Thursday, August 6:
Friend Klindworth touches us with the energy and keenness with which he gets down to his hard work.
Family lunch with our friends after I have paid a few calls.
There is said to be an article about our little reception in the Neue Freie Presse, which is really very unpleasant: as usual R. had again embraced Frau Materna, etc.
The poems for the Bismarck Hymn are still coming in regularly; one of the poets has even requested, in the event that R. wins the prize of 1,000 thalers, half of this sum for himself; R. intended to reply to him, saying he had never before had dealings with such an expensive poet.
Prof. Nietzsche tells us about a publisher in Schloss-Chemnitz who has offered his services; he is said to be connected with the Social Democratic party, but all the same, both N. and Prof. Overbeck are accepting his offer, since they could not hope to find any other publisher in the whole of Germany; indeed, if they were to give up their professorships, they would probably be without bread, for not even a position as private tutor would be open to them.
The Neue Freie Presse introduces an article by Karl Hillebrand on Nietzsche's book about history with the remark that it is only out of respect for their distinguished contributor that they pay heed to the work of an author who has sufficiently branded himself through his attack on Strauss, etc.
Prof. N. says that in Berlin Herr Du Bois-Reymond has made a proposal for setting up an academy, and in it describes Goethe as having ruined the German language, in contrast to Lessing!
R. says: “The Prussian army is the only thing I at present recognize in Germany. God knows, I suffer enough on account of the lack of any sort of idealism among the leaders of this nation, but in the army I do at least see something which I can respect and to which I feel related.”
In the evening the third act of Götterdämmerung (the Rhinemaidens). Our friend N. brings along the Triumphlied by Brahms, and R. laughs loudly at the idea of setting such a word as Gerechtigkeit [“justice”] to music.
The Macedonian tells us some sad news which he has heard: R.'s poor servant Mraszek was literally hounded to death by the malicious present directors of the Conservatoire in Munich; they overburdened him with work and at the same time treated him badly, thus making him pay for his loyalty to R. These gentlemen are Wüllner, Rheinberger, Perfall - I purposely record the names of these evil men.