Pictures of German Life in the XVIIIth and XIXth Centuries, Vol. I.

by Gustav Freytag

"The entertainment was of such a nature that there was no danger of the table breaking down under the weight of the dishes: a good dish of small fish with onion sauce, calf's head and trimmings, the whole interior of a pig in as many various dishes as there were parts, a couple of geese, and two hares; besides this, such rough watery beer, that one was soon obliged to have recourse to not much better brandy. In spite of this the society, which consisted of some twenty persons, was right merry, and the ladies more lively than the affected mercantile ladies of the city nobility. When the table was removed, a portion of the cavaliers danced about merrily to a couple of fiddles, and the room was filled with the fumes of tobacco. Then Frau von K. began, 'I have taken a fancy for this foreign cavalier, and have hopes that my son, who is also an officer, will be as much loved and esteemed in other places.' Frau Ilse von der B. answered, 'I, dear and honoured sister, am quite of another opinion. I could never exercise such tyranny on those belonging to me as to thrust them among these fierce soldiers, for I hear that they sometimes fare badly enough--have no warm beds for many nights, and besides, have no one to make them a mug of warm beer or bring them a glass of brandy. If I should hear that my son had been devoured by a long-necked Tartar, such as I have lately seen painted at Kretschem, I should be choked with grief. Therefore, I have thought it better to maintain my Junker Hans Christoph as well as I can on our little property at home. I must acknowledge that he has already cost me more than enough; for when I fitted him out as became a noble, my two best cows went, and I have not been able to replace the loss. But what does that matter; I see with pleasure that he knows how to behave himself like a nobleman. Only see, dear honoured sister, does he not dance nimbly, and hasn't he got a capital knack of whirling round with the ladies; he does not refuse to drink a glass of beer or brandy with any one; tobacco is his only pleasure in life; in all societies he makes himself so agreeable, that he sometimes does not come home for three weeks, possibly with a black eye. From that I can quite believe that he lays about him, and defends himself valiantly like a cavalier. Such also shall my Junker Martin Andres become.' The Junker who was standing by her, laid his head on the lap of his dear mother. 'The wild lad knows already that he is a Junker, therefore he does not desire to learn, but prefers riding in the fields with the young horsemen; he has already got into his head that he must wear a sword. This is a new anxiety to me, for I well know that in the end it will cost me a horse, and without special help from God, I shall have to part with a couple more cows. I must, however, buy him an alphabet, for his father always wished him to become a thorough scholar, as he himself was. Yes, if it cost nothing, and it were not necessary to buy so many expensive books for the learned lad, it would delight me. My eyes run with tears when I think how beautifully his honoured father said grace after meals, and did it as well as the pastor; also how he once recited before the prince, for a whole half hour, something, I know not what, in pure Latin. One thing pleases me much in my Martin Andres, that he has such a subtle, reflecting head. He himself suggested to me to help him sometimes to gain money, by allowing him to keep the redemption money for the stray cattle impounded on my fields. He is so intent upon this that he lurks the whole day in the corn to catch a couple of pigs or the like, whereby he has already gained as much as half a thaler. But, nevertheless, if I only knew for certain that my Junker Hans Christoph would prosper in this war business, like your noble sons, honoured sister, I would not let another year pass without endeavouring to persuade him to go. If he would but become for certain an officer or a baron, and obtain a rich wife. She, however, to suit me, must be of true, real, noble blood, for otherwise, I swear she should never be permitted to appear before me, even though she were up to her ears in gold. And who knows, dear honoured sister? I have all my life long heard that in other countries the nobility are not so good as with us, and that in Holland, from whence this officer comes, the women are driven to the market naked as God has created them, just like the cows. For my deceased honoured mother's sister, the dear Frau Grete von T. lived to see her son devil-ridden, and he brought home just such a wild woman. This so grieved her that she did not live much longer, and she could not be persuaded to see this wild woman more than once. But to return to my son. Junker Hans Christoph, if it should so happen that he were not sent among the Tartars, nor obliged to be a sentinel, I would try to persuade my old maid, who altogether reared and waited upon him, to accompany him for a year, and look after him, to wash his shirts and keep his head clean, and I would provide for her by sowing a half peck of flax seed on her account.'

"The Frau von K. would, probably have given a good answer to this nonsense, if she had not been led off to dance by Herr von K. Thus she left the old lady alone, with whom the Junker Vogelbach, who was present, and had a tobacco-pipe of a finger's length in his mouth, held this discourse:--'How are you--how fares it with you, my honoured and dear cousin? I observe that you rejoice to see Junker Hans Christoph enjoy himself. My word for it, he is an honest lad; I could have wished that he had been with me some days ago, when I had a tussle with a 'Peppersack' of Breslau; he would have seen with wonder how I belaboured the fellow; he had to beg for life, and afterwards to give a stately banquet in the best style to me and my seconds, at which we so enjoyed ourselves, that the good wine flowed like a river.' To this the old lady Von der B. replied: 'It is truly to your honour that, for the sake of a drinking bout, you make yourself so common with the citizens; and, above all, you, Junker Martin Heinrich, who are always hankering after wine, if only you can catch a glass, you drink in brotherhood with all sorts of people, be they citizens or nobles. Yes, you, indeed, as I have heard, call these Peppersacks uncle or cousin. If I could be sure of this, I swear that all my life long I will never call you cousin. Tell me, what is that scar you have on your forehead? Without doubt you have got it in another quarrel with them. That would do well enough if you would only not mix with the citizens.'

"'Do you take me for a fool,' said Junker Vogelbach, 'that I should call these fellows uncle or cousin, though the Emperor should have given them ever so grand a patent? Brother is well enough, so long as they give good wine; but we say, henceforth we will let the knaves alone.'

"Meanwhile the guests made themselves merry with tobacco, drinking, and varied converse, during which the Dutchman remarked, that, of the two tolerably well educated daughters of the host, one only was to be seen at a time at the dance, and each was dressed from head to foot the same as the other; from which he concluded that these good maidens were obliged to content themselves with one and the same dress, and that whilst one danced in the room, the other, who had retired, had to wait patiently without till her turn came again. 'Are not those dear children?' said their mother, who had seated herself with the other ladies, to Frau von der B.; 'they do all in so noble and suitable a style, it does my heart good to see how everything becomes them. If the Peppersacks in the city were to hang ever so much finery about them, the citizen would still peep out.' 'You say rightly,' said the other; 'my heart leaps within me when I see these city people swagger about in such fine dresses and ornaments, in their gilded carriages. Think I to myself, be as ostentatious as you will, were you every day, even to drink pearls instead of your best wine, you are still citizens, will remain citizens, and can never become equal to us.'

"Amidst such woman's prattle, laughing, shouting, dancing, and jumping, the night wore away, and as Von K. could well anticipate, that this entertainment would be concluded with the usual brawls and quarrels, he gave our Dutchman a wink, and retired with him to the house of a peasant of his acquaintance, where they passed the night on straw. The groom of the Herr von K. awoke them the following morning, saying, if they desired to witness a three-fold fight, in which Vogelbach would be the most distinguished combatant, they must rise quickly and betake themselves to a spot near the village, on the Polish frontier. Neither of them having any desire to do so, Von K., who felt ashamed that his countrymen were such ragamuffins, made a sign to his groom to be silent; they then mounted, and rode away conversing together pleasantly."

Here we conclude the narrative of Paul Winckler. About the year 1700, the habits of the country nobles became more civilised, their life more comfortable, and the bands of Krippenreiters became rarer. Still, however, individuals were sometimes tempted to defy the weak laws of the country, and repeatedly did the governments exert themselves against the cunning and violence by which unlawful possession was taken of the property of the deceased. Still did the greater part of the country nobles suffer from the burden of mortgages; frequent were the complaints about the rashness with which they were given and sold; and, as it is usually the custom to cheat in drawing up such mortgage-deeds, they far exceeded the value of the estate. Under these circumstances, there were everywhere legal auctions, where they were not prevented by feudal tenure or family regulations; only too frequently were the wax lights again seen burning, which, according to old custom, were burnt on the morning of an auction, and the duration of their flame marked the time during which the bidding of those who were desirous to purchase would be accepted.[^[52]]

In most of the districts of Germany the acquisition of a nobleman's estate depended on the Ritterrecht, or laws and usages prevalent among the nobility in that district. Undoubtedly this custom was not in accordance with common law, but almost everywhere the noble proprietors of the district formed a powerful corporation, which excluded those who were not noble from the fall enjoyment of seigneurial rights of Standschaft, and from their assemblies. Even where those who were not noble were capable of holding a fief, they were so only under limitations. Sometimes the citizens of certain privileged cities had the right of acquiring the properties of noblemen, but this expired as soon as they ceased to belong to the favoured city. An exception, also, was sometimes made in favour of the city councillors forming part of the government of the country, and members of the universities. But the general rule was that those not noble, could only occupy a property as a mortgage, not with seigneurial rights as a possession. Even those who had been ennobled were not free to acquire a nobleman's estate as a possession; it required the consent of the rulers of the country or of the noble States. In the Imperial hereditary provinces this right could only be obtained by those noblemen who were raised to some rank of the higher nobility; and even then this right had to be purchased in each individual case, and from the sovereign ruler, and secured by a diploma. The Emperor endeavoured to obtain money even from the old families by obliging them to renew this right by the purchase of a general diploma for all their members.

But the Imperial Court imposed other limitations, dividing, up to the most modern times, the last escutcheon of its nobility into Edle, nobles, Herren, gentlemen, and Ritter, knights. Whoever was transferred from the order of citizens to that of nobles or knights, could not be buried with mourning horses and escutcheons if he continued his vocation as a citizen. And so far did Imperial administration reach, that even in 1716 a noble lady was forbidden to marry a Lutheran ecclesiastic, because that would be unbecoming a noble.[^[53]]

But the approach of a new time may be clearly perceived, soon after 1700, in the life of the noble, as well as that of the peasant. It consisted in a better tone of feeling, both as head of a household and as a landed proprietor. A new literature started up suddenly, large and copious compilations, in which were introduced systematically the duties and secrets of agriculture, husbandry, and housekeeping; also of domestic and gentlemanlike education and training; they are respectable folios, handsomely bound and adorned with copper-plates, and it was considered meritorious to educate yourself from them. In 1682, von Hochberg had already dedicated his "Country Life of the Noble" to the landed proprietors of Upper Austria Soon after, the Count Palatine, Franz Philipp, under the name of Florinus, wrote a similar work, "To the Prudent Householder versed in the Law." Already, in Holstein, and soon after in Mecklenburg, the system of double rotation was introduced on the properties of the nobility. At the same time there was in most of the wealthy old families an increasing interest in art and science; it was thought becoming to have some historical and legal knowledge, to be acquainted with family traditions, and well versed in the aids to history, numismatics, and heraldry. The wives of the country nobles were benefitted by the deeper earnestness of the new pietism, and also, after 1700, from the sensible, sober character of the new culture. They were so often told that it was praiseworthy for a lady of rank to concern herself about her household affairs, and to bring up her children as Christian gentlemen in the fear of God, that one may well believe that these views entered into their daily life. About 1750, a travelled nobleman describes with pleasure what the daily work of the housewife ought to be. Indeed, a nobleman, in the middle of the last century, who lived peaceably on his property, and was tolerably wealthy, had a right to consider himself as one of the most fortunate representatives of his time. He lived uprightly, concerned himself about the great world no more than was necessary, lived in familiar family intercourse with the whole nobility of the neighbourhood, was only occasionally tipsy, reared his foals, sold his wool, and disputed with his pastor; by moderate strictness he got on tolerably well with his villeins, and had but rarely a suspicion how detrimental even to himself was the servitude of his labourers. If an old family was in danger of becoming impoverished, they were advised by the aforementioned zealous and well-meaning coadjutor of the noble, to marry with a rich heiress of the respectable citizen class, in case of necessity the family of the lady might be ennobled, and provided with ancestors on both father's and mother's side; the business, it is true, caused a small blot on their escutcheons, but it would be folly to regard that much.

But the old families were saved from sinking again into the people by numerous lucrative privileges. Very large was the number of benefices and prebends, and of sinecures in the cathedral church, in the orders of Malta and St. John, and in the monasteries of the nobles and other ecclesiastical endowments; and there was hardly an old family that had not some connection with them. Very general was the feeling among the nobility, that the Roman Catholic nobles were better off, because they could more easily provide for their sons and daughters; whilst the Protestant princes had seized most of the foundations. With pride, therefore, did the so-called knights of the Empire in Franconia, Swabia, and on the Rhine, look down upon the landed nobility; the Imperial capitulation not only assured them privileges, dignity, and greatness, but they were also closely united with the ecclesiastical princes and the foundations in their territories, and their families lived, with almost heritable right, to numerous ecclesiastical benefices. But, unfortunately, this support had not the effect of ensuring lasting prosperity to their families; nay, it was a chief cause of many becoming impoverished and corrupted in their isolation.