The Erlkönig maneuver

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The Erlkönig Maneuver is a historical novel by Robert Löhr from 2007.

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The novel is set around 1805. Napoleon has usurped the rule in France and is advancing further and further into Europe. He becomes a threat to the German princes. A group of German writers from the Classical and Romantic periods were commissioned by the monarch to rescue the Dauphin Louis-Charles from the French-occupied Mainz and bring him to the French throne as the rightful king. The flight from Mainz and through Germany is described in 12 chapters. Löhr mixes the historical circumstances of Goethe , Schiller , Kleist , Alexander von Humboldt , Achim von Arnim and Bettine Brentano with a fictional plot and adorns the story with more or less well-known quotes and allusions to biographical events.

Plot (detail)

Chapters 1-4

On February 19, 1805, Goethe was called to see Duke Carl August of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach . He receives the secret assignment to travel to Mainz with a troop and the son of Louis XVI. to free the Dauphin Louis-Charles and bring him to Weimar, where his clients Sir William Stanley, Baron Louis Vavel de Versay and Sophie Botta want to bring him back to the throne of France. Goethe reports his project to Schiller, who accompanies him as well as Alexander von Humboldt and the two Frankfurters Achim von Arnim and Bettine Brentano. However, Schiller is the only one who knows that they should not only free the Dauphin, but that he should also be brought back to the throne. On the morning of the next day they cross the Rhine. A French patrol discovered the group, but since Friedrich Schiller was an honorary citizen of the revolution , they let the group move on. Napoleon wants to kill the Dauphin, which is why he has the Dauphin's former nanny, Madame Rembraud, brought to Mainz. She should recognize the Dauphin. The next day, Goethe, Schiller, Bettine Brentano and Achim von Arnim attacked Mme Rembraud's carriage. The action almost fails, but Heinrich von Kleist, who gave Goethe his comedy Der zerbrochne Krug and followed the piece, saves the group and is included. They put on the uniforms of the National Guard and pretend to be French.

Chapters 5-7

The group arrives in Mainz and lodges in an abandoned monastery. The plan is for Bettine to recognize the Dauphin as Mme Rembraud and Goethe as Lieutenant Bassompierre with Arnim, Kleist and Humboldt disguised as National Guardsmen to shoot the Dauphin with paper balls. Disguised as a monk, Schiller is supposed to inform Louis-Charles of this plan, so that he pretends to be dead and has Goethe and the others put in a coffin. However, Schiller is stopped on his way to the Deutschhaus , the location of the impending event. When the people disguised as National Guards arrived at the Deutschhaus with Bettine, they met Capitaine Santing. The plan fails because the Dauphin reveals Bettine to be a false Madame Rembraud. The companions must fight. Since Santing still has the letter that allows the group safe passage, Achim von Arnim turns around on the run from the house and meets the angry Santing. He throws himself out of a window while writing, but Santing hits him in the leg with a bullet. The group flees across the Rhine bridge in a carriage and on horseback, but is followed by Santing and other riders. The maneuver to put the carriage across, to blow it up and to escape with the horses succeeds, but Schiller takes an involuntary bath in the Rhine. The troops continue to flee along the German bank of the Rhine. The companions stop in a hostel in the Spessart and Schiller joins them again. He was able to save himself and his horse from the stream and followed the group. Capitaine Santing, who lost an eye in the carriage explosion, chases Goethe, Schiller, Kleist, Humboldt, Bettine and Arnim through Germany. Shortly before Friedlos, a place near the Wartburg , where Sir William Stanley is staying and is supposed to receive the Dauphin, the news reaches them that Santing has killed the Englishman.

Chapters 8-10

After fleeing through Germany, further and further away from the actual destination, in order to leave the Capitaine behind, they stop in the Kyffhäuser Mountains. A small cave high in the mountains offers them protection. But the close coexistence of the different characters leads to many disputes. Bettine, who is supposed to marry Arnim in Frankfurt, falls in love with Goethe and cannot decide between the two rivals. And he angered Heinrich von Kleist too. When Schiller suffers chills, the privy councilor burns Kleist's comedy The Broken Jug, much to Kleist's annoyance . Humboldt is able to soothe him and soon love awakens between the two. In a bath, Schiller finds out that the Dauphin they freed does not have the birthmark described by Madame Rembraud. Goethe had been suspecting all along that the liberated man was not the real Louis-Charles. Alexander is instructed to ride to Weimar and get reinforcements. But Santing can catch him and wants to exchange the Dauphin for Humboldt. But Karl, as they have now baptized Louis-Charles, disappears and Alexander's life seems lost. The attackers blow up the cave and Arnim, Kleist, Schiller and Goethe follow a small crack into the darkness. You get into a cave from which no escape seems possible. By exploring the various branches they find Karl, who fled. Bettine, who was not in the camp during the French attack, is able to save the men from the cave. The paths are now parting. Achim von Arnim returns to Frankfurt without Bettine accompanying Goethe. Kleist sets out to save Alexander from the hands of the Ingolstadt-born Capitaine Santing, who is not a native of France. Bettine is sent to an uncle shortly before Weimar. After the six week long journey, the companions arrive in Weimar. They hand Karl over to Sophie Botta and the Baron de Versay, and the small group leaves soon after. Goethe and Schiller are plagued by a fever and rest in bed for a long time. When the two are feeling a little better again, Goethe receives a letter from Humboldt. He is released. In the meantime, Schiller has begun to write this story, but he chooses Russia and a tsar as the fulcrum, as this mission requires the utmost silence.

Chapters 11-12

Friedrich von Schiller dies on May 8, 1805. Goethe learns from farmers that on the night of his death a figure broke into Schiller's house and fled with a portfolio. Schiller's manuscript is missing, and the description of the thief fits Santing perfectly. After a chase for several days, Goethe breaks into Eisausen Castle, the quarter of Santing. In the salon, however, he meets Sophie Botta and Baron de Versay. The captain now works on their behalf and was only given the task of procuring the manuscript; he didn't touch Schiller. As a confidante, they want to poison Goethe, but Heinrich von Kleist leaps through the window at the last second. Bettine and Humboldt take part in the fight that has now broken out. At Schiller's funeral, the three of them found out that Goethe had ridden south and followed in his footsteps. The baron and Madame Botta escape, but Humboldt kills Capitaine Santing. Kleist can easily save Schiller's text burnt. It turns out that Alexander von Humboldt has an agreement with the Ingolstadt man. Therefore he is cast out. Bettine rides to Frankfurt and marries Achim von Arnim there. Heinrich von Kleist accompanies the privy councilor to Weimar, but rides on and goes back to the Prussian army. Karl is fine, even if he's not the real Dauphin.

literature

  • Robert Löhr: The Erlkönig maneuver . Piper, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-492-04929-0 .
  • Robert Löhr: The Erlkönig maneuver . Audio book, speaker: Helge Heynold, 6 CDs, 452 minutes, HR2 Kultur, Steinbach Talking Books, Schwäbisch Hall 2008, ISBN 978-3-88698-935-5

Web links