Cosima's Diaries

Diary Entry of August 28, 1873

Overview

A night of thunderstorms was followed by the sudden death of President von Lerchenfeld, news that deeply unsettled the household. The weather remained stifling and nerve-wracking, though R. kept working. They visited the new house, which still made no real progress despite the laying of the granite stone and the need to tip the workers; R. joked darkly about a funeral feast. In the evening they read The Myth of Thor and talked over the qualities of good German style, praising simplicity and strict grammar.

Content

Thursday, August 28:

Night of thunderstorms; early in the morning the news that President von Lerchenfeld has died suddenly. The shock is a severe one—who can shut his eyes to the possibilities which lie ahead? The great closeness of the weather also has a numbing effect on our nerves; but R. works.

In the afternoon to the new house, which is making absolutely no progress. The granite stone has been laid, and, since this cost a great deal of effort, the people had to be given a tip, and R. jokes about a funeral feast.

In the evening The Myth of Thor. At lunch R. and I spoke of the prerequisites for a good German style, and how, with the degeneration that has now set in, one cannot be too simple or grammatically too strict.