Achilleion - Heine statue to vex Kaiser William II - An article in the New York Sun, June 16, 1907

Clipping from the Sun article

The sun, New York, June 16, 1907

HEINE STATUE TO VEX KAISER WILLIAM II, UP AGAINST ONE OF HIS PET PREJUDICES.

Temple to the Poet of Loves and Woes
Feature of the Empress Elizabeth's .
Villa in Corfu Which the Emperor Has Bought—And He Doesn't Like Heine. 

    The fate of the beautiful Villa Achilleion on the Island of Corfu, the favorite retreat of the Empress Elizabeth of Austria, having been settled satisfactorily to the court of Vienna through the purchase by Emperor William of Germany, the question arisen: What will become of the most distinctive and interesting monument,  the statue of the German poet Heine.

Emperor William seems to be pursued by a troop of statues of the poet of loves and woes. As the head of the official and aristocratic classes of the empire he has so far succeeded in keeping them all out of Germany. One of these memorials was received in New York a few years ago after having been rejected by several cities, among them the poet birthplace, mustard making Dusseldorf. Here it is still in seclusion.

    Heine had a playful way of seeing the Prussian spiked helmet and mailed hand in a thundercloud and of venting his most bitter sarcasm upon Prussian policies and politicians. Therefore, after many years of opposition to Heine statues, it is hardly to be expected that the chief of the Hohenzollern will be particularly proud of the ownership of the Corfu statue. He is reported to have ordered the statue removed from the grounds of the villa.

    This statue of Heine was pride of Empress Elizabeth. To a woman of her idealistic and somewhat fantastic temperament his poetry rnade a strong appeal. Unlike the strenuous William, she cared little for his politics or sarcasm.

     “Heine, said one who knew her, “was an expounder of loves and woes and his lyrics were permeated by a tone of melancholy which seemed to suit her own feelings.  When the project for the fountain that met such an unhappy fate both in Germany and in New York was proposed in Germany she gave it her earnest support and countenance. She even authorized a subscription, but this authorization was withdrawn at the request of Emperor William, who wrote to her. It in alleged by Heine's admroirers, that a contribution to such a cause was an acknowledgment of the injustice of monarchical institutions, and of the Hohenzollern rule in particular. In all of her travels she took with her a copy of Heine’s Buch der Lieder and she slept with the precious volume under her pillow.”

    When she planned the villa it was her purpose to have there a temple consecrated to her favorite poet. She chose the most picturesque spot on the grounds and had erected a white marble canopy supported by white columns and surmounted by an angel with a wreath of laurel. The position commanded the superb entrance to the grounds and the temple was reached by flight after flight of white steps that rose from a magnificent fountain by the roadway.

    Beneath the canopy she had placed the lifelike statue. It was done by the Danish sculptor Louis Hasselriis, who was himself a great admirer of the poet. The poet is represented seated in an armchair, his knees covered with a blanket. The face is shown worn and creased with lines of care and sorrow, the head is sunk upon the breast, and the eyes, which appear filled with tears, look out upon the blue sea and the far reaching purple mountains. In one hand is a pencil and in the other a scroll upon which is written one of the Empress's favorite verses from Die Heimkehr:

Was will die einsame Thräne?

Sie trübt mir ja den Blick;

Sie blieb aus alten Zeilen

In meinen Augen zurück.

    In the background were ancient cypresses and gigantic olive trees and against their dark green shade the white of the temple and statue stood in added beauty and grace. From no other part of the island was the view of mountain and sea so charming and from none were the violet tints of which the old Grecian poeta sang more discernible.

    In the enjoyment of this scene the Empress took great delight and often at night when her maids missed her from her apartment they would find her alone beside the statue.

The Villa Achilleion was of Elizabeth's own designing and it was for this reason as well as the poetical regard with which it was always held by her, that Emperor Francis Joseph was loath to part with it after her death. It became the property of her eldest daughter, Princess Gisela, with the usufruct to the Emperor.

    When it became known that the place was no longer to be occupied by members of the Austrian royal family the Privy Purse was fairly deluged with offers for the property. It was reported several times that it was to be turned into a sanitarium and still later came the announcement that a syndicate had bought it with the intention of converting it into a gambling resort something after the pattern of Monte Carlo.     All these projects failed when the Emperor announced that he would not consent to any proposal that

aimed at making money out of the venture.

  Emperor William visited Corfu two years ago and conceived the idea of buying the villa. The suggestion met with instant favor, for the German Emperor had always been a great admirer of Empress Elizabeth and it was believed that he would keep the property with the same care that she had. There was at the time a discussion regarding the disposition of the statue of Heine, but it is not known what agreement was reached.  It is known that Francis Joseph made a request that it he allowed to remain where the Empress placed it.

    Elizabeth was dearly loved by the people of the island and by the fishermen and laborers she was called the “Lady of the Achilleion." She used to spend a great deal of time wandering about the island and she frequently talked with the peasants she met. She studied Greek assiduously.

She was attracted to Corfu as far back as the early ‘60s, when as convalescent she stopped there on her return from southern Spain. The villa is in pure antique Greek style, but in the interior several styles are represented, the dining room being Italian Renaissance, the smoking room Pompeian and the chapel Byzantine. 

   The first floor was reserved for the use of the Emperor while the second floor she made her habitation and there kept her art collection. The rooms of her apartment were in accordance with the description of those said to have been occupied by Penelope and Helena.

    The bedstead, which stood only eight inches from the floor, was shaped according to the description contained in the ancient epic, the four posts were adorned with smiling wood nymphs and rich silk draperies were thrown carelessly over the white sheets and spreads. She had an entrance of her own so that she might, as she was wont to do, wander about the park and grounds at night without disturbing any one else in the house.

    She had constructed a number of fanciful caves and set up at frequent intervals through the grounds statues of nymphs and satyrs. Two bronze athletes modelled after those found at Olympia, in the act uf running a race, stand on one of the terraces. The largest piece of statuary in the gardens is that of Achilles:

    It is a colossal piece of white marble showing the hero with a look of torture on his face trying in vain to pull the fatal spear from his wounded heel. One of the legends of the place is that it was a wound in her own imperial heart that suggested the statue and likewise the name of the villa.

Corfu is considered the most beautiful of the Ionian Islands. It is a land of legends and of stories. The island was neyer conquered by the Turks, and for this reason it is said that the modern Corfiotes more closely resemble the ancient Hellenes and are the purest Greek blood of any of King George's subjects.

Corfu, in spite of its beauty and fascinating history, has gained the reputation of ill omened island for royalty. A residence at Corfu, where there is a royal Grecian palace, is always considered an unfortunate precedent by the rulers of Greece.

    King Otho and Queen Amalia were returning from a visit to Corfu when on anchoring at Pireus they were prevented from landing. In their absence the leaders of the Parliament at Athens had taken away their throne. King George, who succeeded to the crown, seldom occupies the palace at Corfu.

It was while Elizabeth was at Achilleion that she received word of the death of her most loved kinsman, Ludwig II. of Bavaria, and it was there that she went to mourn the death of her son, Archduke Rudolph, after the Meyerling affair.

    It was to Corfu that the late Czar of Russia and the Emperor Frederick of Germany were about to go in the hope of recovering their health. Both died befor they could carry out the plans. 

The murder of Empress Elizabeth by an anarchist at Geneva occurred just after she had left Corfu. What this island may have in store for Emperor William or if the removal of the mournful, sad faced statue of the poet Heine will end the line of royal misfortunes remains to be seen.

 

Back of the Heine statue in Corfu — Old postcard