The twelve apostles (Marlitt)

The first page of the imprint in the gazebo

The twelve apostles is a story that E. Marlitt published in 1865 in the family weekly " Die Gartenlaube " (booklets 36-39). The work, Marlitt's literary debut, was such a popular success that Ernst Keil , the magazine's publisher, began publishing Marlitt's first novel, Goldelse , just three months later . The first book edition to contain the story was the anthology Thuringian stories published in 1869 by the editor of the "Gartenlaube", Ernst Keil .

The work tells the story of the young Maddalena, who, as a stranger in the Thuringian city in which she grew up, is marginalized, but ultimately finds love and through this also social recognition.

action

Part 1. The place of the action is an unmarked city in Thuringia (meaning Arnstadt ). Time is the author's present, i.e. the 19th century.

Suschen Hartmann, called "the mermaid", is the daughter of a poor cobbler. As a theology student, her brother Leberecht filled a whole closet with good books, but dies of tuberculosis. Both mothers also died too early, with the birth of a third child, a daughter Magdalene, who Suschen had to raise. When their father dies soon after Leberecht, Suschen and little Magdalene are all alone in the world. They find refuge in the former nunnery, which is now an asylum for the poor. Suschen earns her living as a fine laundromat.

Magdalene is growing up. The local princess employs a Neapolitan sculptor, Giuseppe Bervaldo, at her court. Giuseppe and Magdalene fall in love, get married and go to Italy.

14 years later both are dead. They leave behind an 8-year-old daughter, Maddalena. Suschen, now an old woman, takes in the orphan. Because of her southern appearance, Maddalena is scolded, teased and marginalized by the other children "Tater" ("Gypsy"). Antonie, the spoiled and nerdy granddaughter of Councilor Bauer, behaves particularly hideously. When the councilor was still a young girl and "Friederike" was called, Leberecht loved her. The fact that Friederike married someone else broke Leberecht's heart; he was dead the day after the wedding. The councilor later became strict and a paragon of conceit. She is a sister of the mayor Werner, whose son Egon von Maddalena is also counted among her tormentors due to his proximity to Antonie.

But not all are bad for Maddalena. An old painter, roommate in the old nunnery, discovers that the girl has artistic talent, teaches her drawing and encourages her to read the books left by Leberecht. After the painter dies, old Jacob takes care of her.

Part 2. Twelve years later. The wild child Maddalena has become a young woman who is now called Lenchen . She has made a profession out of illustrating corpse carmen (funeral poems), but out of sympathy for the mourners, she gives away her works rather than taking money for them.

Part 3. Egon Werner loses his parents, but receives a good education and can study painting in Italy. After many years he is now returning and looking for Suschen, who keeps the key to the no longer used monastery church. Egon heard the legend that twelve silver figures representing the apostles are said to be hidden on the monastery grounds . As an artist, this makes him curious, he wants to see the church. In Lenchen, whom he doesn't remember at all, he falls in love at first sight. The latter, however, cannot forgive him for the supposed unfriendliness of the past and meets him with open hostility, especially since she believes that it is only the material value of the apostles' figures that interests him. Egon contradicts her: “Since I have not yet had the slightest appetite for these dead treasures, I will stick to the apostle, in whose wonderful teaching a new life dawns for me, which roams the world at all times and brings lovely messages . Suddenly he ignites a shining light in the poor human children, who until then had walked in blindness. "

At first Lenchen does not know that Egon was a student of Leberecht and is a good person. Immediately after his return from Italy, he gave the needy old Jacob and his wife an apartment in his house, in which the councilor and her granddaughter Antonie also lived. During a visit to Jacob, Suschen and Lenchen witness how Egon Antonie appears to be courting. Lenchen fell in love with Egon and was hit hard by this observation. That is not the only misunderstanding between the lovers: Lenchen is also jealous of the portrait drawing that Egon made of a young woman and about which he said he did not want to marry anyone other than her. Of course, Lenchen did not see the drawing at all and therefore does not know that she herself - Lenchen - is the one depicted. Another misunderstanding arises when the councilor Suschen and Lenchen, who leave the Werner property after visiting Jacob, insulted them as "rabble". It is true that Egon rebukes his aunt; Lenchen believes, however, that it is not sympathy that prompts him, but rather displeasure with the councilor, who acts like a landlady on his land. In the end Lenchen can no longer bear all the suspected hostility and decides to leave the city.

Part 4. Even before Lenchen's departure, the lovers met by chance in the monastery church, during which Lenchen expressed her bitterness from her heart and Egon finally found out why she was so hostile to him. A little later Lenchen discovers a secret passage on the monastery grounds, which she follows curiously until she surprisingly finds herself in the garden of the Werner House. Fortunately, she is not discovered there by the councilor, but by Egon Werner, who takes her in his arms:

"Well, I have to thank the legendary twelve apostles for reaching my happy goal faster than I dared to hope!" Shouted Werner, laughing. "Do you also remember what I wished you during our first conversation that ended so stormy?"

"Certainly - that apostle ..."

"Is love."

Expenses (selection)

• The twelve apostles . Zenodot, 2015, ISBN 978-3-8430-9660-7 .
• The twelve apostles . In: Thuringian stories: schoolmaster Marie, the twelve apostles, bluebeard, bailiff's maid . Hofenberg, 2018, ISBN 978-3-7437-2576-8 , pp. 58-112 .

Web links

Wikisource: The Twelve Apostles  - Sources and Full Texts

Commons : The Twelve Apostles  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files