GOETHE SOCIETY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1491, 13 July 1912, Page 6

GOETHE SOCIETY.

THE ANNUAL" CELEBRATION AT WEIMAR. • In May last tho German Goethe Society held its annual celebration at Weimar, not inaptly described as the , German Athens, and at this charming town on the banks of tho rushing Ilni hundreds of the society's members from all parts of the Fatherland and the Continent wero once more assembled to honour the memory of Germany's greatest poet. Tho English Goethe Society, was represented by several members. ' An exceedingly powerful representation of tho original "Faust," tho "Faust" written before Goetho camo to Weimar in 1775, was given at tho grand ducal theatre where, more - than a century since,' Goethe arid Schiller worked for so many years in friendly co-operation. In this rugged and-realistic wlfr.' Faust," given for the first timo as originally written, it was most interesting to note the variations from the. drama with which we are all acquainted, tho, "Faust" at which Goetho worked for the greater part of his life. A more charming and touching Grctchcn than, Charlotte Pile has scarcely been seen; Hans Illiger's Faust was a most thoughtful performance; while Dr. Max Pohl, of the Konigliclio Shauspielhaus, in Berlin, most admirably represented the Mephisto portrayed, in this fragment as a cynical, limping, satirical demon. The simple but most effective staging by Paul Linsemanu was most excellent, especially the cathedral sccno, which produced a wonderful impression. ■ At the crowded , annual meeting tho president, Professor Erich Schmidt, in , the chair, the Festival Oration was delivered I by ( Profcssor Heuer, of tho Freie Deutscho Hochstift,.on "Goethe in Seiner Vaterstadt." Tho lecturer admirably doscribed the lasting influence exercised on Goethe from his'earliest boyhood bv his native town, not the' luxurious Frankfurt of modern times, but the old Reichstadt with which wo are all acquainted through Dichtung unci 'Wahrheit. Somo exceedingly interesting details of Goethe's relation to his father was given by Professor Heuer, an expert on all concerning Goethe and Frankfurt, who also communicated interesting facts.regarding: the additional premises which are shortly to bo added' to the Goetho' Museum at Frankfurt and which.will:place it on an equal footing with the similar institution in Weimar. '.".' The Eiiphrosyne Dentinal in tho Park, close to Goethe 8 gartenhouse, was unveiled by Professor Erich Schmidt. Wildenbruch's "Euphrosyho" was most charmingly recited by Franlein Elisabeth Schneider, of tho German Theatre at Hamburg. Professor von Baussnern had composed special music to words chosen from tho Prologue in Heaven from "Faust," and from Goethe's "EuphrosjTie" for chooisos of men's and women's voices, which appropriately inaugurated and cloned the proceedings. At the annual banquet at tlie largo hall of tho Crossbow Society, founded in the fifteenth century, Professor Erich Schmidt . again presided. , Interesting speeches were mado by tho Schillar biographer, Professor Bcllormann, of Berlin; Professor V. MiVlieK of Jena; and Profesjor Honor, of Frankfurt, the most, humorous speech of the evening being, as usual, that of Dr. .Max Osborn, of Berlin.