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Mark Twain in German-Language Newspapers and Periodicals

Schloss-Hotel, Heidelberg

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 the presence of the prominent visitor in Heidelberg. On May 7, 1878, 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" (p. 4 c. 3).
Hotel Schrieder had a long history in Heidelberg and advertized itself as a first-class hotel. In July 1877, it had accommodated former US president Ulysses S. Grant and his wife. But something must have troubled the Clemens family to such an extent that Olivia referred to it "a most miserable hotel" (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.

When the hotel opened its doors in 1875, its owner, Heinrich Albert, ran numerous ads to advertise his new establishment. He received support from what appears to be a friendly newspaper review which gave this detailed description of the amenities: "Newly built and furnished in fine taste, the castle hotel, has 90 guest rooms, 8 royally furnished lounges, 1 ladies' salon, 1 music salon, 1 reading salon and 1 billiard room, as well as 4 separate dining rooms. The kitchen and cellar offer only the finest and most amazing culinary variety, and the serving staff leave nothing to be desired."

The hotel's unique elevated location, in proximity to the renowned castle, inspired the reviewer to eloquently praise its picturesque setting:
"[The Schloßhotel] is surrounded by beautiful nature on all sides. From its windows, its 21 balconies and 5 terraces, you can see the simple idyll of beautifully wooded mountains and lush meadows to the south and east. To the north, the view is immersed in the cozy confines of the Neckar valley with the heights of the Schlosserweg and the Engelswiese. To the east, it sweeps joyfully through the rich romance of the German Alhambra [Heidelberg Castle], Old Heidelberg's fine mountains and the laughing hills opposite and loses itself with the sparkling river in the wide, cheerful Palatinate plain, which is bordered by the golden-scented mountains of the wine-growing Hardt." [translated from the German text printed in Neue Würzburger Zeitung, 4. August 1875, p. 2].

Heinrich Albert is credited as "of the best innkeepers and an expert on tourist life in the grand style," a characterization that corresponded to Olivia's first impression of him, as he treated her and the children as an attentive and hospitable host. Their new situation at the Schloss-Hotel pleased Olivia greatly. In her early letters she called the location "a perfect Paradise" (Snedecor 102) and "the most lovely place that anyone ever saw" (104). Clemens also felt that they were "divinely located" (MTHL I, 229). He was fascinated by the enclosed balconies attached to their bedroom which he described in a letter to Howells as "two great bird-cages" which gave them a spectacular view of Heidelberg and the Rhine valley. He also found the quiet seclusion he sought during his European stay. "Lord, how bleed is the repose, the tranquility of this place," he wrote to Howells (MTHL I, 230). It may have been a result of the fact that, as Olivia wrote to her mother, "no one in the hotel knows who Mr. Clemens is" (Snedecor 103).

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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, his two daughters Susie ( 6 years old) and Clara (3 years old), Olivia's friend Clara Spaulding, and the German nursemaid Rosina Hay (N&J2, 43).

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 (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 (1846, rev. ed. 1872). Clemens had been in touch with Taylor since 1877 (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.

A letter written in February 1878 mentions Dresden as a possible place for a longer stay (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" (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" (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 (Letter from OLC to Mrs. Jervis Langdon].

The Clemens family arrived in Heidelberg, a city of approximately 28,000 inhabitants (Luks, 86), on the afternoon of May 6th, initially staying at Hotel Schrieder (Scharnhorst 2019, p. 250), a place Olivia described as "a most miserable hotel" (Snedecor 104). The next day, they moved to the much more elegant Schloss-Hotel, which offered them a pleasant and comfortable stay stay and a spectacular view of the city and the Neckar valley.

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