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Foreword
impressed by the pictures on the wall, she noted the eccentricities and posturing of
some of the more pretentious art historians they met. Of one she noted : “Sehr selbst-
verliebt, sich auf seinen Charme verlassend, oxfordisch schnoddrig u. high brow,”
asking in conclusion, after quoting a rather fatuous statement by him : “Kann man
versnobter sein ?”
In addition to registering the response of two connoisseurs, the diaries are also
a travelogue. We are informed of the weather and conditions of travel : “Sea rather
rough,” Erica quotes the announcement on the boat train crossing the English
Channel, adding : “Das Schreiben ist nicht leicht …” As we travel from city to city
with them, she observes the details of railroad stations and cars and the quality of
the many hotels. Indeed, most of the entries made upon arrival in a new city be-
gin with a quick observation on the hotel, its site, its rooms, its price : “nicht sehr
gemütlich” ; “gut, aber teuer” ; “ruhig, primitiv eingerichtet” ; “sehr ruhiges Zimmer.
Mit Bad 50 fr.” And food is treated to the same scrutiny, depending upon the loca-
tion. In Switzerland, breakfast of “Chocolade und Schlag” is duly noted. But a feast
in Dijon is worthy of full description : “das zog sich – echt franz[ösische] Provinz –
fast zwei Stunden lang hin. Hors d’œuvres, in Butter gebrat[ene] Fische, Endiv[ien]
mit Käse u. Bechamel in d. Gratinierschüssel, Lammcot[elette] mit Erdäpfel u. ge-
füllten Tomaten, Salat, Käse, Obst, Vin compris. Und was für einer ! Da muß man
zwecks Verdauung einen Schwarzen trinken. Jetzt wiederum im Museum, das ist
eine harte Nuß.”
The diaries move in and out of work, in effect between life and art. As they con-
tinue into 1938, however, life becomes ever more urgent : “Heute kommt der Führer
nach Italien” (2 May). Erica follows news of the meetings of Hitler with Mussolini
and then Chamberlain with growing, and understandable, foreboding, as she listens
on the radio to Hitler’s ranting : “Doch haben wir d. Radiorede Chamberlains am 25.
abends gehört, deren Ton unsagbar wohltuend von dem hysterischen Bierbankgebrüll
Hitlers abstach” (29 September). Two days later she laments : “Mein Gott, was hat
man nicht in diesen 2 Tagen wieder alles erlebt ? Der Krieg ist abgeblasen, Hitlers
Wille fast in jedem Punkt erfüllt.”
By 6 December, having made application some weeks earlier, the Tietzes obtained
their American visas. Hans had already received an invitation to be a visiting profes-
sor at the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio. The accomplishments of this emigré art
historian were impressive indeed : he was responsible for reorganizing the museums
of Vienna and was author of twelve volumes of the Österreichische Kunsttopographie,
a publication dedicated to the art monuments of Austria, as well as of an important
book on the theories and methods of art history. Together, the Tietzes published the
first major catalogue of the work of Albrecht Dürer.
Despite all that, in America Hans Tietze never found the position in the acad-
emy that he deserved. Serving in an advisory capacity to museums and collectors, the
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Erica Tietze-Conrat
Tagebücher, Volume II: Mit den Mitteln der Disziplin (1937–1938)
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- Title
- Erica Tietze-Conrat
- Subtitle
- Tagebücher
- Volume
- II: Mit den Mitteln der Disziplin (1937–1938)
- Editor
- Alexandra Caruso
- Publisher
- Böhlau Verlag
- Location
- Wien
- Date
- 2015
- Language
- German
- License
- CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-205-79545-2
- Size
- 17.0 x 24.0 cm
- Pages
- 346
- Category
- Biographien