Prince Pückler-Muskau

• Posted by mgr on November 10th, 2009 filed in Berühmte Dandys, HISTORISCHES, Zeitdokumente
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A foreign correspondent favours us with the following particulars relative to the above celebrated personage :—

‘The Prince is now forty-five years of age. He is a member of one of the first families in Germany ; for the Counts of Puckler derive their origin from the famous Rüdger von Pechlurn, the principal hero of the Niebelungenletd, the Iliad of the Germans. The Prince’s grandmother was a Frenchwoman, born Countess de Latour-du-Pin; and his mother, who inherited that title, still resides in France, at the Chateau d’Alais, near Valence, in Dauphins.

‘In person, the Prince is tall, and well made; his countenance is full of intelligence and expression. There is a certain originality in his manners as well as in his character. It has been remarked by persons who were acquainted with Lord Byron, that there are many traits of resemblance between the Prince and the English poet. Like Byron, he loves solitude, even when amidst the gaiety of the world. He has passed a great portion of his life in travelling over Europe, almost always alone and solitary, avoiding, rather than seeking, society, and entering into company only by capricious fits. Thus he has sometimes led a dissipated life, amidst the luxury of courts, and at other times he has travelled like a humble tradesman taking his seat in a diligence, and scrupling not to carry his portmanteau on his shoulder. He has frequently travelled a hundred leagues on foot and alone, mingling with the lower order of people as naturally as though he had never known any higher rank. He ones went in in a balloon to take a bird’s-eye view of the world; and on another occasion, as bold, though less learned than Pliny, he advanced to the edge of the crater of Vesuvius, at the moment preceding one of its most violent eruptions. He was always distinguished for this sort of adventurous spirit.

‘In his early youth, he served in the Saxon guards, a regiment which was destroyed in the redoubts of Mojaisk. While in this service, Prince Puckler rendered himself conspicuous by a thousand extravagancies, and I have been informed, by his old comrade, General von Leyser, that he fought no less than seven duels in the spice of four years.

‘In 1813, the Prince, like many of his countrymen, took part in the war of the coalition against France, and he served with honour in the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and aid-de-camp to the Grand Duke of Weimar, who entrusted him with several important duties. Though he did not hesitate to take up arms against the oppressor of his country, yet Prince Puckler was nevertheless a great admirer of Napoleon. I have heard him remark that, by a singular chance, he hid been an eye witness to the three most decisive events in the life of that extraordinary man, viz.—his coronation, his marriage with Maria Louisa, and his abdication.

‘On the close of the war, the landed possessions of the Prince having been placed under the dominion of the King of Prussia, he proceeded to Berlin, where he became a sort of favourite, and, subsequently, the son-in-law of Prince Hardenberg, the Chancellor of Prussia, who was then in the plenitude of his power.

‘It has been alleged, that after being indebted to the influence of the Chancellor for his rank of Prince, M. von Pückler quarrelled with his father-in-law and parted from his wife. This is decidedly false. Two years after the Chancellor’s fath, the Prince was, it is true, divorced from his wife, who is twelve years older than himself. Their separation was caused by family reasons, rather than by any disagreement between themselves, for they now reside in the same hotel in Berlin, and the same chateau when they remove to the country. I may add, that according to the general opinion in Prussia, the Julia of the prince’s letters is no other than the Princess Puckler Muskau, who was divorced two years before their publication. All this is certainly inconsistent with received ideas of propriety. But every nation has its customs, and the general motives which induced a lady, much older than her husband, to exchange the character of wife for that of an affectionate mother, are respected in Germany.

‘For several years past, Prince Pückler has retired entirely from the great world. He resides almost constantly at his country seat, a fine chateau, surrounded by a spacious park and superb gardens. There he divides his time between literay study, agriculture and hunting, and other rural sports, exercising the most amiable hospitality towards those who visit him in his retreat. A short time ago, the Prince and Princess Royal of Prussia, and Prince Charles, were among his guests at Muskau, a spot which enjoys considerable celebrity in Prussia, on account of its mineral waters and picturesque scenery.’

From: The Court Journal: Gazette of the Fashionable World. February 9, 1833. No. 198, p. 92.

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