The herald. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1905-1953, 1919-06-12
IATEIMAR, the little city which
wv is the capital of the duChy
of SaXe-Weimar and which

n
wv is the capital of the duChy
w of SaXeWeimar and which
was selected as the meeting
place for the German national assem-
bly,, has long been denOminated the
Athens of Germany" 1t stands for
| what was the best in German life.
For Weimar was once a great capt.
tai in the world of letters: around
1t cluster many of the finest recOl-
lectiOns and traditions of the Ger
many that was.
Goethe and Schiller, tOpmOst among
the German poets, lived and died
there. Some of the finest cOmpO-
sitions of List and Mendelssohn were
conceived in Weimar. In this quaint
old town SchOpenhauer dwelt in the
unutterable gloom that permeates his
philosophy. To it's restful solitude
and its greatest memories came Metz
sche, apostle of dreadfulness, to die.
And it drew George Eliot, Thackeray,
Bayard Taylor and many other no
tables of other lands who sought in
spiration I'm this spot which had
| lured the immortals of an earlier
day, remarks the Kansas City Star.
Where Famous Women Lived.
Weimar it was which produced two
of the best remembered of German
women, the Grand Duchess Anna
Amalie, whose efforts gave Germany
its first real standing in art and let
fnn ri 81,
gifted, brilliant woman whom Goethe
loved long and in vain. All Germany
has laid homage at the feet of Duchess
Anna Amalie. And of Charlotte Won
Stein 1t has been said that no other
woman, not even Dante's Beatrice
or Petrarch's Laura, has been SO hon.
Ored in song.
All the glory of Weimar belongs to
the time before the Prussian arch
militarist and materialist. With the
oscendancy of the HohenzOllerns and
the elevation of force and greed above
the things of the mind and spirit Wei
mar faded into background memory.
Its selection by the new government
as seat for elaboration may serve
to bring back to it some of its depart
ed glory.
The beginning of Weimar's great
ness came about 1756, when Anna
Amalie, niece of Frederick the Great,
went there as q bride of the duke
She summoned Weiland, poet and stu
dent, to act as tutor for her boys
Three years later young Goethe went
to Weimar. Others followed. Elm
siedel, the poet, musician and actor;
BOde, the translator of Smollett and
Cervantes; Knebel, the classicist;
Corona SchrOter, the brilliant and
beautiful actress and singer; Herder,
the preacher poet and father of Ger
man folk song, and finally Schiller,
who eventually was to take rank with
Goethe.
Goethe the Master There.
The names Of Goethe and Schiller
dominate Weimar. The former lived
in the town fifty-six years. He was
all things to Weimar. the adviser of
Its rulers, architect of its chief struc-
lures, dictator of it's thought, and
finally its greatest and best loved
memory. His house on the Goethe
Plata Is one of the towns sights"
and monuments of him occupy the
most prominent positions. Even his
garden house has been, preserved in |
reverent memory.
An indication of the way in which |
Goethe was regarded in old Weimar is
Cleaned from an oft told incident. |
The poet coveted the house that later
was to be his. Its owner would not |
sell to him, however. So Duke Karl |
August went forth one day and I'M
tremendously took charge of the
house.
but me no buts," he replied to the |
reluctant owner. Goethe wants it |
and we must give it to him or we
shall not keep him."
The thousands of letters the adoring |
Goethe wrote to Charlotte Won Stein /
all are kept in the building that |
houses the Goethe and Schiller ar
chives. For ten years he paid de-
voted court to her, but she was the |
wife OF another man and, although |
she valued the homage of this man,
who was one Of the handsOmest and !
most distinguished in Europe, it is
generally believed that she did not In
any way return his affections.
CarlyIe's Tribute to Schiller.
Schiller's old home has been bought
by the town and converted into a
museum. His rooms are almost as he
left them, the floors bare, the ceiling
low and the furniture scanty, plain
and almost primitive. OF this place
Carlyle has written: