to me. Notwithstanding all that I have suffered,
I cannot tell you how inexpressibly rich I felt, and how full
I was of the joy of creating as soon as I found myself quite
alone. I can now say to you with conviction that I shall not
return to Basle with the intention of remaining there. I
do not know how things will develop, but I mean to capture
this freedom, by force if needs be, however modest may be
the external conditions of my life.”
My brother had a veritable mountain of aphorisms when
he returned to Basle. These were originally intended for
a fifth “Thoughts out of Season;" in fact, there was more
than sufficient material for six or seven new works. As the
condition of his eyes would not permit him to bring these
aphorisms together into a whole, as was the case in the pre-
vious “Thoughts out of Season,” he simply strung them to-
gether in a loose sequence but notwithstanding this, the con-
scientious reader will instinctively feel the inner rela-
tionship and be able to group these detached sentences.
Above all, my brother's pure joy in the framing of aphor-
isms must be taken into account; his delight in not carrying
one thought out to completion and binding it firmly to an-
other, but rather allowing it to stand with its own beginning,
development and end in a certain sense, and yet withal,
contains a hint of continuation for the reader.
The observations which my brother noted down after his
bitter disappointment in Bayreuth went to press under the
title of “Human, all-too-Human,” and to Herr Heinrich
Köselitz is due the credit of getting this manuscript ready
for the printers. Köselitz had resumed his studies at the
Basle university and dedicated all his leisure time to my
brother, thus relieving him of the greater part of his writing.
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End of the Friendship
While my brother was thus engaged in compiling his
“Human, all-too-Human” Wagner sent him a beautifully
bound copy of his "Parsifal," with the following dedication:
.
“To my dear friend, Friedrich Nietzsche,
with cordial greetings and wishes
from
Richard Wagner
(Ecclesiastical Councillor:
Kindly inform Prof. Overbeck.)”
S
In his “Ecce Homo,” my brother relates that Wagner's
gift of “Parsifal” crossed his own of “Human, all-too-
Human," but his memory played him false on this point.
He was, evidently, thinking of having sent off a part of the
copy to the printer about that time. On the whole, he had
a weak memory for unimportant details, which explains
many discrepancies, but it is not surprising that everyday
incidents should make but very little impression upon anyone
whose brain was as continually occupied with great problems
as was my brother's. We read the “Parsifal” with strangely
mixed emotions. In a letter to his friend, Baron von Gers-
dorff, dated January 4, 1878, my brother wrote “ 'Parsifal
came into my house yesterday, sent by Wagner. Impres-
sions after the first reading: more Liszt than Wagner, spirit
of the counter-revolution. The whole thing is much too
religious for me, bound as I am to the Greek and human.
Nothing but fantastic sort of psychology; no flesh, and
much too much blood (namely in the Communion Scene).
Moreover, I do not care for hysterical hussies! Much that
is tolerated by the inner eye, will be unendurable when trans-
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
formed into action; just imagine our actors praying,
trembling and going into paroxysms of ecstasy. Further-
more, it will be impossible to represent effectively the interior
of the temple of the Holy Grail and of the wounded swan.
All these beautiful pictures belong to an epic and no attempt
should be made to visualize them. Moreover, the language
of the drama sounds as if it were translated from a foreign
tongue. But the situations and their sequence—is that not
all poesy of the highest order? Do they not make a supreme
challenge to music?” The words "more Liszt than Wagner"
need a little explanation, and this my brother gives in one of
his notes: “Wagner's 'Parsifaľ was primarily a concession
to the Catholic instincts of his wife, the daughter of Liszt.”
Whether this assumption of my brother was correct or not,
it is not my purpose to determine. It was based upon in-
formation received from the intimates of the family at
Bayreuth. But if there was any reason for doubting it,
then we must also accept with a certain reservation the
theory that Wagner wrote “Parsifal” in order to cater to the
pious tastes of the Germany of that period. As a matter
of fact, all observations of my brother's referring to
Cosima's influence upon Wagner, date from a much later
period.
It is not my purpose here to publish notes and critical
comments indicating my brother's changed thoughts and
feelings, but I cannot refrain from quoting a passage from
a letter addressed to Peter Gast under the date of January
21, 1878, in which mention is made of the “Parsifal” music
independent of the dramatic content of the work. "... Re-
cently I heard the Vorspiel of 'Parsifal for the first time (in
Monte Carlo!). When I see you again I should like to tell
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End of the Friendship
you just what I understood by it. Quite apart from all
irrelevant questions, (such as what purpose this music can
and shall serve-) but purely from an æsthetic standpoint,
has Wagner ever written anything better? The subtlest
psychological explicitness and consciousness in regard to
that which it is his intention to say, to express, to impart,
through the medium of this music: the most concise and
direct form of expression; every nuance of feeling worked
out in epigrammatic form; music as a descriptive art as
distinct as a design in relief emblazoned on a shield; and
finally, sublime and extraordinary feelings, experiences and
emotions of a soul submerged in music. All this does Wagner
the greatest credit. Furthermore, a synthesis of circum-
stances, which will seem to a great many, even 'superior
persons' to be unreconcilable, to be of judicial severity,
in fact to be 'superior in the most terrifying sense of the
word; a degree of knowledge and perception that cuts
through the soul like a knife, and of compassion, for that
which is here viewed and judged. Only in Dante do we find
anything comparable to it. Did ever a painter portray a
glance of love as melancholy as Wagner has given us in
the closing accents of his Vorspiel?” (The concert ar-
rangement of the Vorspiel ends with the “Faith Motive" as
given in line 3, page 9, of the piano arrangement of the
score.
My brother was deeply impressed at receiving the Parsifal
text just as he was finishing off his new book “Human, all-
too-Human." Realizing what a great shock the Wagnerian
party would receive upon reading his book, he resolved to
publish it anonymously. A pseudonym had already been
decided upon and a fable convenue invented for the occa-
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
sion, this deception being facilitated by the fact that this
book was to come from the press of Schmeitzner. Wagner,
however, was not to be left in ignorance of its authorship,
and among my brother's papers was found a rough draft
of a touching letter in which he endeavored to reconcile
Wagner to the contents of the book without surrendering an
iota of his own independence of thought.
C
Friedrich Nietzsche to Richard Wagner.
(Rough Draft.)
“In sending you this book, I place my secret in the hands
of you and your noble wife with the greatest confidence and
assume that is now your secret. I wrote this book; in it I
have revealed my innermost views upon men and things and
for the first time, have travelled around the entire periphery
of my thoughts. This book was a great consolation to me
at a period full of paroxysms and misery and it never dis-
appointed me when all else failed to console me. I think it
not improbable that I am still living just because I was able
to write such a book.
“I was obliged to resort to a pseudonym for several
reasons; in the first place, because I did not wish to counter-
act the effect of my earlier works, and secondly, because
this was my only means of preventing a public and private
befouling of my personal dignity (something I am no longer
able to endure on account of the state of my health) and
finally and chiefly, because I wish to make possible a
scientific discussion in which all of my intelligent friends
could take part, unrestrained by any feelings of delicacy,
as has hitherto been the case whenever I have published
306
End of the Friendship
S
3
anything. No one will speak or write against my name!
“I know of no one of them who entertains the ideas ex-
pressed in this book and must confess to a great curiosity
as to the counter arguments which such a book will provoke.
“I feel very much like an officer who has stormed a breast-
work despite his severe wounds; he has reached the top and
unfurled his flag, and notwithstanding the terrifying spec-
tacle by which he is surrounded, experiences much more
joy than sorrow.
“Although I know of no one who shares my views, as I
have already said, I am conceited enough to think that I
have not thought individually but collectively. I have the
most curious feeling of solitude and multitude; of being a
herald who has hastened on in advance without knowing
whether the band of knights is following or not-in fact,
whether they are still living."
Unfortunately, the publisher would not agree to have
the “Human, all-too-Human" appear anonymously, as he
wished to profit by the advantages to be derived from my
brother's name and if the truth must be told, he was not
entirely adverse to creating a little scandal. My brother,
therefore, went through the manuscript very carefully and
eliminated everything that Wagner might think referred to
him and at which he might take offense. He still hoped
that Wagner would be willing to concede him the freedom
of his convictions and that the whole thing would pass off
without causing a complete break in their friendship. At
all events he wished to make it as easy as possible for Wag-
ner and therefore placed great emphasis on the fact that
many things in the book must be regarded in the light of a
joke. In the effort to recommend this attitude to the be-
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The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
loved friends, he wrote a very waggish dedication on the
copy of the book and sent it to Bayreuth with his heart
beating high and yet full of pleasurable anticipation.
I have often been asked what Nietzsche must have thought
as to the manner in which Wagner would or should take the
“Human, all-too-Human.” My brother himself has answered
this question in two aphorisms: “Humanity of friendship
and humanity of mastership. 'Go thou toward the morning
and I will go toward evening.' To be able to feel thus, is
the highest test of humanity when brought into close inter-
course. Without this feeling, every friendship, every
discipleship, will become a form of hypocrisy at some time
or other."
"Friend !-nothing binds us now. But we have taken
pleasure in one another up to the point where one advanced
the ideas of the other, even though these were diametrically
opposed to his own."
But Wagner had no intention of interpreting the book
after this fashion. He saw therein nothing but the apostasy
of his former disciple more than that of the favorite
disciple and a genius to boot, (as Wagner had undoubtedly
said to himself again and again) and therefore this oc-
currence had the effect of a blow and an insult. But I have
resolved that this book shall contain nothing of all the ugly
and hostile words written and said after this silent breach
of friendship. No, let us rather cast one more “melancholy
glance of love" upon those happy sun-lit paths upon which
the two noble spirits once wandered, and thus bring this
period to a close.
Once when modern literature was the subject of con-
versation, my brother (who it must be remembered had very
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End of the Friendship
little use for erotic feelings) said to one of his pupils : “Why
is the tiresome theme of love between the sexes always taken
as the motive of all novels?”? _“but what other feeling could
cause the same conflicts?” asked the student thoughtfully.
_“Why, friendship, for example!" answered my brother
vivaciously. “Friendship has quite similar conflicts, but
upon a much higher plane. First, there is the mutual at-
traction caused by sharing the same views of life, and then
the happiness of belonging to one another and forming
mutual plans for the future. Furthermore, there is the
mutual admiration and glorification. A sudden distrust is
awakened on one side, doubts arise as to the excellences of
the friend and his viewpoints on the other side, and finally,
the consciousness is borne in upon both that the parting
of the ways has been reached, although neither one feels
himself ready for this renunciation. Does all this not rep-
resent unceasing conflicts, carrying with them suffering of
the most intense character?”
The student looked dubious and it was evident that he had
never dreamed that friendship could be so passionate.
Step by step we have followed this romance of friendship
and the sympathies of the reader will have, consciously or
unconsciously, been enlisted on the side of one or the other
of the two friends. Naturally, my own are with the one
who suffered most, and that one was my brother. This
friendship unquestionably meant more to my brother than
to Wagner. When the master met my brother he was
already an aging man whose creative activity was nearing
its close, and consequently, a friendship with Nietzsche was
nothing more than an episode of his declining years, and one
having no appreciable effect upon his future. But my
309
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
brother's case was entirely different. When his orbit crossed
that of Wagner, he was in the first flush of his youth and
strength, and to this friendship he dedicated the most
beautiful hopes and dreams of his life, as well as an enor-
mous amount of time and intellectual strength. He placed
Wagner upon a pedestal far transcending anything human
and found his highest consolation in so doing; his thoughts
had always been concentrated upon the perfection of the
human type, and he believed to have found in Wagner the
highest specimen of manhood. Now his idol lay in ruins at
his feet-an idol who tyrannically wished to prohibit any
intellectual tendency other than his own, now enfeebled by
age and weakness. Looking back upon this painful expe-
rience, my brother cries out in very anguish of heart: “I
shuddered as I went on my way alone; I was ill, or rather
more than ill. I was weary—made so by the inevitable
disappointment in all that remains to kindle enthusiasm
in us modern men; weary at the thought of all the power,
work, hope, love, youth flung to the winds; weary with dis-
gust at the effeminacy and undisciplined rhapsody of this
romanticism, at the whole tissue of idealistic lies and enerva-
tion of conscience, which here again had won a victory over
one of the bravest souls; and not least of all, weary of the
bitterness and harrowing suspicion that, from now on, I
was doomed to distrust more deeply, to despise more deeply,
and to be more deeply alone than ever before. For I had
never had any one but Richard Wagner !"
Is it possible that Wagner suffered in like measure and
only concealed his true feelings from a sense of pride? He,
at least, could hope to replace my brother from the ranks
of his gifted and enthusiastic disciples, whereas my brother.
310
End of the Friendship
was doomed to soul-solitude. Wagner's real feelings have
never been divulged, but he gave me a glimpse of his inner-
most thoughts when I went to Bayreuth in the summer of
1882, to be present at the first performance of Parsifal.
Wagner asked to see me alone, and after speaking of his
“swan song," said softly: “Tell your brother that I am
quite alone since he went away and left me.” This was said
six months before his death, at the period of his highest
renown, with the entire world at his feet. Upon hearing
this touching message of farewell, my brother wrote one
of his loftiest aphorisms:
"We were friends and have become as strangers. But it
is best so and we will neither conceal this nor draw a veil
over it as if we had any cause to be ashamed. We are like
two ships, each of which has its own course and its own goal;
· it may be that our paths may cross again and that we shall
celebrate a feast-day together as we did in the past when
the gallant ships lay in one harbor and under one sun, as
if their common goal had already been reached. But then
came a time when we were driven far apart by the inexorable
power of our several missions into far distant seas and under
strange skies, and perhaps we shall never meet again. Or
it may be that we shall meet, and fail to recognize one an-
other, so great will be the change that the various suns and
seas have wrought in us! The law governing our lives has
decreed that we should live, henceforth, as strangers; but
just by reason of this, we shall become more sacred to one
another! Just by reason of this will the memory of our
friendship becomes more consecrated! The stars, appar-
ently, follow some immense, invisible curve and orbit, in
which our so widely varying courses and goals, may be
311
The Nietzsche-Wagner Correspondence
comprehended as so many little stages along the way. Let
us elevate ourselves to this thought! Our lives are too
short, and our powers of vision too limited, to permit us to
be friends other than in the sense of this lofty possibility.
“Therefore, let us have faith in our stellar friendship; *
even though doomed to be enemies here on earth."
* This aphorism called "Stellar Friendship” is from "Joyful Wisdom,"
Vol. X of the Complete English Edition of Nietzsche's works.
312

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