San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1890-04-29
APRIL FOOL EXTRAORDINARY.
Goethe Scholars From Far and
Near Drawn to Frankfort by
an Editors Joke.


Near Drawn to Frankfort by
an Editors Joke.
The Frankfurter Zeitung, one of
the largest and strongest of German
dailies, tricked it's readers this spring
with an April fool joke which has
resumed international dimensions.
On March p the editorial page con-
tanned detailed account of the dis
cOvery of q mass of Goethe relics in a
long buried nook of the Goethe house
in Frankfort. Most of these relics,
the editor said, were letters writ
ten by Goethe in his early youth to
Clarchen Laubenthaler, a shop ghl
whom the great poet had loved for
three months, who was the original
of Clarchen in "Egmont" In one of
the letters there was an imprinted
poem of GOethe's entitled THE Joy
of Love-" which for various reasons
must remain unpublished. The let
tiers and poems, when discovered,
were buried upder a mass of dust and
refuse which had rotted the paper
they were written on, and had rem
dered the manuscript almost illegi-
bic. Nevertheless the directors of
the Goethe house would be able to re-
store the handwriting by chemical
means, and would exhibit it to all
visitors at the Goethe house on April
l.
This story of the Frankfurter Xeit-
ung was copied the next day by the
Mannheim, Heidelberg, Stuttgart,
and Cologne dailies. On the Goth the
story arrived in Berlin and Vienna,
was telegraphed over the VOsges,
and cabled across the Channel. On
the 3Oth almost every paper of repu-
tatlOn in South Germany had long
technical discussions by Goethe stu
dents concerning the philosophical
significance of Clarchen Laubentna-
ler's place in GOethe's heart, the
psychological effect of Clarchen's
love on Goethe, and the like. The
Mannheim Gazette gave up its whole
front page of four broad columns to
such matter.
On the 3lst came more articles of in
quiry, and a score or so of tourists to
Frankfort to examine the relics on
the following day. On the morning
of April l some fifty Goethe worship
pers from all parts of Germany, five
from Austria, three from France, and
two from England turned up at the
Goethe house with requests to see all
newly discovered treasures, especial
lip the unpu blished poem. The GUS
todians OF the place protested in vain
that Clarchen was a myth, that the
letters had never been found, and
that the unpublished poem had
never been written. Hundreds of
curious Frankfurters went tothe house
in the afternoon, and Gro wded it to
suffocation. 1t was an angry crowd,
and quite disorderly at times because
the expected relics were not forth
coming.
Finally committee was sent to
the Frankfurter Zeitung to demand
an explanation. The editor promised
to tell them all about it in the next
mornings paper. IAN April Fool"
was the headline above the eXplana-
ton in the issue of April >. The
Goethe students from all parts Of the
Continent and the daiIies which had
been deceived into printing column
long discussions of the Claerchen
and the letters that had never been,
were furious, and their repeated at
tacks on the Frankfurter Zeituug
forced it to repeated apologies, which,
however, failed to appease. The story
of April p continued to travel so
rapidly through the papers of all
civilized countries, including the
United States, that the explanation
couldn't Overtake it, AND consequent
lv Goethe pilgrims from far and near
are still hurrying to the little Mecca
that existed only in the paragraph.