Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-12-19
House at Weimar Contains
Many Relics of Poet.
PLAIN AND OLD FASHIONED
Stands Not Far From the Home of
His Friend Goethe.
BURIED NEAR GRAND DUCHESS
Remains of Both Great German
Poets Lie in oaken Collins in
Royal Mausoleum.

Royal Mausoleum.
! BY WILLIAM r. CURTIS.
! Written for The Star and the Chicago Record
| Herald.
| The home occupied by Schiller when he
| lived in Weinar is very much humber
and the personal relics and furniture
| which it contains are few and cheap conf
pared with those Of Goethe. for the latter
was rich. and was the favorite of his
patron. the grand duke. while Schiller
had only q trifling pension. The cost of
| living at Weimar is very low today. but
| it was even lower then. Karl August
gave Schiller about $50 a year in our
money. Goethe's salary as prime minis
ter was only 81 900. We find in Schiller's
correspondence that his rent cost him
CO Us Cd a quarter, while his servant.
who also acted as his secretary, received
a salary of 1Ss a month. His riding
| horse cost him Cd a day, and he paid
three halfpence for copying one OF his
plays which covered sixteen pages of
manuscript. Reckoning up his expenses.
he says: "Washing. servants, barber and
such things all paid quarterly, and none
shall hardly need more than $3.50 a year.
1t is evident that the poet did not lead
very sumptuous life, although he was
| more comfortable at Weimar than he
| ever was elsewhere.
With his wife and three children he
occupied suite of four rooms In the
| upper part of plain, oldfashioned
house. not very far from where Goethe
lived. and the furniture that they used
stands where 1t stood when he died. His
bed was an ordinary cot: his writing desk
was deal table; there Is an ugly old
stove in the corner. and there are few
other articles Of the most ordinary kind.
The most Interesting object Is a plaster
cast of Schillers skull, made twenty-one
years after his death, when his body
was removed to the royal mausoIeum
| from the grave In which 1t was originally
buried. From that cast was made the
bust now to be seen In the GOethe-Schtl-
Ter museum.
Another interesting object is an engrav-
ing of THE Battle Of Bunker .iill. near
Boston. engraved W J. G. Muller, Lon
don. March, 1885,
Guitar and Portfolio.
His guitar. which he is said to have
played with great skill and taste, hangs
| from hook on the wall. The portfolio
| traced with the last lines he wrote. The
pies In the drawer Of the desk until they
rotted, because he had a fancy that the
odor from them was good for his lungs.
The wall Of his study Is covered with
heavy green paper. which the caretaker
says is charged with arsenic. that poisoned
the air and FASTENED his death. She
avoids the room as much as possible, for
she always feels the effect of it when she
remains there any length of time. The
floor is bare. Mr.. and Mrs. Schiller had
Inn
about the place is the absence Of COM
forts and conveniences.
Perhaps Schiller's life and usefulness
might have been prolonged If he had been
better taken care Of. He must have
lacked nourishing food, and We know that
he did most of his writing stimulated by
strong coffee or liquor. Thomas Carlyle
said: The toil-worn but devoted soul,
alone. offering up the troubled moments
of existence upon the altar OF eternity!
For here the splendor that cleaned across
the spirit Of mortal, transient as any
OF US. was to be made perpetual; these
other ages and distant lands; to glow in
human hearts. when the heart that con-
ceived them had long been nodded in
common dust. To the lover Of genius this
bare little room has become a sacred
shrine"
Near the Schiller house is the court
| theater. of which he and Goethe were
joint directors, and arranged for the
presentation of their own plays. No city
was ever SO ably served In this respect,
and everybody in Weimar ever since has
prOfited from the genius and the art of
these remarkable men.
There are some other relics of a pure
ly personal character, but the books,
manuscripts and autographs are all de-
posted in the splendid museum built for
that purpose by the Grand Duke of Sax
Ony.
schiller's wife was Charlotte Won Lenge-
Gold NJ Wcir 3fo In ha
until her death in 1925. There were two
sons and two daughters. The sons died
early In childhood and Schi!ler's effects
were inherited by his daughter. who be-
wurn, woman of considerable impor-
lance. She eventually donated them to
the city. The house was afterward pur-
chased by the late Grand Duke Charles
Alexander, was restored at his expense,
and is preserved by the fees that are col
| lected from visitors.
Buried in Oak Collins.
| Goethe and Schiller are buried in collins
of oak, covered with laurel wreaths. in
| the Furstengruft. or royal mauso:eum,
| beside the Grand Duke Charles Augustus,
| their friend and patron. Beside them
| lie the famous Grand Duchess Amalia,
the gifted niece Of Frederick the Great,
who received the homage Of all Ger
| many. and al, Of the rulers Of the duchy
| from 1862 until the father of the present
ruler.
| 1t is the highest tribute that he could
pay the poets to lay their bones beside
| his royal ancestors.
| In the palace Of the grand duke is a
series Of drawing rooms dedicated to the
| memory Of Goethe, Schiller, Herder and
| Wieland, and the walls are adorned with
| frescoes by famous artists OF scenes from
their lives and works. The present grand
| duke IS generous and permits the tourists
| to see them. The private apartments of
the family are also open to the public
during the absence Of the court
Schiller was born at Marbach. Wurttem-
| berg, November ~, 1859, and died at
spector of THE Palace of Solitude"
royal residence near Stuttgart, where
Schiller was educated in the ducal mill
| tarY academy He afterWard studied