In the Schillingshof

In the Schillingshof is a novel (family novel, marriage novel, romance novel ) that E. Marlitt published in 1879 in the family weekly Die Gartenlaube (issues 14–39). The book edition with illustrations by Wilhelm Claudius followed in 1880 in the publishing house of the former publisher of the gazebo , who died in 1878 , Ernst Keil .

The novel tells the story of Arnold von Schilling, an artistically inclined baron who is trapped in an arranged marriage with an unloved woman, from whom he can free himself in the course of the plot. The subplots include, among other things, Arnold's neighbor Therese Lucian, who is estranged from her only son, but is reunited with her grandchildren after his death, and the maid Hannchen, whose father commits suicide after an unjust accusation, but is rehabilitated by Hannchen becomes.

action

The character relationships in the novel

The place of the action is a fictional former Benedictine monastery in an unmarked German city, the time initially the year 1860.

Chapters 1-9. Behind the name “Schillingshof” hides a representative residential building, in which the Benedictines once accommodated their guests. After the Reformation , the monastery and guest house fell to new masters:

The guest house, which has been called "Schillingshof" since then, is taken over by the barons of Schilling. A few generations later, however, these are threatened with extinction. The last male heir, Arnold von Schilling, saves the property by entering into a convention toe with his cousin Clementine. The marriage contract is largely in favor of the bride.

The remainder of the monastery complex came into the possession of the Wolfram family, who expanded the complex into a flourishing agricultural business. After a few generations, the Wolfram also have problems with their offspring: Five daughters are born to Franz Wolfgang, but no male heir. In addition, none of the girls survived. A way out emerges when Franz's sister Therese falls apart with her husband, a Major Lucian, and returns to the Wolframhaus with her son Felix. Felix takes the name Wolfram as the designated heir. These plans come to nothing when Franz unexpectedly becomes the father of a son. Because the mother dies shortly after the birth, Therese raises the child. Felix falls behind, with his mother's approval.

Felix is ​​friends with Arnold von Schilling. The two young men got close to each other as law students in Berlin. However, your fathers are enemies.

The plot of the novel begins with Franz Wolfram buying a piece of land at a ridiculous price, under which a large coal deposit is hidden. Arnold's father Krafft von Schilling had actually discovered this natural resource. When Wolfram precedes him, the quick-tempered Krafft believes that his servant Adam has betrayed the matter to the neighbor. Adam is thrown out of the house and drowns himself in the river because he cannot stand the unjust shame. His little daughter Johanna vows to rehabilitate her father. Arnold suspects that there has been an injustice and takes the orphan into his household.

Felix loves Lucile, the fun-loving and very superficial daughter of a well-known Berlin ballerina. Since neither Lucile's mother (who is planning a stage career for the daughter) nor Felix's mother and uncle want to give their blessing to this connection, the young lovers go to South Carolina , where Felix's father, Major Lucian, has now married the daughter of a Spanish plantation owner and got rich. A 13-year-old daughter Mercedes comes from the major's second marriage. When Arnold happened to see a portrait of the young girl, he was strangely impressed by the beautiful stranger.

Chapters 10-12. Eight years later. In the Wolframhaus the family owner Veit has grown into a "rumbling devil". Old Krafft died in the Schillingshof; Arnold, now not only a veteran of the Bohemian campaign of 1866 but also a successful painter, is now head of the family. Since Arnold obviously doesn't love her, his wife Clementine has brought her friend Adelheid to live with her. In America, Major Lucian and son Felix lost all their property and fell in the Civil War . Felix's last wish was for Lucile to come to Germany with their children, José and Paula, and to establish contact with his mother. Clementine does not agree with the expected billeting of the "dancer" and travels with Adelheid on a pilgrimage to Rome, not without secretly hoping that Arnold will miss her.

Chapters 13-15. Lucile's arrival causes quite a stir because, in addition to her children, she also brings a concert grand, a large dog, two African-American servants and Felix's distinctive half-sister Mercedes. Mercedes, a beautiful but also sinister and dismissive young woman, had become a wife and widow in a single day during the American Civil War.

Chapters 16-23. Arnold covers Mercedes in their concern to help the children to their Wolfram inheritance, the back. Therese and her grandchildren come together for the first time when Veit lures José to play at the Wolframhaus and locks him in the junk room. Therese frees him and takes a stand against Veit for the first time, who is treated like a crown prince in the house. After the excitement of being locked up, José falls seriously ill. Mercedes and Arnold get closer as they look after the child together; but their very rugged personalities soon drive them apart again. Since Lucile still behaves like a fragile young girl despite her motherhood, Mercedes keeps the loss of her fortune a secret from her. When Lucile spends more money than is available as a result, tensions arise, and Lucile finally makes his way to Berlin, where she is expected for a stage engagement. Arnold follows her to get her back.

Chapters 24-33. Since Lucile cannot be persuaded to return, Arnold returns from Berlin without her. Shortly before, Clementine and Nobility had returned from their pilgrimage. When Clementine discovers that Arnold didn't miss her at all, she becomes ill.

In the Schillingshof, an important document disappears under mysterious circumstances: Felix's last will, in which it was ordered that the children should be brought into contact with his mother. However, the rapprochement takes its course: After meeting Mercedes, Therese seeks closeness to José for the first time and introduces himself to him as his grandmother. When Lucile tries to kidnap her daughter Paula a little later, it is Therese who prevents her. After Lucile leaves again, Mercedes gives Therese the children.

Chapters 34-37. Wolfram had overexploited the coal mine and ignored the safety rules. As a result, there is a large ingress of water in the shafts; the misfortune costs many lives. Veit, unsupervised in the chaos, discovers an old secret passage between Wolframhaus and Schillingshof, the so-called "Mäuseweg". Johanna catches him and thereby gains certainty that it was not her father who was the spy, but that Franz Wolfram himself spied. The last doubts about this suspicion are dispelled when the stolen document is found in Wolfram's possession. Wolfram dies in the pit during the rescue work. Immediately beforehand, Veit had also died of an epileptic fit. The only heir to Wolfram's fortune is Therese.

Chapters 38-39. Arnold confronts Clementine by explaining that he doesn't love her and that he plans to pay her off. Clementine is beside herself. When she tries to put Arnold's studio under water in revenge, Mercedes steps in to save herself, but is injured in the scuffle with Clementine.

Arnold has placed some of his paintings at art exhibitions abroad and is leaving to be there himself. He can't stop Clementine from going with him. Mercedes, who had previously pleaded for poverty and actually had considerable cash reserves, bought a villa not far from the Schillingshof, into which she moved with Therese and the children.

Chapters 40-41. Three years later. The exhausting stage life made Lucile seriously ill, she lives again with Mercedes and her children. Clementine got divorced and lives in the convent. Arnold is now free and returns to Mercedes, nothing stands in the way of their connection.

Position of the novel in Marlitt's oeuvre

In this novel, more than in any of her other works, Marlitt breaks with the expectations of readers that she herself has created. So in Schillingshof Marlitts single prose work in which the story line is rather late clear to the reader, who is actually the main female character. Marlitt continues to surprise her audience with her male love partner. Arnold von Schilling was introduced early on, but as a married man, which initially made him very unlikely for readers to be the protagonist's love partner. In all of Marlitt's other works, the male main character is unbound at the first meeting with the protagonist.

background

The topic of the mine accident caused by a water ingress was touched on in the novel by many readers of the gazebo through a report from Grube Döllinger: Still well remembered from the days of horror at Teplitz (issue 10, 1879).

Publication and reception

Ernst Keil had promised the readers of the gazebo that the novel would be published in early 1878. However, Marlitt was sick at this point and initially could not deliver the required chapters.

Herbert Ballmann directed a television film Im Schillingshof for ZDF in 1973 . It featured Joachim Ansorge (Arnold), Evelyn Opela (Mercedes) and Ursela Monn (Lucile).

Expenses (selection)

• In the Schillingshof . Ernst Keil, 1880.
• In the Schillingshof . Schreiter, Berlin 1918.
• In the Schillingshof . Langen Müller, Munich 1994.
• In the Schillingshof . Hofenberg, 2015, ISBN 978-3-8430-3179-0 .

In other languages :

• In the Schillingscourt: A romance . G. Munro's Sons, New York 1879.
• Schillingshof . F. & G. Beijer, Stockholm 1879.
• La abuela: la casa Schilling . Montaner y Simón, Barcelona 1914.

Web links

Wikisource: Im Schillingshof  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

1. ↑ s: To our readers (Gartenlaube 1878/1)