Cosima's Diaries

Diary Entry of January 8, 1873

Overview

This day centers on family rituals, school concerns, and frustration over money and stagnant affairs. The author writes to her father and follows R.’s work, while worrying about Loldi’s health and whether school suits her. External reading about military history offers a welcome sense of clarity and restraint. The mood remains strained, but the visit from Frau von Lerchenfeld briefly relieves the pressure.

Content

Wednesday, January 8:

Hans’s birthday! I write to my father, R. continues with his article about our journey. We eat with the children and drink Hans’s health - Loldi is not very well, we fear that school might not agree with her.

R. suffers many vexations, demands for money from all sides, and all our affairs so stagnant! We find true refreshment in some passages from the general staff’s account of the war; the description of the Steinmetz error pleases us particularly with its restraint and delicacy. (Visit from Frau v. Lerchenfeld.)