Introduction

Greetings from Carinthia

A postcard from Henry Simonsfeld to Wilhelm Wattenbach, 06.09.1887

Around 1880, Henry Simonsfeld began working on his fundamental study on the Fondaco dei Tedeschi in Venice, for which he spent six years collecting source material. As the book finally went to the printer in autumn 1887, he decided to take a week of holidays in Austrian Carinthia before resuming his research travels in Italy for the MGH. At that time, alpine tourism was very popular; Simonsfeld reported to Wilhelm Wattenbach, who was similarly taking holidays in the Alps, that he had met three other German scholars walking in the mountains.

The trip took an unexpected turn as Simonsfeld’s mother, who was accompanying him, fell seriously ill and had to spend the winter in Venice. Visiting her over Christmas, Simonsfeld resumed his research in the Biblioteca Marciana where he suffered from the cold „most horribly and miserably“, as he records in a letter to Wattenbach (MGH-Archiv B 258, Blatt 13-14, 15.1.1888). Apparently it snowed heavily in Venice and the thermometer sank to 5 degrees Celsius under zero. At the end of April 1888, he picked up his mother in Venice on his way back from a round trip through northern Italy. They stayed there together in the Hotel d’Angleterre (today Londra Palace) on the Riva degli Schiavoni. When he was alone in Venice, however, Henry Simonsfeld preferred to stay at the Casa Fumagalli, a guesthouse in the Calle del ridotto. He found the clean and friendly accommodation there quite good enough for his taste, whereas Friedrich Nietzsche, who stayed there in 1880 and 1885, complained that the low ceilings oppressed him.

The post of library curator, which Simonsfeld attained in 1892, was the apex of his career as a librarian. He saw his true vocation, however, in a university position and started to become impatient with his lack of progress towards this goal. While travelling, he arranged that German newspapers be relayed to him in order to keep abreast of developments in the academic job market. In the last letter of a series written to Wilhelm Wattenbach in 1887/1888, he directly asked the latter what his chances were of being appointed to the most recently vacant professorship in Breslau (Wrocław), adding: “As you know, I long to free myself of these double duties in Munich and dedicate myself entirely to scholarly pursuits, but here [i.e. in Munich] nothing is ever done for the teaching staff“ (MGH-Archiv B 258, Blatt 17-18, 10.4.1888).

Transcription

Vorderseite:

Poststempel: Bleiberg; Berchtesgaden, Bad Gastein

[Aufdruck:]
Correspondenz-Karte.

[Hand Simonsfelds:]
Herrn D^r.W. Wattenbach
Universitätsprofessor aus Berlin
z. Zt. ~~Berchtesgaden (Bayern)~~ [andere Hand:] Gastein

[andere Hand und Stempel:]
8/9 Mittags
Ladislaus Spitko, Oberkellner.
Hotel Straubinger

Bleiberg bei Villach den 6. Sept[ember] 87

Verehrtester Herr Professor!

Ihre freundliche Karte ist mir erst auf Umwegen später in die Hände gekommen; denn seit dem 2. Tage meiner Abreise von München, seit dem 28. vor[igen] M[onat]s bin ich hier – gebannt an das Krankenlager meiner armen Mutter, die mit mir auf den Dobratsch steigen wollte (auf dem ich Breslau, Rödiger u[nd] Tiedge traf) wegen Seitenstechen unten blieb u[nd] nun an einer schweren Rippenfell- u[nd] Lungenentzündung gefährlich krank darniederliegt. Daß meine Gedanken nun ganz anderswo sind als bei den Monumenten werden Sie begreifen. Wie es mit der Weiterreise u[nd] Rückkehr sein wird, weiß ich nicht! Ihnen selbst u[nd] Ihrer werthen Frau Gemahlin weiter viel Vergnügen u[nd] die herzlichsten Grüße von Ihrem ergebensten

D^r. H. Simonsfeld