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Records from the Trial of Isaak von Sinclair, Accused of High Treason (from the Stuttgart State Archives)
[From Friedrich Hölderlin, Sämtliche Werke, Kritische Textausgabe, Bd. 9: Dichtungen nach 1806 - Mündliches, hrsg. v. D.E. Sattler, Darmstadt & Neuwied, Luchterhand Verlag, 1984, S. 115 - 117.]
[Unauthorised translation from the German by Scott J. Thompson. D.E. Sattler's remarks introducing each document have also been included. An attempt is being made to secure permission from Herr Sattler for this translation. ]
A. Alexander Blankenstein to Count Wintzingerode, 7. February 1805.
B. Blankenstein's Elucidations, 8. February 1805.
C. Explanation of Count Friedrich Ludwig von Homburg.
D.The Medical Opinion of Dr. Georg Friedrich Karl Müller; State Archives of Stuttgart
A. Alexander Blankenstein to Count Wintzingerode, 7. February 1805.
In 1803, Count Friedrich Ludwig von Homburg authorized the establishment of a State Lottery. The Count appointed an advocate by the name of Euler to be a consultant, and through Euler the 21 year-old A.L. Wetzler was also appointed. Wetzler's reputation in Frankfurt had been bad enough to motivate him to be christened in Homburg with the name Blankenstein. Herr "Baron von Blankenstein," as consultant to the Count, was able to inveigle the trust of Sinclair and became his friend. In fact, they are said to have become good friends [1].
When Sinclair returned to Homburg, after being invited to attend the crowning of Napoleon in Paris in January of 1805, he was informed of corruption and swindling in the lottery, and he decided to terminate it. Prior to this action, however, a weekly paper printed by the lottery's press had been prohibited for publishing barbs aimed at both Sinclair and Hölderlin. In the weekly Tiresias or German Annals, the following sentence had been printed: "The newer philosophical systems have made far more buffoons than the older sytems have made sensible people."
Baron von Blankenstein's response to Sinclair 's terminating of the Homburg State Lottery was to publish an anonymous denunciation, alleging that Sinclair had conspired in Württemberg to assassinate the Elector and his Minister, Count Wintzingerode. Blankenstein's denunciation had its desired effect: on the 26th of February, Sinclair was arrested and placed in solitary confinement.
Friedrich Hölderlin had also been implicated by Blankenstein, and his shouts of outrage which Blankenstein "quoted" in a letter to Count Wintzingerode were to play an important and incriminating rôle in the treason trial.
--D.E. Sattler
"Regarding Your Excellency's most favorable decree of the the 3rd of this month, it is my most obedient honor to disclose the communications made to me by Privy Councillor Sinclair, to the effect that Swabia is to become the first scene of anarchy, and that there is reason to expect an insurrection on the Rhine.
Since the greatest part of Swabia's populace is hardly inclined toward rebellion, and one could hold out but little hope for a popular uprising, the scene there is to unfold with a horrible blow: the assassination of His Highness the Elector and Your Excellency, in the course of which a certain Gruthofer in Worms [2] would assist, and to which end has also been delegated a former university friend of Sinclair's by the name of Bauer [3], currently to be found in England. Until the effects of this are perceived, His Highness will be summoned under certain conditions to the head of the government. (...)
An unusual stroke of luck has contributed to making Sinclair very distrustful. His comrade Friedrich Hölderlin of Nürtingen, who was also instructed of the whole event, has fallen into a kind of madness. He constantly rails at Sinclair and the Jacobins, and to the astonishment of the local residents he continually shouts: 'I don't want to remain a Jacobin' ["ich will kein Jacobiner bleiben"]. "
B. Blankenstein's Elucidations, 8. February 1805.
Without waiting for an answer to his letter of 3. February, Count Wintzingerode had Justice Wucherer of the Higher Regional Court sent to Frankfurt. Wucherer met with Blankenstein in Rödelheim on 8. February. Here, Blankenstein composed his elucidations to the denunciation which he had sent anonymously to Elector Friedrich II on 29. January. On 25. February, Blankenstein acted out his own feigned arrest. During the hearing which followed, his elucidations were reshaped into a preliminary draft, Species-Facti of the Grand Württemberger Commission of Inquiry. ---D.E. Sattler
"Shortly before the departure from Stuttgart, Sinclair had fetched a certain Hölderlin from Nürtingen, and in the company of both of them, I rode to Homburg. During the journey, I had the occasion to notice that Hölderlin knew of Sinclair's plan. This Hölderlin has recently become nearly mad, and he strongly reproaches Sinclair and the Jacobins, continually shouting:I will not be a Jacobin,Vive le Roi !"
C. Explanation of Count Friedrich Ludwig von Homburg.
The Count had not be able to prevent Sinclair's arrest. Now he attempted to at least shield Hölderlin from the grip of Württemberg justice. Through the Homburg Privy Councillor, Schleussner, the Count dictated an explanation concerning Hölderlin to Justice Wucherer, who was carrying out the proceedings on Homburg soil. Wucherer had arrived in Homburg again on 5. March 1805. ---D. E. Sattler.
"The friend of Sinclair's, M. Hölderlin from Nürtingen, has been living in Homburg since July of last year. Since a few months ago, he has fallen into a most sad state of mind, so that he really must be treated as a raving madman. He shouts almost incessantly: "I will not be a Jacobin, away with all Jacobins! I can step before my gracious Elector's inspection with a good conscience."
Should the investigation desire his testimony, it is the Count's wish that the extradition of this person be avoided. But if it is found to be necessary, the unfortunate man must be placed in someone's care and provided for, for he could not be allowed in this case to return to Homburg."
D.The Medical Opinion of Dr. Georg Friedrich Karl Müller; [State Archives of Stuttgart]
On 5. April, the Commission of Inquiry requested a medical opinion of Hölderlin, which was issued on 9. April by a doctor who had treated Hölderlin during his first stay in Homburg. --D.E. Sattler.
"To the instructions given me concerning Magister Hölderlin, I can only comply in a one-sided fashion, for I was not and still am not his doctor, nor do I know the precise nature of his circumstances. I can only say the following about him.
When he was staying here in 1799, the aforesaid Magister Hölderlin was already suffering greatly from hypochondria (at that time, he had asked me for advice concerning his malady). No cure relieved it and he took it with him when he changed residence. I heard nothing more of him after that until last summer when he returned and I was told that "Hölderlin is here again, but he is insane." Bearing in mind his old hypochondria, I did not find this tale particularly striking, but decided to seek him out and find out the truth for myself by speaking to him. How shocked I was, however, when I found the poor man so deranged. Not a rational word was to be spoken with him, and he was in a continual state of the most violent movement. I repeated my visits a number of times, but the sickly man appeared to be worse each time, and his speech more incomprehensible. And now his insanity has intensified so much that it has passed over into madness, and his speech which sounds half-German, half-Greek, and half-Latin can no longer be understood."
E. Statement of the Elector's Consistory, 8. March 1805.
"During his course of study in the Seminary, M. Hölderlin has always acted irreproachably. His talents and industry have lent a superior quality to his studies; it is only to be regretted that the very sick activity of his fantasy soon transported him from his main vocation, so that he was not able to avail himself of the offices of the Church and the Curacy. One always hopes to see curatives effect the seemingly near, then seemingly distant recovery of his spirit's constitution."
Notes:
[1] In his important article, "Baron von Blankenstein--The Career of an Early Nineteenth-Century Imposter," [Leo Baeck Yearbook, Vol. , pp. 229 - 245] Walter Schwarz asserts that "Blankenstein made friends with everybody if it was in his interest. Sinclair made friends with those who appealed to him as human beings. he succumbed immediately to the charm of this young rascal and later was to say that Blankenstein had been his best friend. This rashness was to cost him dear." [trans. note--S.T.]
[2] Gruthofer was active in Moreau's General Staff. [--D.E. Sattler]
[3] Bauer and Sinclair had belonged to a secret society in Jena called "The Black Brothers." At Fichte's insistence, the society had disbanded earlier that summer. [--D.E. Sattler]
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