Zweig MS 160

Autograph fair copy in Kurrentschrift. Folio 1 annotated by other hands as described above.

An elegy of six stanzas with the title spelled ‘Stutgard’. Each strophe is formed of nine distiches in groups of three. The poem reflects the celebration of autumn in a landscape through which the wanderer and a companion pass, considering the role of the gods. They come to his birthplace which evokes memories of the past and its heroes, and a vision of Stuttgart as priestess. The wanderer appeals to the town and the spirits of the land, recognising that celebrations will end and life is short.

Begins: ‘Wieder ein Glük ist erlebt. Die gefährliche Dürre geneset,’

Ends: ‘Aber die größere Lust sparen dem Enkel wir auf.’

Below the title is the autograph dedication 'An Siegfried Schmidt'. Folio 1 bears annotations in various hands which have been identified and interpreted by Autenrieth and Kelletat (Johanna Autenrieth and Alfred Kelletat, Katalog der Hölderlin-Handschriften, (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 1961), no.443. Cf. the same annotators in the Württembergische Landesbibliothek MS, no. 5). According to their findings, the deletion of the autograph title and the insertion (top centre in ink) of the alternative ‘Herbstfeyer’ are in the hand of the poet Justinus Kerner (Zweig thought the alternative title was in the hand of Hölderlin’s friend Isaac von Sinclair (see record card at Add. MS 73168, f. 1). However he was not confident of his opinion as he also suggested and deleted the names of Seckendorf or Mörike). Kerner also wrote ‘steht schon in der Samlung’ at the top left in ink and ‘(in Sekendorfs Musenalm. gedrukt.)’ at the top right in ink. Two annotations in red crayon, ‘p.99’ at top left and ‘Creutze zu vergleichen’ at top right are thought to be by Fritz Breunlin, Hölderlin’s nephew. Also at the top right are the figures ‘41/99’ in ink and ‘Nr. 98’ in pencil written by Karl Gok, Hölderlin’s step-brother, the latter overwritten with the figure 5 in ink. At the bottom of the page are ‘8 C’ over W on the left in pencil, possibly a dealer’s mark, and on the right ‘Hölderlin’ in very faint pencil, attributed tentatively to Carl Künzel.

Sattler believes that Hölderlin started writing the present poem in Stuttgart in September 1800 at the earliest. The composition may have continued through the winter and even into the New Year of 1801. On 3 February Siegfried Schmid wrote a letter of thanks to Hölderlin, but not necessarily relating to this poem (see Beissner 2.2 p.584). Philipp Siegfried Schmid (b.1774, d.1859), was a writer and a cadet in the Imperial army. He first met Hölderlin in Frankfurt in 1797 and they became part of the same circle of friends in Homburg. Hölderlin dedicated ‘Stuttgart’ to him to welcome him back from the war, but Zweig MS 160 may not be the copy he sent to his friend. Hölderlin was able to make amendments to the Homburg manuscript, possibly in spring 1804, but when the time came for publication in the Musenalmanach he was already insane, and his friends Isaac von Sinclair and Leo Freiherr von Seckendorf saw it into print (Sattler, p. 181). It is not clear who made the decision to change the title to ‘Herbstfeier’.

In his essay ‘Handschriften als schöpferische Dokumente’, Stefan Zweig gave as an example of a manuscript which sparked his schoolboy interest in collecting ‘ein Wahnsinnsgedicht Hölderlins mit seinem wirr durcheinander fahrenden Zeilen’. He was sufficiently fascinated by the poet to include him in the second volume of his Baumeister der Welt series, alongside Kleist and Nietsche, under the title Der Kampf mit dem Dämon, (Leipzig, Insel Verlag, 1925), pp. 23-151. He wrote here of Hölderlin’s perfecting lyrical form and creating heroic rhythm, and of his habit of excessive revision, creating new versions of poems in several layers on the same manuscript (as evidenced by the Homburg MS). He spoke of thousands of pages destroyed and of lack of recognition from a whole generation, but concluded that despite his weakness as an artist and incompetence for life, Hölderlin triumphed through singleness of purpose and the music of his words.

Zweig published articles about Hölderlin including: ‘Die Heilige Schar. Vorklang zu einem Hölderlin-Bildnis’, in Die Horen, Heft I, (Berlin, 1924); ‘Phaeton oder die Begeisterung’, in Die Literatur, 27 Jahrgang, Heft 3, (Berlin, 1924); ‘Hölderlins Untergang’, in Neue Freie Presse, (Vienna, 11 Nov. 1924).

Zweig also owned the following autograph manuscripts of Hölderlin:

‘Burg Tübingen’, acquired in 1929 and now in the Bodmer Foundation, Geneva.

‘Der Frühling’, acquired in 1927 and now in the Bodmer Foundation, Geneva.

‘Der Herbst’, acquired in 1926 and now in the Bodmer Foundation, Geneva.

Three fragments of ‘Hyperion’, acquired in 1925 and 1931 and now in the Bodmer Foundation, Geneva.

‘Lied der Freundschaft’, acquired in 1929 and now in the Bodmer Foundation, Geneva (Facsimile in Martin Bircher, Musik und Dichtung,[catalogue of an exhibition at the Bodmer Foundation], (Munich: Saur, 2002), pp. 195-198).

Three poems, ‘Die Kürze’, ‘Ehemals und jetzt’, ‘Lebenslauf’, acquired in 1921 and now in the Bodmer Foundation, Geneva.

‘Patmos’, date of acquisition unknown, now in the Bodmer Foundation, Geneva.

Two poems, ‘Dem Sonnengott’, ‘Der Mensch’, acquired in 1926 and now in the Bodmer Foundation, Geneva.

‘Stimme des Volkes’, acquired before 1930 and now in the Bodmer Foundation, Geneva.

‘Der Winter’, acquired in 1909, and now in the Bodmer Foundation, Geneva.

Seven pieces of Pindar fragments, date of acquisition unknown, now in the Bodmer Foundation, Geneva