View source for Heidelberg

Samuel Clemens arrived in Heidelberg on April 22, 1878. It was the first extended stay on his trip through Europe during the years 1878-1879. He was accompanied by his wife, [[Olivia Langdon Clemens]], his two daughters [[Olivia Susan Clemens|Susy]] (6 years old) and [[Clara Langdon Clemens|Clara]] (3 years old), Olivia’s friend Clara Spaulding, and the German nursemaid Rosina Hay ([https://www.zotero.org/groups/4437667/mtxdigital/items/2ERH5HZF/ N&amp;J2, 43]).

[[File:Heidelberg_schlosshotel_illustr.jpg|frameless|left|{{File:Heidelberg_schlosshotel_illustr.jpg}}]]
There seems to be no record of why Heidelberg was chosen as a temporary place of residence. Since Clemens was looking for a location to withdraw from the hassle of life in Hartford, he might have found it appealing to hear about Heidelberg offering “a peaceful state of rest and content” – a phrase that Charles Dudley Warner, his next-door neighbor and a collaborator on ''The Gilded Age'', had used in his travel book ''Saunterings'' ([https://www.zotero.org/groups/4437667/mtxdigital/items/KBBTRUMQ/ 1872, 43]). Similarly, the American poet Bayard Taylor had envisioned Heidelberg as “a place for rest and quiet study” (56) in his book ''Views A-Foot'' ([https://www.zotero.org/groups/4437667/mtxdigital/items/9TUHZMCQ/ 1846, rev. ed. 1872]). Clemens had been in touch with Taylor since 1877 ([https://www.zotero.org/groups/4437667/mtxdigital/items/VHQUGKJP/ Kersten, 253]). Now his trip to Europe aboard the steamship “Holsatia” afforded him the opportunity to spend the two-week voyage from New York to Hamburg in close proximity to Taylor, who was en route to begin his term as America’s German envoy.

[[File:Heidelberg_schlosshotel_card.jpg|frameless|right|{{File:Heidelberg_schlosshotel_card.jpg}}]]
A letter written in February 1878 mentions Dresden as a possible place for a longer stay ([https://www.zotero.org/groups/4437667/mtxdigital/collections/DAE6W88D/items/CPVPYE4Q/item-list MTHL I, 220]), but the idea never materialized. In March Clemens wrote to Mary Fairbanks that he wanted to “find a German village where nobody knows my name or speaks any English” ([https://www.marktwainproject.org/letters/uccl01542/ UCCL 01542]). Even shortly before the departure of the “Holsatia,” he informed a ''New York Times'' reporter that he was “going to the most out-of-the-way place in Germany I can find [...] fifty miles away from any railroad” ([https://www.zotero.org/groups/4437667/mtxdigital/items/TJGIKW4J/ Scharnhorst 2006, 15]). Upon their arrival in Hamburg, however, the Clemens family contemplated Heidelberg as a potential destination for an extended stay. “We shall [...] go to Heidleberg [sic] where we shall probably stay nearly two months” Olivia wrote to her mother on April 26 (from Olivia Langdon Clemens to Mrs. Jervis Langdon, original letter at the ''Mark Twain Project'').

The Clemens family arrived in Heidelberg, a city of approximately 28,000 inhabitants ([https://www.zotero.org/groups/4437667/mtxdigital/items/ICN55MKZ Luks, 86]), on the afternoon of 6th May 1878. Until now, German newspapers, even with digital reproductions available, have provided little assistance in reconstructing Clemens’s visit to Heidelberg. It appears that there is only a single reference to his presence in the city. The ''Heidelberger Zeitung'' printed a list of newly arrived visitors (“Fremdenliste”) in the city, including the line “Hotel Schrieder [...] Clemans [sic] und Fam. a. New-York” (7 May, 1878, 4).
[[File:Hotel_schrieder_adv_murray_1878.png|frameless|left|{{File:Hotel_schrieder_adv_murray_1878.png}}]]
Hotel Schrieder had a long history in Heidelberg and advertized itself as a first-class hotel (see image left). In July 1877, it had accommodated former US president Ulysses S. Grant and his wife (see [https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/newspaper/item/3QYUA7CZ7EKB2MHZSKC2AW7FB4AOKJSG?issuepage=2 ''Der Landbote, Anzeiger für den Amtsbezirk Sinsheim und Umgebung'', 21 July, 1877, 2]). But something must have troubled the Clemens family to such an extent that Olivia referred to it “a most miserable hotel” ([https://www.zotero.org/groups/4437667/mtxdigital/items/Z44NN233 Snedecor 104]), prompting Clemens to quickly move them to better quarters at the Schloss-Hotel, a relatively new hotel located near the famous Heidelberg Castle. 


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