Rome - St. Peter's Basilica

Very often, a certain circle of Rome's society met for evening discussions and presentations at Malwida von Meysenburg's Rome residence in the Via Polveriera 6, in which Lou also took part as an acknowledged member, very soon.

Into this scenario enters Dr. Paul Ree, without a penny in his pocket, having arrived from Monte Carlo via Genoa and Nietzsche, in Rome, on the 15th or 16th of March, 1882, and turns directly to Malwida in order to be able to pay his traveling expense debts. During nightly walks, he soon falls in love with Lou to such a degree that he asks her mother for Lou's hand in marriage; of course, he – as Gillot – is receiving a gentle refusal and is directed towards a relationship with Lou on the basis of friendship and collaboration. Lou describes this very vividly in her Lebensrückblick.

From the correspondence that starts after this between Nietzsche ("Send my regards to this Russian lady if it makes any sense; I am yearning for this kind of soul.") Ree and Malwida von Meysenburg before his arrival in Rome, we have already quoted in Part 1 of these pages; of great importance with respect to the evaluation and the actual sequence of events in the "triumvirate" envisaged by by Lou is particularly her letter to Hendrik Gillot of the end of March, 1882, thus at a time at which she did not even know Nietzsche, yet. In this letter, she formulates her goals and intentions with respect to both men that she has already arrived at: "...[you are assuming that] I can not appropriately judge men who are that much older than I and superior to me, as Ree, Nietzsche and others. But hou are wrong in this. the essential (and the essential in this, to me, is, at a human level, only Ree) one either knows right away or not at all."

Nietzsche, coming from Messina, arrives in Rome on April 23 or 24 and is, after he has overcome his "usual" attack of ill health when traveling, cordially received by Malwida and, when enquiring aobut Ree, directed by her to St. Peter's Basilica, where he and Lou are presently staying. Lou [on this] in her "Lebensrückblick" (p. 80): "I recall this solemnity from the outset of our very first meeting that took place in St. Peter's Basilica where Paul Ree, in a confessional booth that was favorably located with respect to its exposure to light, was eagerly and devotedly poring over his research notes, and where Nietzsche was therefore directed to. His first words addressed to me in greeting were: 'From what stars have we fallen to meet here?'"

Rom – the interior of St. Peter's Basilica

On the one hand, Nietzsche might have been justified in his use of these somewhat high-flying welcoming words (that have also become famous), if one considers the events leading up to them, since Ree and Malwida had praised Lou in their letters to him; on the other hand, this wording might not have been a spontenous one; rather, Nietzsche would certainly have thought about as to how he could make an impression under these circumstances – well, he appears to have been successful with them ...

In her book Friedrich Nietzsche in seinen Werken, Lou renders a detailed description of Nietzsche's outer appearance and impression which plastically reflects Nietzsche's appearance and effect, that "the overall impression of his essence was already formed by his profound inner life and still was also the determining factor with respect to that which he was holding back and hiding. I would like to say: this hidden part, this hint at his unrevealed loneliness – that was the first, strong impression that was fascinating with respect to Nietzsche's appearance" . . . "I remember that, when I spoke with Nietzsche for the first time, – it was on a spring day in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome – his deliberately-formal behavior of the first moments fooled and flabbergasted me."

In his immediately erupting enthusiasm, Nietzsche, too, had nothing more urgent on his mind than, of all things, even with the mediation of Rée, propose to Lou–and therefore, within a short period of time, Lou had to refuse the third marriage proposal. "What had begun seo well, then took a turn that caused me and Rée to start worrying about our plan, in that this plan had been unforeseeably complicated by a third party. Nietzsche, however, meant to simplify the situation with it; he appointed Rée as emissary with respect to his marriage proposal to me." (Lebensrückblick p. 80)

From the entire course of events one has to conclude that Rée did not inform Nietzsche of his own marriage proposal, and thus there develops right from the beginning a sour note between the two friends due to both of their courtships of Lou in that Lou and Rée always already know more than Nietzsche; both of them also ponder together as to how one can, on the one hand, dissuade Nietzsche from pursuing his marriage plans without, on the other hand, completely insulting him and putting him off. Peculiarly enough, both of them to not develop a bad conscience with respect to the awkward situation into which they maneuver Nietzsche with it. Lou is probably motivated by her "intellectual egotism" since she wants to have her thirst for knowledge in philosophical matters quenched by Nietzsche, and Rée probably out of jealousy in order to win lou for himself. This is somewhat surprising of a thinker such as Rée, who had habilitated himself with a thesis on the topic of the possibility of rendering an evolutionary viable explanation or rationale with respect to the development of conscience and who had published a book on the origin of moral concepts, and would confirm his own premise of "Progressus moralis nullus est in rebus humanis" ... [There is no progress possible with respect to matters of human interaction.] Read here, how H. F. Peters, Lou's well-meaning biographer, describes this first rejection.

Of course, Nietzsche does not notice any of it in his enthusiasm, rather, plans are being made eagerly as to how and where this "triumvirate" could settle down for study purposes in the near future, Vienna and Paris are being discussed as choices – what, under the circumstances of those days, was only possible by including into the company an older lady as a chaperone for Lou, such as, for example, Malwida who, in spite of her idealism with respect to defending women's rights, was not in the mood for that but rather viewed this entire matter, from her life experience, and perhaps not without good reason, with suspicion.

Lou in her Lebensrückblick p. 79: "The yet unexpected happened that Nietzsche, as son as he heard of Paul Rée's and my plan, joined our ranks as the third member. Even the place of our future activities was decided on: it was to be Paris (originally and for a while, we thought of Vienna) where Nietzsche wanted to attend certain courses and there both Paul Rée, from earlier, and I via St. Petersburg, had our connections. Malwide was even somewhat relieved to see us being chaperoned there by her foster daughters Monod and Natalie Herzen who even kept up her own circle where young girls met to read literature. However, Malwida would have preferred for Mme Rée to accompany her son and for Miss Nietzsche to have accompanied her brother."

In his Dokumente, Ernst Pfeiffer features a Letter by Nietzsche to his sister Elisabeth from the end of April, in which he allegedly reports about Lou and drops a few derogatory remarks about her. If this letter were genuine, it would show Nietzsche in an unfavorable light. However, the authenticity of this letter is highly questionable, see our document page. And thus one has an opportunity to see Elisabeth Nietzsche busy in her forgery of Nietzsche's writings.

Elisabeth Nietzsche

In the interaction of those involved in this situation, it appears to me that Lou faced the same situation of self-contradictory behavior that Malwida did when she, on the one hand, speaks of a basic feeling of an immeasurable one-ness in fate with all that there is [see part 1 of this feature], on the other hand, however, feels indifferent with respect to her own effect on the living human being Friedrich Nietzsche, and with whom she even toys to some degree, as we will still see, although she, on the other hand, knows exactly what she, herself, wants and what not: this might well be considered an unholy alliance of egotism and idealissm. ... Here, too, it is the overall view of "mankind" that allows the use of and the disregard for a concrete human partner.

Thus matters were, at first, progressing according to Lou's wishes – as "chaperone" she now wanted to use her mother who had accompanied her on her European travels, this far.

On April 27, 1882, Nietzsche and Rée wanted to look for an idyllic place in Northern Italy to which the ladies should follow them. Since Nietzsche was again, at this very moment(!), afflicted with his usual attack of ill health for several days, and since Rée looked after him in Rome, the ladies set out towards Lake Orta, first, where the men then followed them.

Lake Orta (Source: Internet Orta-Website)

This lake is situated approximately 15 km west of the southern part of Lago Maggiore – visit Lake Orta, Monte Sacro and their sights on the Internet!

In his biography, H. F. Peters renders a vivid description of this place.(p. 96 f.):
"...und so trafen sie Anfang Mai in dem kleinen Städtchen Orta ein, das auf einer von Osten her in den See hineinragenden Halbinsel liegt, gegenüber der Insel San Giulio. Unmittelbar dahinter erhebt sich bis zu einer Höhe von etwa hundert Metern ein bewaldeter Hügel, der dem hl. Franziskus geweiht ist und den Namen Monte Sacro trägt. Heiliger Berg heißt er wegen der zahlreichen Votiv-Kapellchen an seinen Hängen. Altehrwürdige Gebäude, Kirchen und Klöster beleben die Landschaft, kleine Dörfer klammern sich an die felsigen Ufer des Sees.
Eine herrliche Landschaft, friedlich und feierlich, ideal für ein kontemplatives Leben. Seit Jahrhunderten schon rufen die Glocken der alten Basilika auf San Giulio die Gläubigen zum Gebet, besuchen Pilger aus aller Welt den heiligen Berg und knien andachtsvoll vor dem Altar des heiligen Franziskus. Die Landschaft in Orta scheint von Frömmigkeit erfüllt zu sein." (Peters describes here that they arrived at the town of Orta, which is situated on a peninsula that is potruding into the lake from the east, across from the Island of San Giulio, at the beginning of May. Immediately behind it, a forested hill is rising up to a height of one hundred metres that is dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi and called Monte Sacro. It is called "sacred mountain" because of its numerous little chapels built on its slopes; reverent old buildings, churches and cloisters liven up the landscape, small villages cling to the rocky lake shores, a wonderful landscape, peaceful and solemn, ideal for a contemplative life. For centuries, so Peters, the bells of the old basilica on the Island of San Giulio has summoned believers to prayer, have pilgrims from all over the world visited the sacred mountain and knelt in devotion before the altar of St. Francis. The Orta landscape appears to be filled with piety.) He (Peters) then describes the encounter of Nietzsche and Lou as vividly as if he had been a part of it, himself.

Chapels on Monte Sacro

With respect to the stay there of this peculiar group of travelers can only be ascertained that they were staying there together for a few days at the beginning of May, since Nietzsche arrived at Basle to see Overbeck on May 8th and told him about Lou. As the latter (Overbeck) reports, Nietzsche showed himself full of vigor and zest for life, without having even one of his usual health attacks during these days. What had inspired Nietzsche that much?

Well, on one of these days at Lake Orta, on May 5th, Nietzsche had actually managed to make an excursion to Monte Sacro, alone with Lou, while Rée entertained Lou's mother who was tired from their previous excursions.

Walking Path on Monte Sacro

This excursion was far too long, or rather, "inexcusably" long, for Rée (due to his jealousy) and Lou's mother, who was naturally worried for her daughter. Lou on this in her Lebensrückblick:

"In-between, we stopped, as, for example at Orta at the Upper-Italian Lakes where nearby Monte Sacro appeared to have fascinated us – , at least, an unintended insult towards my mother occurred due to the fact that Nietzsche and I stayed at Monte Sacro for too long in order to puck her up at the right time, what also Paul Rée – who kept her company in the meantime – noted with displeasure."

During this excursion, Nietzsche and Lou had obviously formed a closer connection, but how close was it? Did they or did they not? This might well be one of the most intriguing "kiss" questions of biographical literature that has to remain unanswered as results from a Comment by E. Pfeiffer. However, a different impression forms itself when one takes as one's basis for the consideration of this matter Nietzsche's description of this event to Overbeck at Basle, in which he declares his independence with respect to his philosophical aims as the most important criterium; Ida Overbeck reported to Bernoulli on it, whereby one has to to go out from the consideration that Nietzsche was not able to be open about it – mainly, perhaps, due to the fact that he, himself, was not quite clear about his own emotional involvement and could not even have been so, yet, due to the brevity of the experience.

Still from Lucerne, before he reached Basle, Nietzsche wrote to Rée on May 8th and arranged for a meeting in Lucerne at the so-called Löwengarten: "I definitely have to speak to Miss Lou once more."

Lucerne: Lion Monument by Thorwaldsen

During this meeting of May 13th, he proposed to Lou again, was however, rejected again; in any event, Nietzsche kept his cool, and they still stayed together until May 16. Lou reports of this in her Lebensrückblick (p. 81):

"After we had left Italy, Nietzsche went to Basle for a brief spell to see Overbeck, joined us there, however, once again at Lucerne, since Paul Rées Roman intervention on his behalf did not appear satisfactory to him and since he, therefore, wanted to speak to me personally, which happened at the Lucerne Löwengarten. At the same time, Nietzsche also arranged for the three of us to the photographed, despite Paul Rée's objections, who, heretofore, had misgivings with respect to having a picture taken of him. Nietzsche, in high spirits, not only insisted on it, but also eagerly and enthusiastically looked after the details of this undertaking – as for example, after obtaining the (too small) car and even after the tacky lilac branch that was attached to the whip, etc."

How close Nietzsche wanted to see himself to Lou is also demonstrated by a trip to Tribschen during these days where he told her "with a soft voice of those past times" with Wagner and broke out into tears over it.

After this, Nietzsche went to Naumburg where he pursued the completion of the printing of the Fröhliche Wissenschaft under somewhat adventurous circumstances, Rée went home to his parents' estate at Stibbe, Eastern Prussia (where Lou was to follow him!), while the ladies went to Berlin via Zurich and Hamburg, meanwhile being accompanied by Lou's brother Eugène whom the family had dispatched to pick up his mother. Finally, Lou had gotten her way and was, so-to-say, handed over by her brother to Rée's family, whose mother received Lou like a foster daughter.

On May 25th, Nietzsche wrote to Lou from Naumburg, "... The mocking birds are singing all night long at my window. In everything, Rée is a better friend than I am and could be: please observes this difference carfully! – When I am entirely alone, I very often say your name out loud – to my greatest delight!" (KSB, 6, No. 231, p. 194)
Here, it becomes only too apparent that Nietzsche is in love with Lou, as well, perhaps even without being aware of it, for he would, in that case, not have chosen such trivial words. – and due to such "romantic" wording, Lou must also have notices it: at the same time, however, in conflict with himself, he also points away from himself towards Rée, again and again – his work is always uppermost in his mind, even when here and there, "the wild beast pokes its head out of its cage..." (to Gast, KSB, 6, No. 250, p. 212)

However, he would not have had to warn Lou with respect to himself, since she, on her way to Rée, foregoes a possible meeting in Berlin that Nietzsche wants, which puts Nietzsche into a "melancholy" mood – after all, he wanted to proudly present to her his just-completed introduction to the Fröhliche Wissenschaft, Scherz, List und Rache, but he had gone to Berlin, in vain ...

From this introduction in rhymes also stems the following famous poem that expresses Nietzsche's self-confidence at that time:

While the plans for the anticipated "tri-unity" of common studies in Vienna or Paris were still not worked out at all, yet, it was already determined that Lou was to attend the Bayreuth Festival of this year and see the premiere of Parsifal; Nietzsche would escort her to Bayreuth, perhaps still silently hoping that Wagner would extend a formal invitation to him – for that reason he chose, with the assistance of his sister, a not too far away domicile at Tautenburg where he went on June 25th. Rée, on the other hand, stayed at Stibbe which was, on the one hand, not very easy for him since he had to "leave" Lou to the Bayreuth society and later to Nietzsche alone – it was made easier for him, however, due to the fact that – contrary to Nietzsche – he already conversed with Lou in the "first person" of the German "du" and that he already received her daily diary notes with which she kept him updated on everything (of which Nietzsche knew nothing, of course).

Rather, Nietzsche reveled in his wishful thinking and wrote to Lou on June 26th, "So far, I have never thought that you should >read to me and write for me<; but now I would like very much to be your teacher. At last, to tell you the truth: I am looking for people who could be my heirs; I am carrying a lot around with me that is not written in any of my books, yet – and for this, I am looking for the most beautiful and fertile soil. Can you see my egotism!" (KSB, 6, No. 249, p. 211)

In his letter to Lou of June 27th, Nietzsche had told her that he had finally informed his sister about his plans and that she would act as chaperone at Tautenburg; in return, on June 30th, Lou accepted Nietzsche's invitation for a summer holiday at the beginning of August, after the Bayreuth festival. Nietzsche thanked her euphorically on July 2nd: ": "Now, the sky above me is bright! Yesterday at noon, it felt like it was my birthday."

Howe he, himself, saw his relationship with Lou at that time – which could be something entirely different from that which existed in form of his potential wishful thinking – he wrote to Peter Gast in his letter of July 13th:
»...Lou ... is twenty years old ... as sharp as an eagle and as brave as a lion and in the end still a very girlish child ... After Bayreuth, she will join me, and in fall, we will move to Vienna together. We will live together in one house and work together; she is most amazingly prepared for my way of thinking and for my thoughts. Dear friend, you will certainly d us the honor of keeping out of your concept of my relationship with her any notions of a love affair. We are friends, and I will keep this girl and her trust in me sacred. – In any event, she has an incredibly sure and pure character." (Janz II, 138).

(Here, too, the discrepancy between the content of this letter and the one of the end of April discussed above shows Nietzsche's sister at work in her doctoring on her brother's documents.)

At least, Nietzsche was quite clear with respect to his "official" and "objective" position towards Lou, and from his point of view, everything looked quite beautifully taken care of – also, for example, with respect to finally entering into a contest with Rée with whom Lou still stayed at Stibbe at that time, if he could only have her to himself for a longer period of time. He could neither now that Lou – and that right from the beginning – had quite a different relationship with Paul Rée, partially behind his back, (and both, as their correspondence shows, were aware of this), nor could he guess that his sister's jealousy and moral concepts (who had an opportunity to observe Lou's behavior at the Parsifal premiere at Bayreuth, would put so much poison into this relationship. (After all, Nietzsche, the great path-finder in the area of the human psyche, behaved quite naively and gullable towards his real-life fellow human beings... which also applies to his relationship with Lou.)

And thus he was able to write to Lou in high-spirited anticipation in the middle of July: "Well, my dear friend, so far, everything is fine, and on Saturday in 8 days, we will see each other again. ... With respect to Bayreuth, I am quite satisfied that I do not have to be there; and yet, if I could be near you like a spirit, whispering this and that into your ear, even the music to Parsifal might be bearable to me (otherwise, I can not bear it) ... And how happy I am, my beloved friend Lou, to be allowed to say with respect os us: "Everything is just beginning and, yet, everything is clear!" Trust me! Let's trust in ourselves!"

A day before her departure for Bayreuth on July 23rd, Nietzsche still had explicitly prepared his sister Elisabeth for the Music of Parsifal–by sending her the just published and acquired piano reduction of it – and with it, he demonstrated his inner connection with that which he, himself, once wanted of (this) music!

While Nietzsche returned to Tautenburg and, while waiting for Lou, continued to work on the corrections of his Fröhliche Wissenschaft, Lou met up with Elisabeth in Leipzig on July 24th, and both went to Bayreuth together. The premiere of Parsifal took place on July 26th. The ladies had tieckets for the second performance on July 28th. Malwida introduced Lou at Wahnfried, where, in -between performance days, "high society" met in Wagner's house. Lou describes these meetings with Richard and Cosima – who, of course, each were the center of attention in their own particular way – , quite lively.

In her description, she openly admits her own non-musicality – neither Parsifal nor Wagner's msuic as such, and also his personality never gain any special significance or meaning in her life. Therefore, in NIetzsche's acquaintance with Lou, there is missing that bridge of music that is otherwise so important to him which points to profound differences in their personalities, in spite of all superficial similarities in their "philosophizing" – their paths and goals are completely different, and that which they have in common is thus more like a coincidental meeting at cross-roads and therefore, in her Nietzsche book, Lou does not have appropriate access to this important side of Nietzsche, who himself, does not tire in emphasizing the importance of music to his philosophical work.

As might be expected of a young woman of interesting appearance and of a bright mind, Lou found herself at the center of attention of young men, and that obviously in such an "unconventional" way that gossip about it even reached Stibbe and put Rée into a state of jealousy, while the otherwise certainly very liberated Malwida wrote to Nietzsche as late as half a year later, "Since Bayreuth, however, I do not know, anymore, what I should think of her. ..."

Elisabeth who (not only) in this circle, at 36 years of age at that time, was still leading the life of an un-courted wallflower and drew her self-worth and self-confidence mainly from the importance of her brother, was able to observe all of this from close up – and this Lou was supposed to be her new rival for the attention and love of her brother, she who, on the one hand, behaved so "scandalously", flirted with men, and, on the other hand, boasted with her intimate knowledge of philosophical matters and who presented herself as Nietzsche's confidante and, at the same time, showed the Lucerne photograph (see above) everywhere to the laughter of her "audience"?? Never, ever, could she (Elisabeth) allow it that her brother would fall prey to such a "loose" girl – and therefore, she had nothing more urgent on her mind than write to her brother at Naumburg who had returned there, in the meantime, due to inclement weather, and to fill him in on the Bayreuth events from her viewpoint. This causes Nietzsche to begin hedging doubts about Lou that he mentions towards Gast, but above all, towards Lou a letter to her. Since Lou vehemently refutes such allegations, he finally gives in on August 4th: "Please, do come, yet, I suffer too much from having made you suffer. Together, we shall bear it better." – and Lou agrees to arrive at Tautenburg on August 7th.

Elisabeth who can and does not want to give in to her rival meets up with Lou at Jena on this day, from where they are supposed to make their way to Tautenburg. In Jena, at the house of the Geler family with whom the Nietzsches are befriended, the inevitable clash happens: Elisabeth, whom Lou had, up to this point, almost considered her "sister" to whom she was "sincerely grateful" (see her letter to Nietzsche of August 2nd), at the house of the Gelzers, confronts here right on the spot and in a surprise attack with her "indecent" conduct at Bayreuth that was harmful to her brother's reputation – and Lou fights back icily. Let Janz report to us with respect to the details of this unpleasant story that sheds a light on all those involved (II, 144 f.):

"C. A. Bernoulli erzählt in seinem Aufsatz >Nietzsches Lou-Erlebnis< eine Anekdote aus der Sorrentiner Zeit. Danach »sprach eine junge Sorrentinerin in regelmäßigen Zwischenräumen in dem Landhause vor. Sie kam für Nietzsche. Aber bei ihm war die Rücksichtnahme auf äußere Korrektheit, die Scheu vor Anstoß und Geschwätz so ausgeprägt, daß er seinen Freund Rée bat, die Besuche des Landmädchens vor dem Fräulein von Meysenbug auf seine Kappe zu nehmen. Paul Rée erwies Nietzsche diesen Dienst, da er in dem Kapitel ganz vorurteilsfrei empfand, sogar mit einigem Vergnügen.« Leider gibt Bernoulli keine Quelle für diese Nachricht an, so daß ihre »Wahrheit« etwas fraglich bleibt. Sollten sich die Dinge aber wirklich so verhalten haben, so bleibt möglich, daß Paul Rée es Lou noch vor ihrer Reise nach Bayreuth und Tautenburg erzählt hat, um ihr zu beweisen, daß ihr neuer Freund nicht ganz so harmlos und ungefährlich sei wie er sich gebe und wie er dargestellt werde. Rée litt an Eifersucht, denn auch er liebte Lou und fürchtete sie zu verlieren.
Was aus den Korrespondenzen als sicher hervorgeht, ist, daß Paul Rée Lou die merkwürdige Briefstelle mitgeteilt hat, in der Nietzsche von der möglichen, auf zwei Jahre befristeten »Ehe« spricht, und daß Rée dies ganz pointiert als einen ernstgemeinten Antrag Nietzsches auf eine »wilde Ehe« ausdeutete. Und es besteht als Möglichkeit noch ein dritter Vorfall, nämlich daß Nietzsche bei dem Gespräch am Löwendenkmal in Luzern auf Lous Begründung, (mit welchem sie seinen dieses Mal direkten Antrag wieder abwies) sie fühle sich noch nicht reif zur Ehe, und der Schock, den sie durch Gillots Werbung erfahren, sei noch nicht überwunden, vorgeschlagen haben könnte, vorerst ein Zusammenleben ohne gesetzliche Bindung zu versuchen, in dessen Verlauf Lou dann zur gültigen Ehe heranreifen könne. So gar fremd war Nietzsche dieser Gesichtspunkt ja schließlich nicht, es gab auch in seiner Zeit viele solcher Fälle, und einen der berühmtesten hatte er aus nächster Nähe miterlebt: er wohnte in jener Nacht als Gast unter demselben Dach in Tribschen, unter dem Cosima ihren vorehelichen Sohn Wagners gebar.
Auf jeden Fall muß Lou in dem Streitgespräch in Jena von derartigem Wissen ungehemmt Gebrauch gemacht und Elisabeth mit der Aussage niedergeschlagen haben, Nietzsche habe ihr eine »wilde Ehe« nahegelegt, worauf natürlich Elisabeth mit vollem Recht entgegnen konnte, daß der Vorschlag eines Zusammenwohnens sogar zu dritt von Lou ausgegangen sei." (Janz reports here that in his essay >Nietzsches Lou-Erlebnis<, C. A. Bernoulli tells an anecdote from his time at Sorrent. According to it, >a young Sorrentine woman was regularly calling on NIetzsche at his residence in Sorrent, that, however, due to his insisting on extreme correctness and due to his distaste in any eclat and gossip, he asked his friend Rée to present these visits as being meant for himself to Miss von Meysenburg and that Paul Rée did Nietzsche this service, since he, with respect to such matters, was free of any prejudices, and therefore even did so with a degree of pleasure.< Unfortunately, so Janz, Bernoulli does not provide a source for this story, so that its >truth< remains somewhat doubtful. Should this story, however, be based on fact, it might be possible that Paul Rée told it to Lou even before her journey to Bayreuth und Tautenburg in order to prove to her the her new friend is not quite as harmless and un-dangerous as he presented himself and as he was portrayed. Rée was suffering from jealousy, since he, too, loved Lou and feared to lose her. What appears to be certain from various correspondences of that time is, according to Janz, that Paul Rée told Lou of the peculiar remark by Nietzsche in his earlier letter to him with respect to a possible >marriage< that would be limited to two years and that Rée quite pointedly interpreted this as Nietzsche's serious proposal of a concubinate. According to Janz, there existed also a third possibility, namely, that Nietzsche, in his personal discussion with Lou at the Lion Monument in Lucerne might have, in reply to Lou's reasoning (with which she rejected his personal marriage proposal) that she considered herself not mature enough for marriage, yet and that she had not overcome the shock, yet, that Gillot's courtship caused her, could have proposed a common-law relationship before a possible marriage, during the course of which Lou could mature and get ready for a real marriage, and that such a concept was not alien to Nietzsche since there existed enough cases even in his day of such relationships, and that he was able to study one of the most famous examples from close up: during the night in which Cosima gave birth to Wagner's son, he stayed at Tribschen as a guest. In any event, Lou must have made free use of any such knowledge in herJena Quarrel and must have put Elisabeth in her place with her mentioning that Nietzsche had suggested a common-law relationship to her, to which, in turn, Elisabeth was able to rightfully reply that the idea of their living together was first brought up by Lou.)

In her letter of September 24th to October 2nd, 1882, to Frau Gelzer, Elisabeth repeated Lou's words – and here, she appears to have stuck to the truth (Dokumente p. 251 ff. re. Peters p. 118):
"Who has first dragged our plan of staying together into the dirtiest mud, who has first thought in terms of marriage, that was your brother! And to emphasize it once more, "yes, it was your noble, pure-minded brother who first had the dirty idea of a concubinate!"
And on it went late in the evening, already at Tautenburg: "Don't think for a moment that I am interested in your brother or in love with him, I could sleep in the same room with him, without getting any wild ideas."

No attempt at discussing the veracity of this information or Janz' thoughts on it shall be made here (even if the creating and spreading of such rumors as the supplying of prostitutes appears very problematic in Nietzsche's case and his infection with syphilis – and Bernoulli is not necessarily a "friend" of Nietzsche...just as Peters is not); we also do not have to discuss further Elisabeth's behavior here – Nietzsche should have known his "Lama" in this respect and kept her out of all of his contact with Lou, as he initially correctly did.

In my opinion – and most authors do not do this – in this case, particularly the behavior of Lou and Rée has to be "appreciated" appropriately since in it can be found an important motive for Nietzsche's subsequent sharp reactions, behind whose back all of this was going on. From Lou as well as from Rée–both of whom held great stakes in their philosophical and psychological abilities – one could have expected more prudence in their behavior (we already discussed what there can be discussed with respect to Nietzsche's alleged >concubinate< concept, in part 1) – Rée's intention of putting NIetzsche into a questionable light (and that before Nietzsche resorted to this mistake, himself) is quite obvious – what Lou does (not complain about in his case (as later about Nietzsche), to the contrary, without hesitation, she allows Rée to provide her with ammunition, in cold blood, she uses this information in her confrontation with Elisabeth against the latter and thus indirectly also against Nietzsche. This does not necessarily leave a good impression of her strength of character – rather, she, who was actually the initiator of the idea of the "triumvirate" as Elisabeth rightfully mentions, stoops down to Elisabeth's small-minded level at this point.

Ordinarily, both women would have had to step back at this point – however, their respective fights for what ever was important to them in their relationships to Nietzsche obviously took precedence for them, and therefore, both put up with traveling to Tautenburg together and even with living together under one roof, since both "ladies" found lodgings in the house of the village pastor, a Pastor Stölten; NIetzsche himself lived in a farm house with the Hahnemanns

Nietzsche's quarters at Tautenburg

Specially for Nietzsche, the village had its walking paths in the forest put into shape and had benches put up. "One is very kind to me: altogether, five new benches are being put up in my area, and the most beautiful around a beech tree, quite suitable for my needs for grat solitude: I shall call it >Die Fröhliche Wissenschaft<." (To his sister on July 3rd, 1882)

View of the village church (Photo: Virtusens)