Duke of Alba having breakfast at Rudolstadt Castle. In 1547

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Friedrich Schiller painting by Anton Graff

Duke of Alba having breakfast at Rudolstadt Castle. The year 1547 is the title of an anecdote by Friedrich Schiller that is related to his historical writings. It appeared in October 1788 in Christoph Martin Wieland's literary magazine Der Teutsche Merkur .

In his short text, Schiller portrays Countess Katharina von Schwarzburg, who, through a daring plan, succeeds in preventing the looting of her territory by Spanish troops under the notorious Duke of Alba .

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Duke Alba and the Countess von Schwarzburg ( The Gazebo 1860)

Coming from a house "that shone through heroism and gave the German Empire an emperor", the countess shows her circumspection and care as the troops approach. First of all, she obtained a letter of protection from Emperor Charles V , which was supposed to protect her subjects from suffering and losses from the Spanish army. In return, she promises to have cheap food brought to a bridge to take care of the soldiers who are translating there. She allows the residents of the affected localities to keep their belongings with her in the castle.

At the request of the commander, the Duke of Alba, she receives him, the Duke of Braunschweig and his sons for breakfast. A messenger told her that Spanish soldiers were stealing cattle from the farmers in some villages and were committing acts of violence. Horrified at breaking the imperial word, she orders the servants to arm themselves and lock the doors.

Alba and his princely followers laughingly reject their protests, saying that “this is the custom of the war” and “such little accidents” cannot be avoided. With a raised voice, she demands that the stolen goods be returned to her subjects, otherwise “royal blood for ox blood” will flow. She leaves the hall, which is immediately filled with armed men who stand behind the princes' chairs and serve them with "sword in hand, but with great respect" at breakfast. After Prince Heinrich von Braunschweig gave a diplomatic eulogy for the Countess' “maternal care and determined courage”, the stunned Alba is ready to order the soldiers to return the looted property to the farmers and can leave the castle a little later with his companions.

Origin and background

The text goes back to a visit by Schiller to Heidecksburg Castle on July 7, 1788, when the sisters Lengefeld and Wilhelm von Woliehen accompanied him. Impressed by the facility, he immersed himself in a chronicle by the theologian Söffing from Rudolstadt , which he could study in a well-stocked library of the privy councilor Carl Gerd von Ketelhodt and which he only covered a little in his version.

Like his short story A Magnanimous Plot , Schiller also called this work an anecdote. Again, he is less interested in the historical event itself than in a certain extreme situation in which a character has to prove himself.

In a letter dated October 1, 1788, he wrote to his friend Christian Gottfried Körner that he himself did not particularly appreciate the work; it is "of little concern". This was due not least to the homely character of the anecdote, which was later not published again, in which the Thuringian ruling house is very clearly praised. Schiller met the youngest member of the house, Hereditary Prince Ludwig Friedrich von Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, on May 29, 1788 in Kumbach.

With its striking brevity, the work is reminiscent of the terse and anecdotal texts of Heinrich von Kleist , in which he also concisely designed bizarre events and often gave them a surprising twist at the end.

literature

  • Peter-André Alt : The mysterious machinery of the soul. Schiller's stories at a glance . In: Schiller. Life - Work - Time, Eine Biographie, Volume I, Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2000, pp. 477–478
  • Helmut Koopmann : Duke of Alba / game of fate . In: Schiller manual, edited by Helmut Koopmann, Alfred Kröner Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, p. 749

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Friedrich Schiller: Duke of Alba having breakfast at the castle in Rudolstadt. In 1547 , In: Complete Works, Volume III: Poems, Stories, Translations. Deutscher Bücherbund, Stuttgart, p. 515
  2. ^ Friedrich Schiller: Duke of Alba having breakfast at the castle in Rudolstadt. In 1547 , In: Complete Works, Volume III: Poems, Stories, Translations. Deutscher Bücherbund, Stuttgart, p. 516
  3. ^ Friedrich Schiller: Duke of Alba having breakfast at the castle in Rudolstadt. In 1547 , In: Complete Works, Volume III: Poems, Stories, Translations. Deutscher Bücherbund, Stuttgart, p. 516
  4. ^ Friedrich Schiller: Duke of Alba having breakfast at the castle in Rudolstadt. In 1547 , In: Complete Works, Volume III: Poems, Stories, Translations. Deutscher Bücherbund, Stuttgart, p. 517
  5. ^ Peter-André Alt: Schiller. Life - Work - Time , Eine Biographie, Volume I, Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2000, p. 478
  6. ↑ Helmut Koopmann: Herzog von Alba / Spiel des Schicksals : In: Schiller-Handbuch, Ed. Helmut Koopmann, Alfred Kröner Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, p. 749
  7. ↑ Notes on Friedrich Schiller: Duke of Alba having breakfast at the castle in Rudolstadt. In 1547 , In: Complete Works, Volume III: Poems, Stories, Translations. Deutscher Bücherbund, Stuttgart, p. 1190
  8. ^ Peter-André Alt: Schiller. Life - Work - Time , Eine Biographie, Volume I, Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2000, p. 478
  9. ^ Peter-André Alt: Schiller. Life - Work - Time , Eine Biographie, Volume I, Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2000, p. 478