872 - Nietzscheana - Dite Collection

Nietzscheana - Dite Collection Collection of autographs by Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche (1846–1935), the sister and sole executor of her brother Friedrich Nietzsche’s (1844–1900) estate, dating from 1919 and 1926. Includes a letter dated June 30, 1919, to Bernhard Hempelmann (3 pp.) and a letter to Dr. Baumgarten (4 pp.) dated July 31, 1919, each marked “dictated.” - Postcard to Bernhard Hempelmann dated June 25. Thank-you card dated July 10, 1926, on the occasion of Elisabeth Förster Nietzsche’s 80th birthday. - Each in its original envelope marked “Nietzsche Archive, Weimar.” The card dated June 25 (1919): The card is a printed business card on which Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche lists her name, the Nietzsche Archive, the address Luisenstraße 36, and her visiting hours: “Saturdays from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. at home.” She has added a handwritten note at the top addressed to Hempelmann: “My dear friends.” She asks whether the plan still stands for the Hempelmanns to visit her on Friday afternoon with their dear guests, which would bring her great joy. The Friday appointment falls outside her usual Saturday visiting hours and was apparently a personal invitation. The visitor apparently also brought guests along, whom she is looking forward to meeting. - The letter dated June 30, 1919, to Bernhard Hempelmann: The letter begins by thanking him for the visit on Friday. It had “really done her good” and, during the hours they spent together, had pulled her out of her “terrible melancholy.” She then expresses concern about whether the guests made it home without getting caught in the rain and admits that she had been somewhat worried about that. She then regrets not having invited the family to the Saturday gathering instead, because it is sometimes “quite amusing” there. She illustrates this with examples. Last Saturday’s gathering had been particularly well-attended because it was the last one before the holidays, when many people go on vacation. Princess Wied of Albania had been very pleasant, as had her entourage. But the pianist, Professor Scharwenka, was truly delightful; he played Chopin and Liszt so divinely that everyone was deeply moved. Hempelmann’s niece, the “charming young lady,” would have enjoyed seeing the archive in the midst of all the social activity. In the last paragraph, she turns to business matters. She asks “urgently today” for his semi-annual invoice, as she wishes to settle her debts and put her financial affairs in order this week. In closing, she sends her regards to Hempelmann’s wife and niece and thanks him for his care. The passage about money shows that Hempelmann regularly supplied or provided for her and that the bill was paid every six months. The letter dated July 31, 1919: to Dr. Baumgarten: This letter is the most intellectually dense. It begins with thanks for two books by Pastor Stützer, which had given her great joy and real comfort. She admits that she had long resisted the melancholy over the fate of her homeland, but all her firm resolutions to break free from it were now of no help. Strangely enough, what helps her most is the memory of Paraguay—more specifically, the many difficulties of emigration. The topic is relevant to her because many fine young men are now forced to emigrate, since all future prospects have been so severely diminished, especially among the educated classes. Because she is often asked about Paraguay, she frequently finds herself transported back to her time in South America. She read Pastor Stützer’s life story with great interest. Whenever she could no longer bear the newspaper reports, she would set the paper aside and reach for the “red book,” which always brought to mind experiences quite similar to her own. The book had given her many hours of escape from the present, and that meant rest. She then turns to personal matters. She is glad that she was still able to welcome the letter’s recipient and the Hempelmanns when she was fresher and had more strength to overcome these “horrible times.” Now everything looks gloomier to her every day, and she realizes that she is too old to still believe in a better future for Germany. Youthful courage sees everything differently, and so she wishes the charming young woman of twenty that joyful faith in the future which makes even the present bearable. In closing, she thanks her once again for the books and praises the wonderful Hempelmanns, who continue to look after her in the most friendly manner. It does her good that good friends remember her household and take care of it at the right time—something she herself cannot always do, because she is overwhelmed with scholarly work and sometimes forgets things. She will never forget this tender care in difficult times. - Förster-Nietzsche founded the Nietzsche Archive in Naumburg in 1894; it moved to Weimar in 1896. The villa on what was then Luisenstraße, now Hum