Dearest Friend!
The answer to your letter, or rather suggestion, really demands some deliberation.
I have no word to say as to the manner in which the Mannheim society deems proper to serve the purpose for which it was founded: at any rate, as it called into existence the idea of the Wagner Societies, it also has a right to take the initiative; and the honour of being the champion in this matter will be contested by no one.
Only be cautious in boasting about me; we could not count on Chicago and London quite so unconditionally; in both cities a new theatre had already been built and was to be fitted out according to my wishes—only, however, if I would assume personal control, in which case the personnel of the artists should be selected according to my choice. This refers to my opera in general. But we now come to the decisive point: in Berlin a “Wagneriana” has been formed with subscriptions already amounting to two hundred and twenty thousand thalers, and the prospect of a million is held out to me if I will transfer Bayreuth (with modifications) to Berlin; the same offer would have been immeasurably easier for Vienna than to have collected money there for Bayreuth. It is therefore not proven that my theatre would not have been built for me in a large German metropolis; but the vital point lies in the fact that I had in mind an undertaking for the benefit of the entire German nation in a neutral spot, and not for the people of one certain city. Cities (like Chicago, etc.) will perhaps also be found in Germany, but—the German public is not to be found.
In regard to the drawing up and issuing of a subscription list it would perhaps be more advisable if this were done by a consortium of influential men from the various German cities. In this matter I am already somewhat bound, as a rich and energetic Hamburg merchant intends to call together such a meeting for the 15th of October. Will you not put yourself in touch with him? He wished, at all events, to communicate with you.
If you take any steps towards issuing a manifesto (which might be very effective), I shall request you to consult with Nietzsche as to its wording; at all events, you can first invite him to draw up such a manifesto. For this I have quite especial confidence in him—particularly in him. . . .
I am tired, God knows, but send you and yours cordial greetings.
Yours 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. 47