Cosima's Diaries

Diary Entry of September 29, 1873

Overview

On September 29, the possibility of halting work on the theater hangs over them, and R. begins sending letters to rally support and form a consortium of patrons. Just after the correspondence is finished, they learn that a worker has fallen to his death from the theater scaffolding, turning their earlier relief into grief and silence. The weather and the writer's mood are both described as mild but melancholy. The evening is spent with family and the dean, underscoring the somber atmosphere.

Content

Monday, September 29:

Will work on the theater have to be stopped? That is the question which alarms and occupies us. R. writes to Councillor Duffl. and to Herr Zacharias, instructing the latter to form a consortium of patrons. I write to Emil Heckel.

As we have just completed these letters, Loldi comes to tell us that a worker has fallen to his death from the top scaffolding of the theater. A sad shock. We had felt it to be a blessing that no such accident had yet accompanied the building work; now it has happened, and the sign is received in silence.

The sky is overcast, as if rain is on its way, but the air is mild; it accords with the atmosphere in my heart, which is also mild and melancholy. In the evening, sister-in-law, nephew, and the good dean.