Cosima's Diaries

Recordings by Cosima Wagner between 1869 and 1883

Cosima Wagner’s diaries are one of the most extraordinary inner records of nineteenth-century artistic life: part household chronicle, part spiritual notebook, part Bayreuth archive, and part psychological portrait of Wagner’s final years. Across thousands of entries, we see the daily world behind the myth: children, servants, illness, money, visitors, letters, rehearsals, readings, quarrels, weather, politics, music, and moments of almost mystical illumination. The diaries follow Wagner from the intimate Tribschen years through the creation of Bayreuth, the triumph and crisis of the 1876 Ring Festival, the making of Parsifal, the rise and collapse of the Nietzsche relationship, and the darker ideological currents that increasingly gathered around Wahnfried, including Wagner and Cosima’s antisemitism. They are not a neutral record, nor always a comfortable one, but they are indispensable: a vast, intimate, often beautiful, often disturbing window into the household where Wagner’s final works, his self-mythology, and the Bayreuth idea took shape.

The diary entries gathered here cover the years from January 1869 to February 1883, carrying the reader from the last Tribschen years to Wagner’s final days in Venice. Their breadth is astonishing. They are at once a household record, an artistic logbook, a spiritual notebook, a political barometer, and the intimate chronicle of a private circle attempting to become a public institution. Cosima records children’s illnesses, lessons, servants, meals, letters, debts, travel, weather, music-making, rehearsals, guests, books, dreams, religious reflections, and Wagner’s daily moods. The sublime and the administrative are never far apart. A passage on Schopenhauer, Shakespeare, Calderón, Beethoven, or Christ may sit beside anxieties about singers, money, doctors, railway journeys, or household arrangements.

The early years, especially 1869 to 1871, still belong largely to the private world of Tribschen. They are filled with the pressures surrounding Cosima’s separation from Hans von Bülow, her union with Richard Wagner, the birth and childhood of Siegfried, and the intense domestic enclosure in which Wagner’s later work was nurtured. Yet the outside world continually enters: King Ludwig, Munich theatrical politics, the Franco-Prussian War, German nationalism, and the first sustained appearances of Friedrich Nietzsche. Wagner’s work on Siegfried and the wider Ring is recorded not as a distant masterpiece but as something happening in rooms, at the piano, amid children, letters, exhaustion, and sudden exaltation.

From 1871 onward, the diaries begin to turn toward Bayreuth. At first it appears as an idea, almost a visionary solution to the failures of ordinary theatres. Soon it becomes practical reality: sites, architects, patrons, Wagner societies, subscriptions, guarantees, construction, copyists, singers, scenery, and the immense labour of creating a theatre for one artistic purpose. The move to Bayreuth and the building of Wahnfried do not simplify life. They intensify it. The diaries show Bayreuth not merely as a shrine, but as a project beset by money, politics, vanity, devotion, incompetence, faith, and fatigue.

The approach to the 1876 Ring cycle dominates the middle years. The Festival is presented as the culmination of decades of artistic striving, but Cosima’s record makes clear how fragile the whole enterprise was. Every singer, rehearsal, costume, curtain, orchestral problem, and financial arrangement seems capable of threatening the ideal. After the Festival, the tone shifts sharply. The achievement has happened, but its aftermath is troubled by deficit, press hostility, uncertainty about future performances, the proposed Society of Patrons, the founding of the Bayreuther Blätter, and the London concerts undertaken to repair the damage. Bayreuth has succeeded as revelation, but it has also become a burden that must somehow survive in the world.

After 1876, Parsifal gradually becomes the spiritual centre of the diaries. The entries from 1877 to 1882 increasingly revolve around its poem, score, staging, rehearsals, religious atmosphere, and practical realization. The world of the Grail enters the daily life of Wahnfried: Gurnemanz, Kundry, Amfortas, Klingsor, the Flower Maidens, the Temple, the Communion imagery, the question of sacred drama, and the problem of presenting a work that seems to demand reverence from a public theatre. At the same time, Wagner’s health, his travels, his growing weariness, and the family’s movements through Italy and Venice give the later diaries a more autumnal character.

The diaries must also be read with full awareness of their antisemitism. This is not a marginal feature. In the early years, anti-Jewish remarks often cluster around the controversy of Wagner’s Judaism in Music, hostile critics, the press, Meyerbeer, musicians, theatre politics, and questions of assimilation. By the later 1870s and early 1880s, the tone changes. Antisemitism becomes more sweeping, more political, and more programmatic. The entries increasingly connect Jews with finance, journalism, liberalism, modernity, social decay, and Germany’s loss of spiritual identity. The diaries also record Wagner and Cosima reading or discussing figures such as Disraeli, Stoecker, Gobineau, and writings on the so-called Jewish question. By 1881, this hostility has hardened into open sympathy for anti-Jewish agitation and fantasies of expulsion, separation, or emigration. The development is ugly, historically important, and inseparable from the world these diaries disclose.

That ugliness is made more complex, not less, by the fact that Jewish individuals remain present in Wagner’s life and work: friends, patrons, musicians, correspondents, and, most famously in the late Bayreuth circle, Hermann Levi. The diaries therefore reveal not a simple contradiction but a deeper moral failure: Wagner and Cosima could depend on, admire, or work intimately with individual Jews while still interpreting Jewishness itself through hostile and dehumanizing abstractions. Any serious encounter with these diaries must resist both sanitizing this material and reducing the whole archive to it.

The Nietzsche story forms another major arc. In 1869, Nietzsche enters as a brilliant young philologist and soon becomes a cherished visitor, correspondent, and intellectual ally. The early diaries record excitement over his writings, especially the work that would become central to the Wagnerian cause, The Birth of Tragedy. During the Bayreuth years he appears as part of the wider hope for a new German culture, one that might unite art, philosophy, and spiritual renewal. Yet the relationship gradually frays. His ill health, his independence, the influence of Paul Rée, his rejection of Schopenhauer, and the publication of Human, All Too Human transform him in the Wagners’ eyes from disciple into apostate. By the later entries, Nietzsche is remembered with bitterness, as a figure of disappointment, ingratitude, and betrayal.

What makes these diaries invaluable is precisely their mixture of greatness and blindness. They reveal the daily climate in which Wagner’s late works were conceived, defended, mythologized, and institutionalized. They show Bayreuth being born out of metaphysical ambition and practical desperation. They show Parsifal emerging from religious longing, theatrical calculation, bodily decline, and cultural polemic. They show friendship turning into estrangement, devotion turning into dogma, and spiritual aspiration entangled with prejudice. To read Cosima’s diaries is to enter the workshop, chapel, battlefield, and household of Wagner’s final years.

Year

Month

1869• 1870• 1871• 1872• 1873• 1874• 1875• 1876• 1877• 1878• 1879• 1880• 1881• 1882• 1883

Jan• Feb• Mar• Apr• May• Jun• Jul• Aug• Sep• Oct• Nov• Dec

Showing entries for December 1871 (31 total)

Date	Word Count	Subject	Content
December 1, 1871	220	Printed copies of Hartmann's works expose Cosima again to the public attention she increasingly dislikes, though Wagner praises her letter and jokes about misprints in his own. He works on the Nibelungen history while Frau Wesendonck's reply and Countess Bassenheim's report about Loulou's lying deepen domestic and social irritation. Fear of the outside world keeps them home, where affection, Schopenhauer, and Wagner's teasing criticism of Cosima's seriousness shape the day.	Friday, December 1: Herr Hartmann sends us copies of his Propheten, prefaced with a letter from R., and Neidhart, with a letter from me, which truly appalls me, since my distaste for print and public attention grows ever greater. R. thinks my letter good and says jokingly I also have the advantage over him that it contains no misprints, whereas in his there are some which completely distort his meaning. He works on his pamphlet about the history of his Ring des Nibelungen. In the evening a letter from Frau Wesendonck, who has not understood me and gives me a lesson in world history; her tone annoys R. so much that he wants me to put off her visit next Tuesday. Letter from Countess B.; it seems that Lulu has been obstinately lying; I am very sad about it and consider what I should do to punish her. In the evening Schopenhauer, with great enjoyment. — We wanted to go out in the afternoon, but fear of the outside world kept us at home. R. preferred to stay with me and say nice, loving things to me. But in the evening he scolds me for taking Frau W. so seriously. “You really are silly,” he says, “but the dreadful thing about it is that you are so clever in your silliness!”
December 2, 1871	71	Cosima speaks painfully with the children and handles a wide range of correspondence while Wagner works on his essay. Italian reports note Verdi's discreet attendance at Lohengrin, lending the Bologna success further significance. Schopenhauer gives both of them an exalted feeling about life despite the day's sorrow.	Saturday, December 2: Talked to the children, much sorrow. Also letters of all kinds (Gerson, Rothschild, Frau Tausig, Countess B., Marie Schl.). R. works on his essay. Report from Italy, Verdi at a performance of Lohengrin, applauded by the public on that account, but he stayed at the back of his box so as not to distract from the solemnity of the performance. We continue reading Schopenhauer. Feelings of exaltation regarding life.
December 3, 1871	255	Cosima's serious talk with the children becomes tearful and prayerful, while disturbing reports about Spiegel add to household unease. Hans writes that his family is pressuring him about the children, yet he supports reserve toward them and reports Liszt's agreement with the Protestant conversion. Wagner Society news from Mainz and criticism of Munich performances enter the day, but Cosima's despondency affects Wagner before they slowly recover their spirits.	Sunday, December 3: Spoke very seriously with the children, wept and prayed with them, brought them to the point of asking me for punishment. (Incidentally, heard very unpleasant things about Herr Spiegel.) As I am talking to them, a letter comes from Hans; he asks me to make the children practice the greatest reserve toward their grandmother and aunt; the family is tormenting him (to take the children away from me), but he is turning a deaf ear. Then he tells me that my father agrees with my decision to convert with the children, to Protestantism. Important matters! That the family, annoyed by seeing me treated with respect, wishes to affront me under the pretext of furthering the children’s interests, while in fact not considering them at all—that does not surprise me; but I am despondent about it, and am guilty of the great injustice of letting R. see that I am. How weak we poor mortals are! — A Wagner Society is being set up in Mainz, under the aegis of R.’s wine merchant! A report from Munich in the Musikalische Zeitung says that the orchestra always plays W.’s things well, but the classical things badly, and this is not right. What the good people forget, however, is that the works which go well were rehearsed by R. and Bülow, the classical works, on the other hand, by the present conductors! — My mood has affected R., he is sad. But gradually we manage to restore our spirits, and I put my trust in God!
December 4, 1871	83	Snow, frost, and Saint Nicholas's Day bring Wagner's playful philosophical praise of Cosima as both efficient and final cause of life. Anna Stadelmann arrives for the children, giving real hope for improved order after the recent domestic strain. Letters, work, play, Schopenhauer, news of Lohengrin moving to Florence, and Wagner's letter to the King complete a hopeful day.	Monday, December 4: Saint Nicholas’s Day; snow and frost. R. exclaims to me, “You are a philosophical concept, causa efficiens et finalis, basis and cause of life.” Great joy over the arrival of Anna Stadelmann for the children. Hope that better order will result. Wrote to Ottilie. Worked and played with the children. Letter from M. Muchanoff, Frl. Liszt, etc. In the evening Schopenhauer. Lucca writes that the Bologna company is now going to Florence to perform Lohengrin there. (R. writes to the King.)
December 5, 1871	56	For once no letters are written or received, and Wagner works in relative quiet. The Wesendonck family visits in the afternoon, with Otto ponderous but Mathilde friendly and kind, and plans are made to spend New Year together. Fatigue limits the evening to conversation about past and future.	Tuesday, December 5: No letters, either received or written; R. works. At 2 o’clock visit from the Wesendonck family; he, good man, very ponderous and tiresome, but she friendly and kind; we promise to celebrate the New Year with them. In the evening we are tired and can only converse a little about the past and future.
December 6, 1871	101	Wagner declares that even further suffering could no longer make them truly unhappy, and he continues nearing completion of the Nibelungen history. Cosima reorganizes the children's rooms to separate them from the servants and improve household order, writes to her father, and runs errands in town. Kafka's unexpected question about Vienna concerts surprises them, and Schopenhauer closes the evening.	Wednesday, December 6: R. says, “Even if we had to put up with much further suffering in life, we could no longer be made unhappy.” He works on his Nibelungen history and will soon have it finished. Moved the children’s rooms, to separate them entirely from the servants upstairs and to get things running more smoothly. May God send His blessings! I write to my father. Purchases in town, Boni’s photograph, etc. — In the evening a letter from Dr. Kafka, asking whether R. is really coming to Vienna on February 2, 4—we had heard nothing about it! In the evening Schopenhauer.
December 7, 1871	113	Fresh domestic trouble exposes more ugliness, and Cosima tries to shield Wagner from the emotional burden while suppressing her own ill humor. Wagner completes his report to the Wagner Society but is hurt when her exhaustion and sadness keep her from asking about its ending. The children's continued lying and the question of whether to take Loulou to Mannheim as punishment weighs heavily on her.	Thursday, December 7: Domestic trouble, in which many ugly things come to light. A thousand pities that R. should hear of such things; all I can do is to suppress all signs of ill-humor. Wrote to M. M. R. completes his report to the Wagner Society; he is somewhat hurt that I neglect to ask him about the ending, but I am so tired and also so sad (the children have again been lying!) that I may perhaps be excused. Shall I take Lulu to Mannheim after all, in spite of having told her she must stay behind as a punishment for her recent bad transgressions?? — This question weighs on my mind.
December 8, 1871	127	Preparations for Wagner's departure unfold amid continuing household discord and a bleak letter from Mathilde Maier about financial ruin. Wagner reads Cosima his report, while she writes ahead to Munich even before he leaves. The disturbed day ends with his assurance that fate has not failed them and with a folk-song line about life's sudden reversals.	Friday, December 8: Preparations for R.’s departure. On top of it, continuing domestic discord; many things have spread and taken root through kindness. The moral of Frederick the Great should be applied in this respect. R. reads me his report; I write to R. in Munich, though he is still here! Disturbed, sad day; on top of it a dismal letter from Math. Maier; they seem to have lost all they possess. — Supper with the children. Then upstairs; R. says that everything will turn out all right. Fate will not forget its role—it has been good to us! As he goes off to bed he says that when he is in such moods folk songs always come into his mind—now it is “Red today, dead tomorrow.”
December 9, 1871	107	Cosima takes Wagner to the station in bitter cold and returns alone to grief that must simply be borne. Telegrams and letters from his journey begin arriving, and she answers him while sharing news with the children. Reports from Florence say Lohengrin is turning audiences fanatical, giving public triumph as counterpoint to private separation.	Saturday, December 9: At five o’clock took R. to the station; the cold cruel; final sorrow. Home alone, to bed. It must all be borne in God’s name! At 10 o’clock telegram from R. in Zurich, announcing a letter. Lunch with the children. Wrote to Hans, afterward fetched my letter; it had arrived, and later still a telegram from Lindau! — R. had a cold journey, very cold, but “his heart kept him warm.” Frau W. sends some dolls. Loldi dictates a letter, I write to R. — Telegram from Lucca in Florence, saying Lohengrin is making fanatics of everybody there! — Shared everything with the children.
December 10, 1871	100	Wagner's absence leaves Cosima in longing and depression, sustained only by a telegram confirming his safe arrival and the promise of a letter. She cannot write much to others, turns Christmas routines over partly to Lusch, and fills the day with the children while mourning alone. Florence newspapers describe public honors for the Lohengrin company, but even that success does not lighten her heaviness.	Sunday, December 10: Dreary day, longing and depression! — From R. a telegram that he has arrived safely and that he had just written me a little letter. — Letter from Clemens; I can write to nobody and get Lusch to reply. Looked through a Christmas catalogue. Went out with the children. Read, played, ate with them, everything, but mourned alone. My heart is heavy, heavy, heavy. I write to R., but do not know where the letter will find him! — Newspaper from Florence, reporting that the national guard met the Lohengrin company from Bologna at the railroad station.
December 11, 1871	43	The morning brings disappointment when no letter from Wagner arrives, though treasured lines come by midday. Cosima continues Christmas shopping and children's work amid noise and longing. She writes an unsent letter to Wagner in the evening, unable to escape the ache of separation.	Monday, December 11: Disappointment in the morning, since no letter from R. — At midday went to fetch some dear, cherished lines. Then Christmas shopping. Children’s noises and children’s work. Letter from Herr Pecht. In the evening wrote to R. (not sent). Longing!
December 12, 1871	92	Reichenhall offers itself as an alternative to Bayreuth with almost comic earnestness, even marking a proposed site on a photograph. Cosima's day is transformed by a heavenly letter from Wagner, reporting satisfaction with Duflipp and sittings for Lenbach. Christmas shopping continues, but she moves through it filled with pride, happiness, longing, humility, and love.	Tuesday, December 12: Letter from the town council in Reichenhall, they claim to have heard that agreement could not be reached with Bayreuth and they offer their little nest instead, and send a photograph on which is indicated with a little German flag the site they want to give! — In the afternoon Christmas shopping; but first made sure of my letter! Heavenly letter!! R. is satisfied with Duffl. and is sitting for Lenbach. I wander about with pride, happiness, longing, and humility in my heart. Oh, our love! . . .
December 13, 1871	71	Though somewhat unwell, Cosima works with the children before receiving Wagner's telegram that everything has been approved and he is leaving Munich for Bayreuth satisfied. She answers with thanks and later receives his earlier letter about the Lenbach studio sittings. The day is sustained by news of practical success despite the disordered timing of correspondence.	Wednesday, December 13: Rather unwell, but still strong enough to work with the children. Toward noon a telegram from R. that everything has been approved and he is leaving in great satisfaction for Bayreuth this evening. I cable a word of thanks to him in Munich. Some hours later R.’s letter of Monday; he had not yet heard from me and tells me a lot about his sittings in Lenbach’s studio.
December 14, 1871	101	News from Florence confirms Lohengrin's extraordinary success and prompts even broader Italian touring ambitions. Wagner telegraphs and writes from Bayreuth, but his somewhat sad tone increases Cosima's anxiety as reunion draws closer. Fidi's health requires the doctor, copies of Wagner's second volume are dispatched, and Cosima ends an anxious day writing to him in Mannheim.	Thursday, December 14: Into town early. News from M. Meysenbug that Lohengrin had an unparalleled success in Florence; letter from an Italian impresario, who wants to tour the towns of Italy and Germany (with Lohengrin). Telegram from R. in Bayreuth, then letter; somewhat sad. I am gnawed by worry about him—the nearer the reunion, the harder, almost, the separation! — Called the doctor: Fidi has a touch of eczema, and his stomach is very swollen. Dispatched copies of the second volume of the writings, in the evening wrote to R. in Mannheim. Anxious day—God help me—why do I feel so worried?
December 15, 1871	121	Letters and telegrams from Wagner report excellent arrangements, and his gifts of a pheasant and bashlyk reach Cosima at home. She works with the children, walks into town, and receives more bleak news from Mathilde Maier's impoverished struggle. Leaving Loulou behind remains painful but is accepted as a necessary punishment against untruthfulness, made slightly easier by the severe cold.	Friday, December 15: From R. a short letter from Munich, then a telegram from Bayreuth that all arrangements are in excellent shape. Also received a pheasant and a bashlyk, sent by him. Worked with the children and then walked into town. Letter from poor Mathilde Maier, who now in her dire need is learning photography! Nothing to report beyond activities with the children. Great sorrow not to be taking Lulu with me, God grant that by this means untruthfulness will be driven from her heart forever. My one consolation is that the cold is so intense that the punishment might turn out to have been prudent. May God be at my side in everything; things are never made easy for me.
December 16, 1871	37	Cosima prepares to depart, says goodbye to the children, and finds a few more lines from Wagner waiting at the station. She travels in the evening and reaches Basel by nine. The day closes in company with Fritz Brockhaus and Nietzsche, shifting her from the children's household back toward Wagner's circle.	Saturday, December 16: Preparations for departure; left at 5, said goodbye to the children, found in the waiting room a few more lines from R. In Basel at 9 o’clock; evening with Fritz Br. and Prof. Nietzsche.
December 17, 1871	107	Cosima travels from Basel to Mannheim after coffee with the professors and steady reading of Schlegel. Wagner initially misses her on the platform, turning their reunion into affectionate joking about her standing there like a saga figure. He reports good news from Bayreuth, the King, and Feustel, and the evening introduces her to capable members of the Mannheim Wagner Society.	Sunday, December 17: Coffee with the two Basel professors at 3 o’clock; after steadfastly reading Schlegel’s lectures on history, arrived in Mannheim. Three gentlemen who were sitting in my compartment got out before me, so that R. did not see me; I waited on the platform, and at last he found me! Lengthy joking about this occurrence, R. says I was standing there like a saga, so earnest and long! — Good reports on everything; “I have managed my affairs well”; many good things about Feustel and all the Bayreuth people, good, too, of the King. In the evening visit the Wagner Society; excellent people (Heckel, Koch, Zeroni).
December 18, 1871	166	Despite sleeplessness, Cosima is in good spirits and finds Wagner looking splendid as rehearsals begin. Practical irritations and his exhaustion suggest this may be his last conducted concert, yet the evening rehearsal of Mozart and Beethoven makes an overwhelming impression. Social visits, Serov's unwelcome proximity, Nietzsche's sudden arrival, and Wagner's opal-toothed dream of Cosima intensify the charged atmosphere around the music.	Monday, December 18: Did not sleep, but in good spirits; R. looks very well and splendidly handsome. First rehearsal; displeasure, people have not eaten, prefer not to rehearse the A Major Symphony; feeling that this will be the last concert R. conducts. Very fine apartment in the Hôtel de l’Europe; dinner with R. alone; afterward visit from Baroness Reden-Esebeck, a Hungarian, first met in Szegszárd, who is married to a baritone singer in Mannheim. Then Frl. Reis. In the evening rehearsal, Die Zauberflöte Overture and A Major Symphony—indescribable impression; unfortunately Mme. Serov sits down beside me, which annoys R. very much. Tears that our communion in music can be disturbed by such ugly faces! Arrival of Prof. Nietzsche, who has literally run away from Basel. — Yesterday R. told me of a dream he had in Bayreuth: he had seen me, and I had teeth which gleamed like opal, and he had “kissed me to death.” — R. to bed after each rehearsal, since so worn out.
December 19, 1871	84	Morning rehearsal of Lohengrin, Meistersinger, and Tristan gives Cosima a sense of glorious spiritual liberation. Letters from the children reassure her, while she wanders Mannheim during Wagner's rest and receives another appeal from a military conductor seeking help. The Ritters arrive, the final rehearsal is wonderful, and the evening gathers Pohl, the Ritters, and Nietzsche around the tired, cold-ridden Wagner.	Tuesday, December 19: (Morning) rehearsal Lohengrin, Meistersinger, Tristan; glorious, utter liberation of the soul. Letters from the children, they are well. Wander through the dreary city while R. is resting. Visit from a conductor from Pressburg who went into the army and is now asking R. to help him! — Arrival of the Ritters, who had already seen R. in Würzburg. In the evening final rehearsal, wonderful. R., however, very tired, cannot sleep, and has a cold. — In the evening Pohl, Ritters, and Nietzsche.
December 20, 1871	396	Wagner dreams of many moons before rehearsing the Idyll, whose public performance pains Cosima despite its beauty. The day moves through social meals, an absurd tailor's request, Betty Schott's arrival, the concert before grand ducal company, and a banquet full of toasts, cheers, and hollow ceremony. Wagner's public exchanges with officials and memories of Lachner's ridiculous introduction reveal both the honor and the superficiality surrounding his triumph.	Wednesday, December 20: R. dreams of suddenly seeing many moons in the sky; he watches them for a long time before discovering that they are the Pleiades, vastly magnified, he is seeing; turning away suddenly he catches sight of a shadow (me!) creeping off downstairs. Rehearsal, the Siegfried Idyll, great sorrow on my part to see it performed in front of so many strangers, but it sounds lovely. Returned to the hotel. Dinner with Ritters, Pohl, Nietzsche; R. animated, talks about the Idyll, and in the process hurts me very much. In between, arrival of a tailor with a waistcoat and a request for the protection of the King of Bavaria for his son, in addition a bill for 23 florins for the waistcoat. R. in a great rage, but calms down. Arrival of Betty Schott, bringing good cheer. At 6 o’clock in the evening the concert; Grand Duke and Grand Duchess, also many Jews. R. already vexed at rehearsals by the universal success of the Lohengrin Prelude! — In the evening a banquet; very fine toast by Dr. Zeroni, which moves R. to reply in spite of great hoarseness. Usual talk, and in particular a serenade by a male vocal choir, very pitiful. Many vivats and hurrays, during which R. relates that when he arrived at Mannheim and was greeted by the gentlemen with cheers, his traveling companion got a sudden shock, thinking he had been traveling with a member of royalty; he stood up quickly and bowed low, but when he saw R. companionably shaking hands with the cheering group he looked very relieved! — (At the first rehearsal, on Monday, the conductor Lachner, who otherwise spends his life intriguing against R., had insisted on introducing R. to the orchestra; in doing so he made the most absurd of speeches; R. standing in dignified silence, he meandering on, at one time comparing him with the German Emperor, at another speaking of his artistic and literary activities, which for decades had held the world enthralled—Franz Moor trying to pray, said Dr. Zeroni.) After the concert R. tells me about his conversation with the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess, which took place in public during the intermission; horribly superficial, the Grand Duke turning as red as a beet when R. mentioned the King of Bavaria and said he owed the completion of his Nibelungen to him.
December 21, 1871	119	After another sleepless night, Wagner and Cosima leave Mannheim escorted by friends and travel with Levi and Pohl toward Basel. A disappointing Loen letter contrasts with Wagner's fuller Bayreuth news: the foundation stone is fixed for May 22 and the town has presented the Stuckberg site. In recounting the mayor's toast to Cosima and Fidi, Wagner imagines their Bayreuth creation and names her its Margravine.	Thursday, December 21: Neither of us slept; rose late; hairdresser who saw Tristan und Isolde in Munich and loves it above everything else. Departure at 12 o’clock, escorted by all our friends. — Very unsatisfactory letter from Baron Loën. Traveled with Levi, the conductor, and Pohl; of the former, R. says he respects him for the very reason that he calls himself Levi straight out, not Löwe or Lewin, etc. Evening in Basel with nephew and friend. R. relates much about Bayreuth; foundation-stone laying fixed for May 22; the Stuckberg site presented to R. by the town. The mayor proposed a toast to me and Fidi. R. says, “This will be our creation, you will be the Margravine of Bayreuth”!
December 22, 1871	21	The return to Tribschen is devoted entirely to the children and the emotional relief of homecoming. Wagner is deeply touched and happy, with tears, high spirits, melancholy, joy, and hope all mingled. The entry distills the household's sense of restored domestic bliss after travel and public strain.	Friday, December 22: Return to Tribschen! Day spent with the children, R. touched, happy, many blissful tears, high spirits, melancholy, joy, hope!
December 23, 1871	23	Christmas errands in town prepare the household for celebration, and a nephew arrives to join them. The evening is spent with punch and decorating the tree. Fidi's splendid approving presence gives the brief entry its warm domestic center.	Saturday, December 23: To town in connection with Christmas; arrival of our nephew. In the evening punch and decorating the tree. (Fidi splendid; “approving.”)
December 24, 1871	81	Hans sends photographs and money for the children, stirring melancholy and reopening concerns about outside family influence during Cosima's absence. The Christmas tree brings jubilation, but Wagner is saddened that Lenbach's portrait, intended for Cosima, has not arrived and that the Mannheim birthday gift feels spoiled. A long tender conversation past midnight restores intimacy after the disappointment.	Sunday, December 24: Letter from Hans with photographs and remittance for the children. Melancholy. (During my absence her grandmother wrote to Lulu, asking about religious instruction and Hermine?) Prepared the presents, in the evening jubilation around the Christmas tree, but R. is sad because the picture by Lenbach, meant for me, has not arrived; this deeply distresses him; he also feels that the Mannheim treat—his real birthday present for me—had been spoiled. Long and tender conversation till past midnight. Then to bed.
December 25, 1871	127	Cosima's birthday is folded into Christmas, with the children greeting her and Wagner joking that she must remain thirty-three until New Year's Eve. Gifts, letters, a peaceful family day, growing fondness for the nephew, and Nietzsche's musical present create a contemplative but happy atmosphere. Wagner reads his New Year's letter to Fritzsch aloud, and the evening settles into conversation.	Monday, December 25: The children wish me many happy returns, but R. declares I must remain aged 33 until New Year’s Eve. — I write to Hans to thank him; he is sad about leaving Italy. Two Hildesheim bowls from L. Bucher; also some things from Marie M.; quiet and peaceful day. Our nephew very pleasant company, we grow more and more fond of him. (Visit from Countess B. and her son, who considers it expedient to be a new Catholic.) Children’s games, family lunch, all happy and merry. I am contemplative, as always on my birthday. Fine letter from Prof. Nietzsche, who has sent me a musical composition. R. reads out loud to us his New Year’s letter to Fritzsch. Nice evening of conversation with our nephew.
December 26, 1871	37	The day is quiet with letters, children's play, Wagner's business affairs, and the nephew's pleasant company. Cosima names the mood as peaceful Tribschen happiness. Wagner's kiss and image of her as the holy Urdar fountain make domestic intimacy the source of wisdom and renewal.	Tuesday, December 26: Wrote letters, played with the children; R. settles business affairs; much in our nephew’s company. A peaceful existence, Tribschen happiness! Kissing me, R. says, “This is the holy Urdar Fount from which I draw wisdom.”
December 27, 1871	65	Wagner writes to the King while Cosima handles many letters, and Professor Hirzel's visit brings pleasant conversation. Lindau's invitation to contribute to a review irritates Wagner through its fashionable foreign terminology alone. Bratfisch sends souvenirs of Tausig, keeping the lost friend present in the household's year-end correspondence.	Wednesday, December 27: R. writes to the King, and I write many various letters. For lunch Professor Hirzel, a former acquaintance of R.’s. Pleasant conversation throughout the day. In the morning a letter from Herr Lindau, inviting R. to contribute to a review; the foreign words essays, which he uses, and review are quite enough for R. Herr Bratfisch sends us souvenirs of poor Tausig.
December 28, 1871	244	Cosima receives a good letter from her mother and spends the day writing, while Wagner answers Baden, Reichenhall, and other civic overtures. The nephew's companionship remains easy and harmonious, Mannheim press is favorable, and Wagner reads from On Conducting in the evening. His affectionate joking about Cosima's youth and beauty leads into reflections on public happiness, Bayreuth's revolutionary promise, and the nocturnal imagery he found in Mozart's Zauberflote overture.	Thursday, December 28: Good letter from my mother. Wrote a lot of letters. Loulou to her father. R. to the town councilors of Baden, Reichenhall, etc. Enjoyed the companionship of our dear nephew, discussed all sorts of things, and always of the same opinion. Nice article in the Mannheimer Zeitung. In the evening R. reads to Fritz from his pamphlet On Conducting. R. makes us laugh a lot with his remark about how terribly vexed he is by the fact that I am so beautiful and so young, while he already has such gray hair. Then he says that the morning reception in Berlin was the only time he did not feel embarrassed by this, because, in being greeted and cheered by so many people, he felt he was not begrudged his happiness. Of Bayreuth he says, “You'll see, it will be like the discovery of America, which killed off the Hanse cities—our miserable artistic world will also be brought to a halt.” It occurs to me that I quite forgot to note down the remarkable things R. said to us in Mannheim about the Zauberflöte Overture; this charming work made an indescribable impression, and R. said that its pattern came to him during a sleepless night: the teeming of night, a world of little gnawing creatures, rats and mice, tamed by the flute, dancing to the flute, and in between the appearance of the sun, of day (Sarastro) in all its tender glory.
December 29, 1871	56	Letters from Claire and Liszt arrive, the latter brief and despondent, while Bologna sends festive Lohengrin and Holy Grail delicacies. Wagner complains of frittering away time, yet much of the day is happily spent in conversation with the beloved nephew. A pleasant letter from Clemens closes the evening gently.	Friday, December 29: Letter from Claire; also from my father, short and despondent. Arrival of the Lohengrin cake and Holy Grail bread from Bologna! R. says he is frittering his time away, and we really do spend a large part of the day talking to our dear nephew. In the evening a nice letter from Clemens.
December 30, 1871	101	Cosima continues correspondence while Wagner takes the children into town for New Year's purchases for her, returning with excitement, hot-chocolate spirits, and gifts. Household worries persist, including the landlord's poor behavior and partial apology, but the afternoon remains harmonious. The evening turns literary as Wagner reads Vautrin's arrest from Pere Goriot and admires Balzac's mastery.	Saturday, December 30: Still writing letters while R. is in town with the children making purchases for me for the New Year, divine good man that he is! They all come home in great excitement, having drunk some hot chocolate, and bringing all sorts of good things with them! Harmonious afternoon in spite of household cares; our landlord, Herr Am Rhyn, who has been behaving very badly, nevertheless feels the urge to visit R. and to apologize, more or less. In the evening a long conversation about Balzac; R. reads the arrest of Vautrin from Père Goriot and admires Balzac’s mastery.
December 31, 1871	152	New Year's Eve is merry for the children and adults, despite Wagner's discovery that he forgot to send Cosima's letter postponing the Wesendonck visit. Cosima writes again and drafts a letter to De Gubernatis that Wagner signs, happy for others to see her role in his life. Mannheim sends a warm tribute, the King sends Tristan photographs, and the family relights the tree, dances, plays music, and greets midnight by judging the year good.	Sunday, December 31: New Year’s Eve; the children and we ourselves very merry. R. discovers, to his dismay, that he left a letter from me to Frau Wesendonck (putting off our visit) lying around for a week, so I write to her again; I also write to Herr De Gubernatis, the Sanskrit professor in Florence, and R. signs it; he does not wish to copy it out, he says he is glad that people should see what I am to him. Nice letter from the Wagner Society in Mannheim: “the disciplined man, the man of Tribschen, the master of ceremonies, the speaker, and the strategist!” The King sends photographs of Tristan! In the afternoon we light the tree again and dance around it; R. plays for us. Stayed up until midnight, looked back on our year and found it good; affectionate good wishes. Between one and two we go off to bed.
No diary entries found.