Schroter, to have the kindness to
spend a day or two at Weimar, and to bring with him, if possible, a
functionary of the Jena Museum, Farber by name, who had at one time
been Schiller's servant. As soon as they arrived, Goethe placed the
matter in Schroter's hands. Again the head was raised from its
pillow and carried back to the dismal Kasselgewolbe, where the bones
still lay in a heap. The chief difficulty was to find the first
vertebra; after that all was easy enough. With some exceptions,
comparatively trifling, Schroter succeeded in reproducing the
skeleton, which then was laid in a new coffin 'lined with blue
merino,' and would seem (though we are not distinctly told) to have
been deposited in the library. Professor Schroter's register of
bones recovered and bones missing has been both preserved and
printed. The skull was restored to its place in the pedestal.
There was another shriek from the public at these repeated
violations of the tomb; and the odd position chosen for Schiller's
head, apart from his body, called forth, not without reason,
abundant criticism.
"Schwabe's idea of a monument in the new cemetery was, after a
while, revived by the Grand Duke, Carl August, but with an important
alteration, which was, that on the spot indicated at the head of the
rising ground there should be erected a common sepulchre for Goethe
and Schiller, in which the latter's remains should at once be
deposited--the mausoleum to be finally closed only when, in the
course of nature, Goethe should have been laid there too.
Pages:
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29