Yes, indeed: our brothers of the English-speaking race—especially those in the young New World—“mean business” when they undertake anything. And their enterprises are not (as an old prejudice assumes) limited to the commercial and financial domain, but embrace the region of the highest human thought, and rest upon the deepest ethical foundations.
BERTHA v. SUTTNER
Vienna, 1910
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I
| PART ONE | |
| Page | |
|---|---|
| I. CHILDHOOD | [3] |
| My certificate of baptism. The revolution of 1848. Landgrave Fürstenberg. The feather ball. Castle Matzen. | |
| II. EARLY YOUTH | [20] |
| Elvira. Playing “puff.” My mother’s singing. Clairvoyant Aunt Lotti. Roulette and trente-et-quarante. Castles in the air. My first journey. Season in Wiesbaden. Return. Grillparzer and Ebner-Eschenbach at Elvira’s. Radetzky’s death. A schoolgirl romance. | |
| III. AN AUTOGRAPH ALBUM | [57] |
| Anastasius Grün. Friedrich Halm. Grillparzer. Wagner. Lenau’s sister. Military autographs. King Ludwig of Bavaria. Schiller’s daughter. Liebig. Schücking. Mädler. Körner. Anderssen. Meyerbeer. Rückert. Hebbel. Gregorovius. Lamartine. Victor Hugo. Manzoni. Dickens. | |
| IV. MORE EPISODES OF YOUTH | [70] |
| The War of 1859. A prank. Elvira’s marriage. | |
| PART TWO | |
| V. ENTERING THE WORLD | [81] |
| Engaged. The engagement ended. Baden. Marietta. Season in Rome. Carnival at Venice. | |
| VI. A SEASON IN HOMBURG VOR DER HÖHE | [95] |
| Our way of living. My first singing lessons. The Princess of Mingrelia. Tsar Alexander II. Adelina Patti. | |
| VII. HERACLIUS OF GEORGIA | [109] |
| A disappointed dream of love. | |
| VIII. NOVITIATE IN ART | [119] |
| Back to Baden. Singing lessons. Great hopes. A test before Madame Viardot. | |
| IX. THE YEAR 1866 | [132] |
| Return. Elvira’s death. Fürstenberg’s death. The war. Homburg once more. Back to Baden. Baron Koller. | |
| X. RESIDENCE IN PARIS | [144] |
| Singing lessons resumed. Maître Duprez. The school in the Rue Laval. In the house of the Princess of Mingrelia. In the imperial box at the opera. Summer at Duprez’s place in the country. Return to Paris. Princess Salomé’s engagement. Prince Achille Murat. The wedding. With the young couple. Off to Baden-Baden. | |
| XI. SEASON IN BADEN-BADEN | [158] |
| Resumption of trente-et-quarante. Baroness Seutter. Acquaintance with King William I of Prussia. A letter from the king. | |
| XII. PARIS AGAIN | [163] |
| Return to Paris. Renunciation of an artistic career. A dream of Australian gold. Betrothal of Heraclius of Georgia. | |
| XIII. THE YEAR 1870–1871 | [172] |
| Resumption of music study in Milan. Outbreak of the Franco-German War. My double existence in the world of books. Return of the victorious troops to Berlin. | |
| XIV. PRINCE WITTGENSTEIN | [177] |
| Duet practice and betrothal. Art journey and—end. Letters from Castle Wittgenstein. | |
| PART THREE | |
| XV. IN THE SUTTNER HOUSE | [191] |
| Resolve to take a position. The Suttner family. Artur Gundaccar von Suttner. Life in the Vienna palais and in Schloss Harmannsdorf. The Exposition year. Secret love. Letters from the Princess of Mingrelia. Marriage of Prince Niko. Zogelsdorf quarry. Three happy years. I tear myself away. Departure. | |
| XVI. THE ZENITH OF HAPPINESS | [207] |
| Arrival in Paris. Alfred Nobel’s personality. Unendurable agony of separation. Two dispatches. A plan of action. Arrival at Vienna. Blissful meeting. At last and forever united. | |
| PART FOUR | |
| XVII. WEDDING JOURNEY | [217] |
| On the Black Sea. Jason mood. Arrival in Asia. The hotel in Poti. Kutais. Count Rosmorduc. Reception at Prince Zeretelli’s. National dances. Journey to Gordi. Prince Niko with escort comes to meet us. Arrival at Gordi. Ceremonious reception. | |
| XVIII. IN KUTAIS (1877) | [227] |
| Lessons. Rumors of war and outbreak of war. Red Cross fever. The plague on the horizon. Bad times. Conclusion of peace. Mathilde. Beginning of literary career. | |
| XIX. TIFLIS | [237] |
| Another summer in Gordi. Business projects. Removal to Tiflis. Princess Tamara of Georgia. Our manner of life. Double position. Continued authorship. Illness. | |
| XX. ZUGDIDI | [242] |
| The capital of Mingrelia. Our little house. Labors on the Murat estate. Social life at the Murats’ and the Dedopali’s. Lonely summer at Zugdidi. New literary labors. Prototype of Es Löwos. New horizons. Study together. | |
| XXI. OUR LAST DAYS IN THE CAUCASUS | [251] |
| The Dedopali’s death. Death of my mother. Prospect of coming home. Translation of “The Tiger’s Skin.” Sojourn in a Mingrelian village. A bit of Georgian history. Queen Tamara. | |
| PART FIVE | |
| XXII. AT HOME | [263] |
| Departure from the Caucasus. First destination, Görz. Return to Harmannsdorf. Family life and neighborly visits. Literary correspondence. Writers’ convention in Berlin. | |
| XXIII. A WINTER IN PARIS | [275] |
| Schriftstellerroman and Das Maschinenzeitalter. Journey to Paris. Renewed acquaintance with Alfred Nobel. The Schnäbele affair. Madame Adam’s salon. Princess Tamara of Georgia in Paris. Max Nordau. A ball in the palais of the Revue des deux mondes. Victor Cherbuliez. Ludovic Halévy. Alphonse Daudet. | |
| XXIV. THERE IS A PEACE MOVEMENT | [287] |
| Return from Paris. International Peace Association. Das Maschinenzeitalter by “Jemand.” Anonymity attains its end. Bartholomäus von Carneri. At the Carneri table. In the hotel Meissl. | |
| XXV. DIE WAFFEN NIEDER | [294] |
| How the plan for the book originated. Study of sources. The model of my hero. Satisfaction in writing the word “End.” Unanimously rejected by the editors. The publisher’s scruples. Publication. How the book was received. Favorable and hostile criticisms. Personal contact with the peace movement resulting from the novel. The Peace Congress of 1889 in Paris. Founding of Interparliamentary Union. | |
| XXVI. INTERCOURSE WITH FRIENDS | [303] |
| In port. Trip to Vienna. Literary circles. Balduin Groller. Theodor Herzl. Letter from Count Hoyos. Letter from Friedrich Bodenstedt. | |
| XXVII. MENTONE AND VENICE | [312] |
| The news of the Crown Prince’s death. Sojourn in Mentone. Octave Mirbeau. A winter in Venice. Old acquaintances. Princess Tamara and Marietta Saibante. Visit of Felix Moscheles to the widow “Tillings.” Moscheles as peace propagandist. Formation of a section in Venice through Marquis Pandolfi. The Grelix. The Princess of Montenegro. Princess Hatzfeld, born Von Buch. A memory of Cosima Wagner. | |
| PART SIX | |
| XXVIII. THE AUSTRIAN INTERPARLIAMENTARY GROUP IS FORMED | [325] |
| Return. Skeptical reception of my reports. Resumption of our literary labors. Pandolfi suggests enlisting recruits in the Austrian parliament for the conference at Rome. Correspondence with members: Baron Kübeck, Pernerstorfer, Dr. Jaques, Dr. Exner. The group is formed, Baron Pirquet turning the scale. | |
| XXIX. FOUNDING OF THE AUSTRIAN PEACE SOCIETY | [335] |
| Appeal in the Neue Freie Presse. Response from the public. Adhesions and contributions of money. Prosper von Piette sends a thousand florins. Dr. Kunwald. Preliminary meeting. Joining the International League. Circular for the formation of a national union. Letter from the Duke of Oldenburg. Permanent organization. Voices from members of the world’s intellectual aristocracy. | |
| XXX. UNION FOR RESISTANCE TO ANTI-SEMITISM | [348] |
| A. G. von Suttner, Count Hoyos, Baron Leitenberger, and Professor Nothnagel found the Union. Article in the Neue Freie Presse. | |
| XXXI. THE CONGRESS IN ROME | [356] |
| Frame of mind. Life together in the Hotel Quirinal. General Türr and his career. Little revolution against Bonghi. Alsace-Lorraine. The Grelix couple. Baron Pirquet. Opening festival on the Capitol. Ruggero Bonghi as chairman. Weighty words. Founding of the Bern Central Bureau. Echoes. The monthly Die Waffen nieder is launched. A. H. Fried. “The Important Thing.” | |
| PART SEVEN | |
| XXXII. HOME AND FRIENDS | [377] |
| We two. Business troubles. Deaths. Family life at Castle Stockern. Home theater. The twelfth of June. Visit of Prince André Dadiani. | |
| XXXIII. LETTERS FROM ALFRED NOBEL | [384] |
| XXXIV. IN BERLIN AND HAMBURG | [389] |
| My review. Invitation to Berlin. A. H. Fried and his plans. The reading. The Berlin Tageblatt on a letter from Frédéric Passy. A banquet. Voices from the press. Evening at Spielhagen’s. Dinner at Mosse’s. The Empress Frederick. Professor W. Meyer does us the honors of “Urania.” Excursion to Hamburg. An evening tea with Hans Land, Dr. Löwenberg, Otto Ernst, and Detlev von Liliencron. A letter of Liliencron’s. | |
| XXXV. MORITZ VON EGIDY | [400] |
| His confession of faith. Further development. Candidacy for the Reichstag. From his address to the electors. On the fear of revolution. Idealists in act. My first meeting with Egidy. Visit at his home. Consistency of preaching and practice. A letter from Egidy. | |
| XXXVI. VARIOUS OPINIONS | [414] |
| Letters from Alphonse Daudet, Paul Heyse, the Bishop of Durham, Ruggero Bonghi, and Count Kamarofski. | |
| XXXVII. THE BERN SESSIONS | [420] |
| Journey to Switzerland. Poem by Count Hoyos. Letter from Prince Camillo Starhemberg. Opening of the Congress. First impulse to arbitration treaties, from America. League of European states. Social life of the Congressists. Arturo de Marcoartu. Alfred Nobel complies with my invitation. On the lake of Lucerne. A parable by Ruchonnet. Protest against distorted reports. A lively debate. Arrival of the Interparliamentarians. The Conference. A prophetic toast. | |
| XXXVIII. VISIT TO ALFRED NOBEL | [435] |
| Arrival at Zurich. Nobel begins to take an interest in the peace movement, and joins us. Trips on the lake. A glimpse into his views of life. His first project for an act in furtherance of the cause of peace. | |
| XXXIX. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GERMAN PEACE SOCIETY IN BERLIN | [440] |
PART ONE
1843–1861
I
CHILDHOOD
My certificate of baptism · The revolution of 1848 · Landgrave Fürstenberg · The Feather Ball · Castle Matzen
What gives me some justification for publishing my experiences is the fact that I have met many interesting and distinguished contemporaries, and that my participation in a movement which has gradually grown to be of historic consequence has given me many glimpses into the political affairs of our time; and that hence, all in all, I have something to say that is really worth publishing.
Of course, if I meant to tell only of this period of my life, I should have to confine myself to the history of the past fifteen or twenty years, and wholly forego conjuring up pictures from my youth; and I should have to deny myself the writing down of those personal recollections which my whole changeful life has stamped upon my memory. But I will not deny myself this. Now that I have been induced by the above-mentioned reason to write my memoirs, it shall be a genuine record of a life. Once again shall the stages of the long journey come in due order before my inward eye, and from them what seems to me suitable for reproduction shall be photographed on these pages.
So, without further exordium, let us begin: