The falconers from the Falkenhof
The Falkner vom Falkenhof is a novel (family, horror , crime , romance ) that Eufemia von Adlersfeld-Ballestrem published in 1890 as a serial in the 6th year of the illustrated family magazine Universum . Book publications followed with the Reclam publishing house , which bought the universe in 1896. The work proved to be a bestseller and has seen dozens of editions to date.
The novel tells the story of the poor, but beautiful and characterful opera singer Dolores Freiin von Falkner, who unexpectedly inherits an important aristocratic seat. A relative tries to kill her out of revenge for not reciprocating his love, and in order to enjoy the inheritance herself. Dolores not only manages to thwart his machinations, but also, after many complications, to marry the man she loves.
plot
- first book
The location of the action is the provincial town X., the time the author's presence, i.e. the late 1880s. The opera Satanella will be premiered on the city stage . The title role is sung by a foreign prima donna, Dolores Falconieros, a 22-year-old Brazilian with German roots. She soon turns out to be the composer of the work. In the audience there are local art lovers, including the history painter Richard Keppler and the designated heir to an important noble residence, the Falkenhof, Legation Councilor Alfred Freiherr von Falkner. Alfred is a critical, cool, even dismissive person who, despite his 38 years of age, is still unmarried. The opera experience, however, causes him great inner turmoil. Alfred attends every performance, but plays down his shock in front of acquaintances and makes fun of the work and creator.
Soon the reader learns the reason for his excitement:
"From
my youth, from my youth, a song sounds to me forever -"
In the time of Alfred's childhood, his uncle Gustav was the master of the Falkenhof. Alfred's father, Gustav's younger brother, died early; Alfred's mother, Adelheid, soon remarried, to the displeasure of the family, namely Alfred's tutor, the dear-servant Dr. Theobald Ruß, for whom this connection was far more profitable than for the widow.
In addition to Gustav and Alfred's father, there was a third brother, Friedrich, who had married a Brazilian, then went bankrupt and was forced to live on the Falkenhof again. The couple brought their little daughter with them, who became Alfred's beloved playmate, while their uncle, Gustav, rejected the girl because of her foreign mother and her stubborn temperament and reviled her as a “child of the devil” - an assessment that was extremely formative for the girl and her even in adulthood made people believe that she had no heart.
A bitter argument between the brothers resulted in the beloved friend disappearing from Alfred's life from one day to the next. When the singer Dolores Falconieros appears in town, he immediately realizes that she is none other than his childhood companion and cousin, Baron Dolores von Falkner.
Then Gustav von Falkner dies childless. To everyone's surprise, he does not leave the Falkenhof to Alfred, but to the only surviving relatives of his brother Friedrich: Dolores. Because he does not want the Falkenhof to go to a strange family after Dolores' marriage, it is his last wish that Dolores and Alfred marry.
The relationship between cousin and cousin, which was difficult from the start due to Alfred's massive criticism of her opera, is made even more complicated by this concern of the testator. The idea is, instead, to a family, which he almost inherited Marrying , it is namely even more against the pride than the mere loss of Falkenhof. With great sensitivity, Dolores tries to calm Alfred's resentment that has flared up again and again. So, even though Alfred's mother rejects her as her son's hereditary competitor, she and her husband Ruß continue to live in the Falkenhof free of charge. In order to meet Alfred, she would like to give him the falconry and justify this with the hoax that she owns valuable plantations in Brazil that she must supervise in person so that she cannot stay at the falconry at all. Her generosity irritates Alfred, who does not want to accept any presents from her, but only further. Dolores, who has long been in love with Alfred, is deeply hurt by his dismissive, defiant behavior and in the end only knows one way out: Alfred is to inherit the Falkenhof if she - which she considers likely - dies unmarried.
Dolores finally moves into the Falkenhof, specifically in its "haunted room", which she is particularly fond of for reasons of which she is initially unaware. She later learns that her ancestor Maria Dolorosa, a spouse murderer who has gone mad, lived locked up in the room. As a painting in the castle's picture gallery shows, Dolores is exactly like the ancestor. From now on, Maria appears to Dolores again and again as a dream, greets her as her “savior” and promises to protect Dolores.
Already in her first dream appearance, the apparition to Dolores points out a secret compartment that she actually finds and opens after waking up. In addition to other items from the personal possession of the ancestor, the compartment contains a missal with a handwritten prophecy:
"If the bas' is to marry the cousin,
the falcon will choose a permanent nest.
The last falcon must atone in pain
to sweeten the rest of the ancestors' grave.
When she comes to life again in the form of grace,
which was once painted in the bride's
robe, this falcon can win whether the evil one.
Will my poor soul redeem her,
Will she turn the hawk's heart to herself,
I will hear the angel Alleluia.
Then a thousand-year-old bloom is granted
to the tribe of falconers on the earth below.
If the pair of falcons cannot find each other
, their tribe will be extinguished and disappear. "
Little by little, Dolores learns Maria's full story: Maria Dolorosa, born by Falkner and daughter of a Spanish mother, was supposed to be forced to marry her relative Ferdinand von Falkner in the 17th century. When Ferdinand found out that she had secretly married his brother Lupold, he killed Lupold with the sword and forced Maria to marry. She went mad with pain and stabbed Ferdinand on the night of her wedding. Since she later gave birth to a son Jost, the tribe of falconers remained in spite of the bloody deeds.
The Arnsdorf estate and Monrepos Castle are in the immediate vicinity of the Falkenhof. Dolores begins socializing with the neighbors. The rather shabby Arnsdorf belongs to the eccentric couple Schinga (the countess keeps queues for entertainment). The pleasure palace Monrepos belongs to the Duke of Nordland, who spends carefree summer days here, together with his adult children: the maternal Alexandra, the Hereditary Prince Emil and the superficial, spoiled and extremely capricious Eleanor called "Lolo".
Lolo falls in love with Alfred, who only has eyes for Dolores and finally asks her forgiveness for his tactlessness up to now.
- second book
During a friendly visit to the Falkenhof by the residents of Monrepos and Arnsdorf, Lolo suggests exploring the Falconer's family crypt for the amusement of society. In this crypt lie the remains of Maria Dolorosa, strangely preserved. Lolo shudders and throws himself in Alfred's arms, which makes her affection for him obvious to everyone present. Knightly - Lolo shouldn't lose face - Alfred then asks for her hand.
Dolores also has day-to-day interactions with Alfred's mother and her second husband, Ruß. The latter is extremely friendly towards them. Karl Engels, the manager of the Falkenhof, who takes on a kind of fatherhood at Dolores, warns her in vain about soot, Dolores does not want to see any harm in him. But soot strives for a love affair with the beautiful young heiress and, when Dolores destroys this hope for him, tries by various machinations to get other advantages for himself. So he suggests to Dolores that he should make him the manager of the Falkenhof instead of Engels', and urges Alfred, the future son-in-law of the Duke, to get him a position at court. Both fail, the latter because the old duke is planning to abdicate and return the authority of his house to the emperor.
After Lolo finds a bridegroom, it is time for her older siblings to get married too. Alexandra becomes engaged to a grand duke. Emil, who is only a prince by name, asks for Dolores' hand. She asks for time to think about it. She did not even consider a marriage proposal, which she then received from the history painter Keppler.
Meanwhile more and more strange and sinister things are happening in the Falkenhof. Dolores discovers that the fireplace in her bedroom can turn like a carousel and is actually a secret door, behind which there are also the fresh footprints of a stranger who has probably already gained unnoticed access to her apartment several times. A little later, Dolores is also pushed into the "witch's hole" by an unrecognized person, a romantic pool on the edge of the Falkenhof, in which she almost drowns, but is saved at the last moment by Alfred, who hears her screaming.
As Alfred, when he got to know his fiancée better, discovered more and more obstinacy, flightiness and heartlessness in her, he had doubts about the connection. These culminate in a discussion between him and Dolores and a mutual confession of love. But then Alfred's sense of duty prevails and he and Lolo say I do. After they have settled down on Monrepos at home, Lolo soon becomes bored in marriage and engages in high-spirited antics; Among other things, she surprises Dolores on her birthday with the gift of a grass snake, knowing full well that it is scared to death of snakes.
In the process, Dolores comes under even more serious threats in the Falkenhof. So she barely escapes a pistol bullet. Soon afterwards she becomes strangely tired, complaining that all of her food has a strange taste. The signs are growing that soot is gradually trying to poison her with hydrogen cyanide, partly out of revenge for her rejection, partly out of greed, because if she dies and leaves the Falkenhof Alfred behind, he too will benefit as the stepfather of the heir. Alfred's mother finds out about her husband's activities, thwarts the murder plan and informs Dolores, who confronts her tormentor and suggests that he go abroad with a pension she has suspended. If he refuses, she will report him to the police.
A group of officers is quartered in Monrepos because of a maneuver . Lolo, who is unbearably bored with Alfred, finds the company of the entertaining and handsome men extremely convenient. In order to incite her to a competition for her rescue, she jumps into the "witch's hole" in front of her eyes. Of course, Alfred is the only one who actually follows her into the water. However, he is late, Lolo drowns.
- epilogue
A few years later. Dolores and Alfred got married and had a son, Werner. Soot lives in Australia. Dolores and Alfred interpret the fact that Mary's corpse suddenly crumbles to dust before their eyes as a sign that the ancestress has finally been redeemed.
Plot problems
The author made some noticeable mistakes in the conception of the novel. Dolores' age is given as 22 years and Alfred as 38 years, which results in an age difference of 16 years. On p. 28, however, it says that both were playmates as children with an age difference of no more than 8 years.
It is strange that the author introduces the main female character as a (half) Brazilian and then explains that she speaks to her Brazilian servants - instead of Portuguese - in Spanish . Her name, Dolores , is also Spanish. The Spanish “Señor” and the Italian “Donna” are used as forms of address for the Brazilian characters. The names of the Brazilian servants - Tereza, Ramo Granza -, on the other hand, are Portuguese.
Expenses (selection)
- The falconers from the Falkenhof . Verlag des Universum, Alfred Hauschild, Dresden 1890.
- The falconers from the Falkenhof . Reclam, Leipzig 1896.
- The falconers from the Falkenhof . BiblioBazaar, 2009, ISBN 978-1-115-68209-1 .
- The falconers from the Falkenhof . BiblioLife, 2009, ISBN 978-1-115-68207-7 .
- The falconers from the Falkenhof . CreateSpace, 2016, ISBN 978-1-5233-6329-2 .
- The falconers from the Falkenhof . Hansebooks, 2017, ISBN 978-3-337-35638-5 .
- The falconers from the Falkenhof . Outlook Verlag, 2019, ISBN 978-3-7340-8038-8 .
Web links
- The falconers from the Falkenhof. First volume. Retrieved January 13, 2021 (Project Gutenberg).
- The falconers from the Falkenhof. First volume. Retrieved January 13, 2021 (Project Gutenberg).
Individual evidence
- ↑ The best books of all time and literature . Friedrich Pfeilstücker, Berlin 1889 ( limited preview in Google book search - advertisement).
- ↑ The falconers from the Falkenhof. Retrieved January 13, 2021 (WorldCat).