Esteemed Sir and valued Friend!
With deep emotion I received your card to-day. At the time I sent off my—in a certain measure—official document, I had already determined to employ the first leisure hour in recalling myself again personally to your memory.
As I have recognised from the first, esteemed friend, you are, of a truth, of particular significance in my future, in fact in my life plans.
I need a friend of your stamp.
Your great simplicity at once allowed me a glimpse into the energetic traits of your character. I can fully rely not only on your open-heartedness but also on your keen intelligence.
With this in mind, I shall retain in the future your proffered hand. . . .
Since our great cause has now taken such a favourable turn, I have but little more to tell you in regard to it. The most important thing is that I have taken the necessary measures by which the payment of the present contracts will be made possible by the conveyance of the funds now held by Herr v. Loen. I am further considering how the entire management of the business can best be transferred to Bayreuth after the first of May.
Here my energetic co-operation must be counted upon, as otherwise a central point would be hard to find, and therefore my consent hitherto withheld in calm expectation (of this time) has recently been given.
I expect therefore that an executive committee will be formed here in Bayreuth, which will be empowered by the delegates from the Society of Patrons—at the time of the corner-stone laying in May—to assume control of the entire enterprise.
For this reason I regard it as necessary that I should not be away from Bayreuth for any length of time, and should now take up my permanent residence there.
Your friendly aid is indispensable in regard to this important point.
You know that I shall not be able to take possession of my house until the autumn of 1873. What shall I do in order that I and my family shall not be too seriously incommoded during this interval? This is the question in the solution of which I turn to you. It will certainly be difficult to find suitable accommodation in the city of Bayreuth itself, and it would be impossible for me to confine my numerous little family in a small house with a restricted city garden after the wide and delightful freedom which they have enjoyed here.
I have in mind one of those large earlier estates of the nobility, pointed out to me as “castles,” with large gardens, in fact, “parks,” one or two hours distant from the city, which were offered me as a permanent residence. As such I immediately refused them—as permanent I mean—because I wished to settle in the immediate vicinity of the city. . . .
The point now is to secure something desirable and rent it for a year and a half. I shall have to learn to adapt myself to the distance during this time, and shall have to make some arrangement about a horse and carriage until I am permanently settled.
As you were kind enough to promise me your friendly aid in regard to my personal needs also, I, first of all, beg your assistance in this point.
How it would delight me if you could hold out an encouraging prospect to me! I should set about looking for a temporary residence in Dresden with great reluctance, but, on the other hand, should nothing offer itself in Bayreuth, I should be obliged to do so, as I must leave my present asylum (although I have possession of it until October, 1873) in order to be as near the centre of Germany next spring as is made imperative by the importance of my affairs.
You certainly understand this perfectly, and I have nothing to repeat, as I am filled with the greatest confidence in you, and with this feeling beg you to accept the most cordial greetings from me and my dear wife and also to remember us kindly to your dear ones.
With true esteem,
Yours most faithfully,
Richard Wagner.
Source: The Story of Bayreuth as Told in the Bayreuth Letters of Richard Wagner, trans. and ed. Caroline V. Kerr (Small, Maynard and Company, 1912), No. 14