It has never been more wonderful to live
It has never been more wonderful to live. The secret diary of the Duke of Croÿ, 1718–1784 is the title of the memoirs of Duke Emmanuel von Croÿ, first published in German in 2011 . The time is described by the heyday of the reign of Louis XV. until shortly before the French Revolution . The translation and editing was done by Hans Pleschinski , who had previously translated the correspondence between Voltaire and Frederick the Great and the letters of Madame de Pompadour from French into German .
background
On February 1, 1737, Emmanuel made his first entry in his diary. The Duke of Croÿ wanted to leave the memories, a total of 41 handwritten volumes, to his descendants as a family chronicle; they are considered truthful compared to other memoirs of his time, which were intended for the public. However, Emmanuel almost completely ignored the Third Estate in his chronicle , which distinguishes him from other chroniclers of the time, such as Samuel Pepys . The Duke's memories are e.g. Sometimes extremely detailed, but Pleschinski omitted many descriptions of battles in his translation. The German selection edition comprises about a quarter of the entire recordings, but also includes the passages about the Duke's trip to Germany that were left out in the French editions. In his translation, von Pleschinski added historical introductions and footnotes to the individual chapters.
content
The memoir is preceded by a poem by André Chénier .
In the first chapter, A Prince Introduces himself , Emmanuel looks back at the time before his memoirs began. He tells of his upbringing under the teacher Rhindorf or Rheindorf, who among other things also taught him the German language, which would be an advantage for Emmanuel in the course of his life.
The actual diary entries begin in the second chapter, Young Hustle and bustle . Emmanuel describes his admission to the Gray Musketeers and the drill there. The young aristocrat's susceptibility to disease is an issue.
In the fourth chapter Death in Vienna , Emmanuel reports on the death of Charles VI. , Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation , in 1740 and embarking on his first campaign, the War of the Austrian Succession in 1741.
German impressions provide an insight into the urban landscape of West Germany at that time, in the following chapter the Duke reports on the imperial election in 1742, which brought forth Charles VII as the winner. His descriptions of the German cities of that time and the decisive people are precious. At the same time, a cultural history of travel unfolds.
In the fifteenth chapter The attempt to assassinate Louis XV are. of January 5, 1757 and the subsequent (even under the circumstances at that time found to be cruel) execution and quartering of the assassin Damiens retold.
The chapter Cruel Finale is the only meticulous description of the suffering and death of Louis XV. Emmanuel spares nothing in the description of the king's smallpox death.
people
The courtier Emmanuel devoted himself in detail to the French kings Louis XV in his memoirs . and Louis XVI. as well as her wives Maria Leszczyńska and Marie Antoinette . Even the mistresses of Louis XV. He paid some attention to Madame de Pompadour , Marie-Louise O'Murphy and Madame du Barry . In the diaries, Emmanuel et al. a. about his encounters with Jean-Jacques Rousseau , Benjamin Franklin , Robert François Damiens and Emperor Joseph II.
swell
- ↑ a b c d Wolfgang Burgdorf: Pardon, but mostly I'm the only king here! Duke von Croÿ: It has never been more wonderful to live. Frankfurter Allgemeine , August 12, 2011, accessed on January 4, 2014 (German).
- ↑ a b Hans Pleschinski: It has never been more wonderful to live. The secret diary of the Duke of Croÿ, 1718–1784 , Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2011, p. 409 ff.
- ↑ a b Jürgen Müller: Hans Pleschinski (ed.): It has never been more wonderful to live. Duke von Croÿ: It has never been more wonderful to live. Sehepunkte - Review journal for the humanities, 2012, accessed on January 4, 2014 (German).