Effi Briest (39 page)

Page 159
:
The Storming… Heights of Lipa
. Scenes of Prussian victories. The storming of the Heights of Düppel north-east of Flensburg was decisive in the German-Danish War of 1864, when Schleswig-Holstein was in dispute. The other picture is a scene from the Battle of Königgrätz; see note to
page 84
.

Page 161
:
Rat
. Literally ‘Councillor’, a person of some considerable social standing with the title
Rat
, which may be honorary as in the case of
Geheimrat
, or may designate professional status as in
Landgerichtsrat
.

Page 162
:
Landgerichtsrat
. Judge at a regional court of law.

Page 163
:
Almanach de Gotha
. Genealogical handbook of the German nobility.

Page 165
:
Geheimrätin
. The wife, or as in this case widow, of a
Geheimrat
. See note to
page 143
. In Germany the male title is not only acquired in feminine form by the wife (e.g.
Frau Professor)
but can also be retained together with its prestige after the husband’s death.

Page 165
: ‘
on the appointed hour’s stroke’
. Quotation from Schiller,
Piccolomini
, I, iv, line 528: ‘the task upon the appointed hour’s stroke.’

Page 169
:
lead-water
. A dilute solution of acetic lead applied to relieve swellings, bruising and abrasions.

Page 180
:
Fremdenblatt… Kleines Journal
. Berlin newspapers. The latter specialized in society and court news.

Page 183
:
Niemann’s Tannhäuser
. Albert Niemann (1831-1917), heroic tenor, celebrated Wagnerian at the Berlin Opera from 1866.

Page 185
:
Saatwinkel… Pichelsberg… Pichelsdorf… Pichelswerder
. All popular places with Berlin daytrippers, lying to the north-west of the city by the river Havel.
Picheln
means ‘to booze’.

Page 185
:
Kiekebusch, Wuhlheide
. More of the same but to the south. Kiekebusch suggests ‘peeking in the bushes’; Wuhlheide, ‘rummaging and burrowing in the heath’. Places where upper-class men might take their mistresses on outings away from the public gaze. In Fontane’s novel
Confusions, Delusions
chapter 13 there is a celebrated description of such an excursion, to Hankels Ablage.

Page 189
:
Gretchen look
. Ironic allusion to the innocence of Gretchen in
Faust
Part I.

Page 191
:
Prince Albrecht’s Gardens
. Popular park beside the palace of Prince Albrecht of Prussia (1837-1906) by the Askanischer Platz.

Page 191
:
Kreuzberg
. A hill to the south of the city centre where a memorial to the dead of the Napoleonic Wars was erected in 1878. In 1888-94 the Viktoria Park was laid out with artificial rock formations and a waterfall.

Page 193
:
Glatz
(now Klodzko in Poland). Town with a fortress prison in the Prussian District of Breslau where Innstetten serves his sentence for killing his opponent in a duel. There was strong public feeling against the practice of duelling in Germany at this period; the punishment was three months to five years for taking part, and two to fifteen years’ imprisonment in the event of a fatality. Innstetten’s early release however
was typical for someone of his position. Kaiser Wilhelm I had Ardenne released after three weeks of his two-year sentence.

Page 193
Habsburger Hof
. An inn on the Askanischer Platz, by the Anhalt Station, near Effi’s apartment.

Page 201
:
Schilling’s
. Cake shop on the corner of Friedrichstrasse and Kochstrasse.

Page 202
: Karl Theodor
Körner
(1791-1813). successful dramatist and poet in the style of Schiller, who wrote and fought for the cause of German freedom and was killed in action in the Napoleonic Wars.

Page 209
:
Kreuzzeitung… Norddeutsche Allgemeine
. Conservative Berlin newspapers. The
Kreuzzeitung
, properly speaking the
Neue Preussische Zeitung
, called after the emblem of the Iron Cross on the front page, was read by the Mark Brandenburg nobility.

Page 210
:
Ladenberg… Order of the Red Eagle
. Philipp von
Ladenberg
(1796-1847), Prussian Minister of State, 1837-42. The
Red Eagle
, introduced in 1705, was a middle-grade Prussian decoration, unlike the Black Eagle. See note to
page 102
.

Page 211
:
Doctor Wichern… the Rough House
. Johann Hinrich Wichern (1808-81), Protestant theologian who founded das Rauhe Haus in Hamburg (1833), an innovative educational institution for criminals and underprivileged persons.

Page 212
:
King Mtesa
. Ruler of Uganda, 1841-84.

Page 212
:
Friedenskirche where Kaiser Friedrich is
. Friedrich III (1831-88), the son of Wilhelm I and father of Wilhelm II, ruled only for 99 days. He was buried in the so-called Church of Peace in the palace gardens of Sanssouci.

Page 212
:
Sardanapalus or Coppélia with dell’Era
. Antoinetta dell’Era-Santriri was prima ballerina at the Royal Opera House in Berlin in the 1880s, dancing in Paul Taglioni’s ballet
Sardanapalus
and Delibes’
Coppélia
among others.

Page 212
:
Siechen’s
. Berlin brewery and beer restaurant frequented by actors.

Page 213
:
Huth’s
. Wine merchant’s with a wine bar, later an exclusive restaurant, a few doors up from where Fontane lived at 134 Potsdamerstrasse.

Page 213
:
Duke of Ratibor
. Viktor, Duke of Ratibor and Prince of Corvey (1818-93), owner of extensive estates in Silesia, was president of the upper chamber of the Prussian state parliament from 1877.

Page 213
:
Prince Bishop Kopp
. Georg Kopp (1837-1914), Prince Bishop of Breslau from 1887, worked to restore relations between the Prussian government and the Catholic Church.