Der Stechlin

[This page by Ernest Schonfield]

Der Stechlin; The Stechlin (written 1895-97; published 1898; dated 1899)

Alles Alte, soweit es Anspruch darauf hat, sollen wir lieben, aber für das Neue sollen wir recht eigentlich leben.

We should love what is old, to the extent that it deserves it, but we should really live for what is new.

- Theodor Fontane, Der Stechlin, 29. Kapitel

Fontane’s last completed novel, his masterpiece, stages a fascinating debate between the old and the new – between the outgoing 19th century and the technological and political modernity of the 20th century.

This discreet country house novel, comprising dinner parties and day trips, is also a ‘state of the nation’ novel, which reflects on the radical changes in Prussian society. Its ambitious, liberal political vision bears comparison with E. M. Forster’s Howard’s End.

In a letter of 8 June 1896 to Carl Robert Lessing, Fontane called Der Stechlin a ‘political novel’, and added: ‘Gegenüberstellung von Adel, wie er bei uns sein sollte, und wie er ist.’; ‘A juxtaposition of our nobility, as it should be and as it is.’ (Fontane, Briefe, vol. 4, ed. by Otto Drude und Helmut Nürnberger, Darmstadt 1982, pp. 561-62). In this way, Fontane’s portrayal of the Prussian landed gentry contains both idealised and critical aspects. The novel can be read as an affectionate and ambivalent salute to the declining Prussian aristocracy. But it is also about the clash of two different eras in world history.

The novel consists largely of a series of conversations, in the course of which a number of different political positions are rehearsed and alluded to. The dialogues convey the sense of a polite, subtle, ever-so-discreet negotiation. Serious disagreement is scrupulously avoided, as different views from across the entire political spectrum are allowed to coexist in the form of a gentle, tentative debate. There is a nuanced, differentiated portrayal of characters from many different walks of life, although the main action focuses on the upper classes.

The plot consists mostly of dinner parties. Dubslav stands in a local election but is not elected. Dubslav’s son Woldemar becomes engaged to Armgard von Barby. Dubslav dies, and the 19th century comes to an end.

Chapter One introduces lake Stechlin in Brandenburg in the county of Ruppin. Whenever seismic shocks happen elsewhere in the world, lake Stechlin reverberates too, and a jet of water shoots up into the air. Some people say that when a major event happens in the world, then a red cockerel rises up out of the lake; this is an allusion to the French Revolution. This chapter also introduces the Stechlin estate and its owner, Dubslav von Stechlin, a retired major and widower.

In Chapter Two, Dubslav’s son Woldemar arrives with his fellow officers Rex and Czako. Preparations are made for dinner.

Chapter Three depicts the dinner conversation between Dubslav, Woldemar, Rex, Czako and the Gundermanns, the nouveau-riche owners of the local mill.

Chapter Four depicts the after-dinner conversation.

In Chapter Five, Dubslav questions Woldemar about his marriage prospects. Rex and Czako are introduced to Krippenstapel, the school teacher.

In Chapter Six, they have lunch. Woldemar, Rex and Czako ride to Kloster Wutz. On the way, Woldemar visits Frau Katzler.

In Chapter Seven, they arrive at Kloster Wutz and stroll around the garden with Woldemar’s aunt Adelheid, who is a ‘Stiftsdame’ (canoness).

In Chapter Eight, they have dinner at Kloster Wutz.

Chapter Nine depicts Woldemar’s conversation with aunt Adelheid.

In Chapter Ten, Rex tells Czako that Woldemar has been courting the Barbys, a family of Prussian diplomats.

In Chapter Eleven, Woldemar visits the Barbys – Melusine, Armgard, and their father – at their home in Berlin.

In Chapter Twelve, we learn more about Melusine and Armgard’s father, Graf von Barby. He is a kind of cosmopolitan counterpart to Dubslav.

In Chapter Thirteen, Woldemar visits the Barbys again.

In Chapter Fourteen, there is an afternoon excursion along the river Spree. The coachmen play cards.

Chapter Fifteen recounts the journey home back down the Spree. Woldemar tells the Barbys about Pastor Lorenzen and the Portuguese poet João de Deus (1830-1896).

In Chapter Sixteen, Woldemar receives a letter from his aunt Adelheid.

In Chapter Seventeen, there is an election meeting in the inn – the ‘Stechliner Krug’.

In Chapter Eighteen, Lorenzen, Koseleger and the Katzlers discuss the election meeting.

Chapter Nineteen depicts the election day in Rheinsberg.

In Chapter Twenty, Dubslav loses the election; we hear the victory speech of his rival, Gundermann, a Social Democrat. The tale of the Princess of Siam is told. Dubslav encounters a peasant, Old Tuxen.

In Chapter Twenty-One, Rex and Czako discuss the Barbys. Woldemar’s fellow officers discuss his new mission to England.

In Chapter Twenty-Two, Woldemar bids a farewell visit to the Barbys, before leaving for London.

In Chapter Twenty-Three, Dubslav discusses Woldemar’s letter with Lorenzen, then goes for a walk by the lake where he sees old Buschen and Agnes.

In Chapter Twenty-Four, Czako visits the Barbys.

In Chapter Twenty-Five, Woldemar returns from England and the visits the Barbys. He gets engaged to Armgard.

In Chapter Twenty-Six, Dubslav meets his new in-laws, the Barbys.

In Chapter Twenty-Seven, the two families have dinner together.

In Chapter Twenty-Eight, there is an excursion to the lake, which is frozen over.

In Chapter Twenty-Nine, Lorenzen and Melusine make a deal.

In Chapter Thirty, Dubslav gives his guests a tour around his ‘museum’.

Chapter Thirty-One depicts Dubslav’s conversation with Adelheid after the guests have left.

In Chapter Thirty-Two, the Barbys return home and discuss the Stechlins.

In Chapter Thirty-Three, Woldemar and Armgard are married at the Garnisonkirche (Garrison Church) in Berlin.

In Chapter Thirty-Four, some of the wedding guests go for a drink – there is a dispute between Cujacius and Wrschowitz.

In Chapter Thirty-Five, Dubslav and Graf von Barby have a chat.

In Chapter Thirty-Six, Dubslav gets ill and receives a visit from Baruch Hirschfeld.

In Chapter Thirty-Seven, Dr Sponholz goes away and leaves Dubslav in the care of Dr Moscheles; Dubslav receives visits from Koseleger and Frau Katzler.

In Chapter Thirty-Eight, Dubslav is treated by old Buschen, the herbalist, and talks about heroism with Lorenzen.

In Chapter Thirty-Nine, Adelheid arrives but Dubslav uses Agnes to get rid of her.

In Chapter Forty, Dubslav starts to get bored with Agnes and misses Adelheid. Krippenstapel visits him.

In Chapter Forty-One, Dubslav has a conversation with Lorenzen.

Chapter Forty-Two depicts Dubslav’s final hours.

In Chapter Forty-Three, Dubslav’s funeral is held, and Pastor Lorenzen gives a speech.

In Chapter Forty-Four, the guests leave the funeral.

In Chapter Forty-Five, Woldemar and Armgard go to Capri on their honeymoon. On the honeymoon, Woldemar receives a letter informing him of his father’s death, and that he has missed the funeral.

In Chapter Forty-Six, Woldemar resigns from the army. He and Armgard take up residence in Schloss Stechlin.

English Translation

Theodor Fontane, The Stechlin, trans. by William L. Zwiebel (Columbia, SC: Camden House, 1995)

Further Reading in English

Alan Bance, Theodor Fontane: The Major Novels (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982), Chapter 8 on Der Stechlin

Peter James Bowman, ‘Fontane’s Der Stechlin: A Fragile Utopia’, Modern Language Review 97:4 (2002), 877-91

Willi Goetschel, ‘Causerie: On the Function of Dialogue in Der Stechlin’, in New Approaches to Theodor Fontane: Cultural Codes in Flux, ed. by Marion Doebeling (Columbia, SC: Camden House, 2000), pp. 116-35

Patricia Howe, ‘Manly Men and Womanly Women: Aesthetics and Gender in Fontane’s Effi Briest and Der Stechlin’, in From Goethe to Gide: Feminism, Aesthetics and the French and German Literary Canon 1770-1936, ed. by Mary Orr and Lesley Sharpe (Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2005), pp. 129-44

Ervin Malakaj, ‘Senescence and Fontane’s Der Stechlin’, in Fontane in the Twenty-First Century, ed. by John B. Lyon and Brian Tucker (Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2019), pp. 232-45

Eda Sagarra, ‘Der Stechlin (1898): History and Contemporary History in Theodor Fontane’s Last Novel’, Modern Language Review 87 (1992), 122-33

Scott Tatchell, ‘The Mystery of Feilenhauer Torgelow: Fontane’s Elusive Social Democrat’, German Life and Letters 57:3 (2004), 290-308

Christian Thomas, ‘Melusine von Barby’s Barriers and Connections in Fontane’s Der Stechlin’, in Fontane in the Twenty-First Century, ed. by John B. Lyon and Brian Tucker (Rochester, NY: Camden House, 2019), pp. 213-31

John Walker, ‘The Limited Whole: The Realism of History in Der Stechlin and Vor dem Sturm’, in John Walker, The Truth of Realism: A Reassessment of the German Novel 1830-1900 (London: Legenda/MHRA, 2011), pp. 168-98

Further Reading in German

Lothar Köhn, ‘“Verweile doch”. Fontanes “Der Stechlin” als Entgegnung auf Goethes “Faust”, Text & Kontext 21 (1999), 275-309

Sigurd Paul Scheichl, ‘Eierhäuschen und Spindlersfelde. Die Welt der Industrie in Fontanes Stechlin, in Industriekulturen: Literatur, Kunst und Gesellschaft, ed. by Marcin Golaszewski and Kalina Kupczynska (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2012)

Eda Sagarra, Theodor Fontane. Der Stechlin, ed. by Gerhard Sautermeister and Jochen Vogt (Munich: Hanser, 1986)

Renate Schäfer, ‘Fontanes Melusinen-Motiv’, Euphorion 56 (1962), 69-104

Ernest Schonfield, ‘Wirtschaftlicher Strukturwandel in Fontanes Der Stechlin’, in Theodor Fontane: Dichter des Übergangs, ed. by Patricia Howe, Fontaneana 10 (Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2013), pp. 91-108

Rolf Zuberbühler, Theodor Fontane: “Der Stechlin”. Fontanes politischer Altersroman im Lichte der “Vossischen Zeitung” und weiterer zeitgenössischer Publizistik (Berlin: Stapp, 2012)