What A Wonderful Story E-Book

Helge-Wolfgang Michel

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Seitenzahl: 158

Beschreibung

Helge-Wolfgang Michel has written a short biographical novel about Leopold Heinrich Pfeil (1726-1792), "Ist das nicht eine wunderbare Geschichte - Das erfüllte Leben von Leopold Heinrich Pfeil". Richard W.P. Pfeil, a relative from England, has provided an introduction to this first English edition of, "What A Wonderful Story - The Fulfilled Life of Leopold Heinrich Pfeil". Dr Joachim Seng, director of the library at the Goethe House in Frankfurt am Main, has further supplemented this with a foreword about Leopold Heinrich Pfeil's special significance in the education of Johann Wolfgang Goethe and his sister Cornelia. Leopold Heinrich Pfeil, known as, "Henri", followed a remarkable career path at the home of Johann Caspar Goethe (Johann Wolfgang Goethe's father). He initially entered the household as a servant, was then given the position of valet and later that of secretary. Through his marriage Leopold Heinrich Pfeil became a relative of Goethe's and continued to develop himself as a French language master eventually becoming the successful headmaster of a Frankfurt boarding school for English and French students. His efforts were always guided by the maxim that teaching and learning are mutually dependent. Johann Wolfgang Goethe praises Henri very highly in, "Dichtung und Wahrheit - Aus meinem Leben" (From my Life: Poetry and Truth; Part 1, Book 4) and dedicated a vaudeville to Henri. References to him appear in various works. Henri also maintained a pen friendship with Leopold Mozart. In his book, the author sketches a conceivable biography of Henri's life, based on historical data and facts. The story is presented in a discerning manner but is neither overbearing nor moralising. Henri narrates his own life from birth to death in the first person and in the present historic tense. In addition to his friend and patron Johann Caspar Goethe, family members as well as teachers and friends play leading roles in Henri's story. This book is aimed at readers interested in contemporary, cultural or literary history, who are interested in studying this subject matter in a biographical way. As a literary genre, the work is assigned to fiction and here, as already discussed at the outset, it belongs to the field of biographical novels.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Introduction

Foreword

How it all began …

Born in Butzbach

My cosmopolitan uncle and the French language

The journey to Geneva

My apprenticeship in Geneva

My Start in Frankfurt am Main

Events in the city, citizenship, marriage, the birth of a son and my school project in Frankfurt am Main

My encounters in Laubach

The Pfeilsche boarding school and progressive developments in Frankfurt

Special events worth mentioning

My boarding school flourishes

Epilogue

Bibliography & Sigla

Index of Images English Title

German Title

Endnote

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Have you ever wished you could meet your ancestors? Find out what they were like, what circumstances and events shaped their lives?

In this biographical novel, Helge-Wolfgang Michel brings my 18th century family to life. The story emerges from years of painstaking research and enables us to experience the life and times of my 5th great-grandfather Leopold Heinrich Pfeil (1726 - 1792), through his own eyes.

"Henri", as he was known to family and friends, had close ties with two of the most important creative figures of his time: Goethe and Mozart.

Henri was related by marriage to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. A teacher by profession, he was instrumental in honing the young Goethe’s French language skills. Some years ago, I visited Mozart’s house in Vienna, albeit without the knowledge I now possess. Helge-Wolfgang’s book reveals how Henri’s connection to the Mozart family directly influenced the Pfeil family’s direction in life.

The book also answers questions I am frequently asked such as when my family came to England and why?

It first became apparent to me at school that my surname, Pfeil, was not of English origin. People had difficulty spelling it – something that has persisted in the intervening years – and the name always poses pronunciation problems. The P is silent and Pfeil is pronounced like, “File”.

When I was a boy, my late father gave me an intriguing handwritten scroll of the Pfeil family tree, which references the ‘von Pfeil und Klein-Ellguth’ family. Earliest records for this family date from 12th century Silesia. The scroll tantalisingly refers to knights, nobles, soldiers ... exciting notions that captivated my youthful imagination.

Clearly, my family warranted some serious research, which I promised myself I would undertake, one day.

The lockdowns during the devastating COVID pandemic offered me the gift of time. Procrastination was no longer an option. And so, I set to – with the help of genealogical websites. At last, my unusual surname was an advantage. I progressed well and thanks to the international nature of online genealogy, relatives all over the world, from Finland to Texas, reached out with invaluable information.

The real breakthrough however, came unexpectedly during the second half of 2020, when I received a message from a person now resident at an address I last lived at over 25 years ago. A card had been delivered from Charles Pfeil in Scotland. He was attempting to get in touch with me.

Once in contact, Charles and I quickly established that we are 5th cousins. We share a 4th great-grandfather, Johann Wilhelm Pfeil (1748-1809). Born in Frankfurt am Main, he anglicised his name to John William after he immigrated to England and became a citizen in 1801. John William settled in London, married and founded the British branch of the Pfeil family.

At the beginning of 2021, Charles sent me further Pfeil genealogical treasure; an extract from an article about the Pfeil family, which had appeared in a 2020 edition of the German genealogical publication, the "Hessische Genealogie Heft". Rather embarrassingly, lacking any knowledge of the language of my German ancestors, I was unable to decipher it. However, one of my sister’s-in-law sent the extract to Lulu Lamb, a family friend who speaks German. Lulu translated the extract and has since helped me delve into other German language Pfeil-related archives.

One of the references we found during this research was the original German version of Helge-Wolfgang’s book, "Ist das nicht eine wunderbare Geschichte – Das erfüllte Leben von Leopold Heinrich Pfeil".

Later, when Charles sent me the complete article from the, "Hessische Genealogie Heft", we serendipitously discovered that Helge-Wolfgang had not only contributed to it but is in fact our cousin.

I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who has made the English version of this book possible. My heartfelt thanks to Helge-Wolfgang for his kind and generous permission to have the book translated and then arranging for its publication. It has been such an honour and a privilege to participate in this project.

If, in reading this book, you gain even a fraction of the enjoyment I have had from these insights into my ancestors’ lives, then our efforts will have been entirely worthwhile!

Richard William Parkes Pfeil (6th cousin to Helge-Wolfgang Michel).

April 2021.

Foreword

Helge-Wolfgang Michel prefaces his book with a quote by the Roman philosopher Seneca, "Docendo discimus" ("By teaching, we learn"). This is a perfect fit for a book about Leopold Heinrich Pfeil (1726 - 1792), who was not only the author’s ancestor but also a tutor of Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Leopold Heinrich Pfeil was a teacher and a scholar in one person and thus a kindred spirit of Goethe's father, Johann Caspar Goethe (1710 - 1782). As the young Goethe notes in his biography 'Dichtung und Wahrheit' (Poetry and Truth), his teacher, Pfeil seemed to have adopted his father's maxim "that nothing can encourage and stimulate young people more than if one declares oneself to be a pupil again at a certain age".1

Goethe has much for which to thank his father and his Frankfurt tutors. They provided him with a very thorough education. Many of his teachers are favourably described retrospectively in 'Dichtung und Wahrheit' but none is singled out for such high praise as Leopold Heinrich Pfeil, "a man in his prime, of the most wondrous energy and vitality". Pfeil had been working as an independent French language master in Frankfurt am Main since 1746, if not earlier. He came from Butzbach in the Wetterau region. His father was a cook and his rise to become the most esteemed language teacher in Frankfurt did not come easily. His life story is in some ways comparable with that of Johann Caspar Goethe, who, as the son of a skilled craftsman, worked his way up to become an imperial councillor in Frankfurt. Social advancement for bourgeois and craftsmen in the Age of Enlightenment could primarily be achieved through learning and study. Gradually, the old class system and social status was becoming more penetrable.

We know from Goethe's father that he left nothing to chance when it came to the education of his children and he imposed strict standards. If he engaged Leopold Heinrich Pfeil as a French teacher for Wolfgang and Cornelia, we can assume that Pfeil was one of the best in his field. French was not only the most important European language at the time, the Goethe family also set great store by good French for personal reasons. Goethe's grandfather, Friedrich Georg Göthé (1657 - 1730), had spent several years in Lyon and Paris as a journeyman tailor and as an exclusive master tailor in Frankfurt am Main, he had retained the French spelling of his name. He ensured that all his sons, including those he had trained as merchants or craftsmen, were taught the French language by tutors. It is also possible that he attended church services with his family in the Frankfurt Weissfrauenkirche, which since 1593, had been the place of worship for Lutherans who had immigrated from France as well as the Dutch congregation of the Augsburg Confession. Services there were preached in French and German. In a way, the French language was part of Goethe family traditions, which was passed on to the children. Cornelia even wrote a diary in French to her friend Katharina Fabricius (born in 1750), a 'Correspondance Secrete'.

From 1746 onwards, Pfeil also qualified as a tutor through his family connections to the Goethe family. Pfeil married Goethe's grandmother’s niece, Friederike Charlotte Wilhelmine Walther (1718 - 1783). Friederike was the daughter of Goethe’s grandmother’s brother, the Frankfurt brewer Hans Georg Walther (1680 - 1733). Pfeil’s daughter Cornelia, born in 1750, was in fact named after Goethe's great-aunt, who was her godmother.

Consequently, there were close ties between Pfeil and Johann Caspar Goethe. He recalls this in 'Dichtung und Wahrheit', "My father had employed a young man who served in all capacities as footman, valet and secretary. His name was Pfeil. He spoke good French and understood it well. Once he was married, his patrons had to find a suitable position for him. It occurred to them to establish a boarding house for him, which could be expanded to include a small school teaching all the necessary subjects along with Latin and Greek. Broad based contacts beyond Frankfurt provided the opportunity to gain young French and English students who wanted to learn German and receive a German education from this institute."

It was not only Goethe's father who supported Pfeil but also the respected Frankfurt lawyer, Friedrich de Neufville (1710 - 1778), Brandenburg-Bayreuth privy councillor and Frankfurt burgher. The French schoolmaster later succeeded in opening the aforementioned "boarding school establishment", the Pfeilsche Pension. It was also located in the Grosser Hirschgraben, probably in the Weisse Hirsch, a spacious property near the Goethe House in Frankfurt.2 As previously mentioned, pupils from England and France came to the Pfeil boarding school to learn German. One of them, the young Englishman Harry Lupton, was presented by Pfeil at Goethe's parents' house.

The young Cornelia Goethe fell in love with Lupton.

In a letter from Leipzig to his sister, Goethe calls him, "a good fellow".3 Lupton and Cornelia were united by their love of music. She played the piano, he the violin.

As we know from 'Dichtung und Wahrheit', Pfeil, "because he could never be busy enough [...] decided to throw himself into music and pursued piano playing with such enthusiasm that he, who had never touched a key before, very soon played quite proficiently and well. [...] Through this inclination to play the piano, Pfeil became interested in the instrument itself. He wanted to procure the best. This led him to an acquaintance with Friederici in Gera, whose instruments were famous far and wide. He took a number of these pianos on commission and had the pleasure of having not only one grand piano but several in his own residence so he could practice on them and hear them." There are more reminders of Pfeil in Goethe's family home than one might expect, for, "the liveliness of this man" also encouraged music in the household. Pfeil left his mark on the music room on the first floor at the Goethe Haus. At his instigation, "a large Friederici grand piano was acquired for us too, which I, preferring my piano, hardly touched but which my sister found all the more agonising, because, in order to do justice to the new instrument, she had to devote even more time to her exercises every day."

Pfeil's portrait, which forms the starting point for the "wonderful story" told in this book, does not hang in the music room today but in the library of the Goethe House in Frankfurt. No better place could have been found for a tutor of Goethe's children. We do not know what impact Pfeil had on his cousin's book purchases but it may be assumed that his lessons and reading influenced Johann Caspar and ultimately the poet Goethe himself. Whatever the case, documents testify that Goethe's early study of French literature was shaped by his tutor. The same applies to English language and literature, for which the Goethe family showed a great and early interest. For the epoch, Johann Caspar's library contained an unusually large collection of English journals and books. Documents also reveal that Goethe's father had Pfeil check and correct the foreign-language letters that his son sent from Leipzig to his sister and the family. One of these letters, dated 14thMarch 1766, has survived. It contains corrections by both Goethe’s father and Pfeil, his French teacher. The letter enclosed his own list of corrections with a total of 35 improvements and remarked, "Si ces observations font plaisir à - L'auteur, on pourra dans la suite les accompagner de quelques raisonmmens plus étendus, et mème y faire entree toute la rigueur grammairienne qui autorise les Maitres de Langue". ["If the author finds these remarks amusing, one could accompany them in a sequel with more expansive remarks and even apply all the grammatical rigour of a language master in the process"].4 Although the painstakingly corrected student asked his sister to give Mr Pfeil an enclosed note, "with my greetings and thanks"5 for the corrections, it is doubtful that the young Goethe was really pleased. In her book about the Goethe children's tutors, Elisabeth Menzel justifiably remarks that the young Leipzig student had somewhat precociously assumed the role of wise teacher and mentor to his sister.6 Goethe may not have been too happy that now, in one of his letters to Cornelia of all people, his teacher had set him a lesson. While this may have undermined his authority, it did not harm his self-confidence.

On the contrary, the 17-year-old Goethe–quite the young poet – responded with a vaudeville, a French comic verse, in which he hides a recognisable dose of irony beneath the polished text. His 'Vaudeville a Mr Pfeil' handles the corrections with aplomb, turning the mistakes into poetic creativity with genial ease.7 Not only does he ask Pfeil, the 'high priest' of the 'Goddess grammar' for assistance but he also mentions two books with which he had apparently crammed French grammar at home, the books by François Louis Poëtevin and Jean Robert des Pepliers. In the accompanying letter, he remarks of the poem, "In re-reading this little folly in verse, I see that my plea is somewhat obscurely expressed and that one cannot immediately guess that I want to know from him, namely how I can quickly perfect the French language. My dear father will not be satisfied with the metre but he must remember that it is set to the melody of a vaudeville." This is followed by another poem on the death of his great-aunt Anna Maria von Hoffmann née Textor (1701-1766), which was apparently commissioned by his father. Goethe continues, "I am impatiently waiting to hear how successful this little poem is and why my dear father asked me to write it. Mr Pfeil would probably like to know which poet I am imitating in these little works but I cannot tell; for although I believe there are such verses in French, I do not remember having read them."8 The lines prove that the budding poet was convinced his teacher Pfeil had an appreciation for such linguistic and musical quips.

Goethe, was dependent on outside help in researching his autobiography, which he began in 1809. One only has to think of Bettine Brentano, who told him of her conversations with his mother. It appears however, that Goethe could, as the detailed tribute to Pfeil in 'Dichtung und Wahrheit' shows, very clearly recall the, "model image" of a teacher who was far from being a staid schoolmaster but was, in the truest sense a, "friend of the household who spurred him on".

A man of, "the most remarkable energy and vitality" who once worked in Goethe's Frankfurt family home, Helge-Wolfgang Michel brings Leopold Heinrich Pfeil back to life in two ways: by approaching his life in narrative form and by making it possible for visitors to the Goethe Haus in Frankfurt, to enjoy the portrait of Leopold Heinrich Pfeil, to whom Goethe, our celebrated poet, owes so much.

Joachim Seng

1 Johann Wolfgang Goethe: From my life. Poetry and Truth. Edited by Klaus-Detlef Müller. Frankfurt am Main 1986. in: id.: Complete Works. Letters, Diaries and Conversations. I. Abt. Bd. 14, pp. 132 - 134 (Siglum: FA). The following quotations from Goethe's autobiography refer to this passage and are not referenced individually.

2 Elisabeth Mentzel: From Goethe's youth. A contribution to Goethe's history of development. 2nd edition Leipzig, undated, p. 315.

3 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Letters. Historical-critical edition. Compiled by the Klassik Stiftung Weimar, Goethe and Schiller Archive ed. by Georg Kurscheidt, Norbert Oellers and Elke Richter. Volume 1: May 1764 December 30th, 1772. 2 volumes, edited by Elke Richter and Georg Kurscheidt. Berlin 2008, Vol. 1 I, p. 45 (Siglum: GB).

4 GB 1 II, p. 67 ff. and p. 131 f.

5 Ibid. p. 84.

6 Mentzel, op. Cit., p. 326 ff.

7 Compare the poem in French and English on p. 85 ff.

8 GB 1 II, p. 122 ff.

How it all began …

In this short introduction, I would like to briefly convey to you, dear reader, how it came about that I, as a hitherto passive consumer of literature, came to write this short biographical novel.

Friday 4th March 2016: my mother called me to say that I could have the painting of our great-grandfather that had belonged to my late Uncle Horst. She and her twin sister wanted to gift it to me.

Leopold Heinrich Pfeil, my great-great-greatgrandfather, known as Henri, was supposed to have played a special role in the Goethe family.

I happily accepted my mother's offer. My partner Ute and I drove to Frankfurt am Main the next day to pick up the painting. The new owners of Uncle Horst's house suddenly showed a great interest in the painting, which was reflected in their questions about its value.

I skilfully extricated myself from the conversation by saying that as a descendant, the painting was merely of sentimental value to me and we were able to bring it home without arousing further interest.

The picture was painted in 1789 by Friedrich Ludwig Hauck, a well-known portrait painter from the Hauck family of artists. When I took possession of the portrait, it was in decent condition but still, it had to be conserved and restored by an expert craftsman, or rather a craftswoman. It is now exhibited in Johann Caspar Goethe’s library at the Goethe House in Frankfurt am Main. But back to Henri: in our family it had always been said that he was the French teacher of Johann Wolfgang Goethe – later von Goethe.

Since our family is prone to exaggeration, not so much on my mother's side as on my father's, I first had to do some research. Who was my great-great-greatgrandfather? What was the truth behind this oral history that had been passed down from generation to generation?

The very next day, after we had collected the painting, Ute and I were drawn into the impressive magic of the