Thursday, June 22:
The weather is taking a turn for the better, which makes us very glad. R. secludes himself, continually asking, “Shall I still be able to compose?” Family lunch; in the newspaper the entry of the troops into Berlin, which moves us indescribably, utter faith in Germany. Unfortunately the description is by a Jew, J. Rodenberg; R. says, “We are all part of it, but these people stand outside, look on, and exploit it.”
In the afternoon a walk with the children; while we are out, strangers come to Tribschen, enjoy the view, admire Fidi, and ask whether this is not “the little Wagner.” Hermine tells us about it, and R. much enjoys “the little Wagner.”
R. is completely taken up with his present views on the Catholic religion; he shows me the Germanic lands: “Where Catholicism predominates, that is where the Romans were, they built their cities there; but in the places they did not penetrate, where Hermann threw them back, that is where the German religion arose. And everything else has died out. I believe in a confederacy of the Germanic nations, Holland, Norway, etc. The Latin nations, on the other hand, cannot unite; the Latvians are not a Latin race, nor are the Spaniards; what held them together was the church with its aim of world supremacy.”