Karlsbad, 18 September 1874 

Dear Fren, 

We shall set off on Monday*; we shall make for Hamburg via 
Leipzig, where I shall stop off for a while and see Wilhelm.” 

You know that I am very lazy when it comes to writing, but on 
this occasion that was not the cause of my stubborn silence. The 
first three weeks were spent almost without sleep. Together with the 
exertion here that will make it all clear to you. 

Although you drink only in the morning (evenings, before going 
to bed, we have a cold glass from a special spring brought into the 
house), the fact is that the whole day you find yourself caught up 
in a sort of machine that hardly leaves you a minute. 

a 21 September - » Liebknecht 

Up at 5 or half past 5 in the morning. Then 6 glasses from 
different springs, one after the other. There must be at least a 
quarter of an hour between each glass. 

Then breakfast is prepared, beginning with the purchase of 
pastry appropriate to the cure. After that, a walk lasting at least 
one hour. Finally, some of the very excellent coffee available here 
in one of the coffee houses outside the town. This is followed by a 
walking tour through the surrounding hills; at asour noon you 
return home, but have to take a bath every other day, which takes up 
yet another hour. 

There follows a change of toilette; puis* luncheon in a local 
hotel. 

Sleeping after meals is strictly forbidden (it is allowed before 
meals) and rightly so, as I have become convinced after a single 
attempt. So, another tour, alternating with an excursion. Return to 
Karlsbad 6-8 in the evening, a light snack, and—to bed. This 
programme is varied by visits to the theatre (which always closes at 
9, like all other ENTERTAINMENTS), Concerts and reading room. 

The effect of the waters is to make my head very irritable. So 
you will appreciate how unbearable Kugelmann has become in the 
long run. He had been so considerate as to give me a room 
between his and Tussy’s so that I enjoyed him, not just when we 
were together, but also when I was alone. I patiently endured the 
way he incessantly poured out his solemn, long-winded balderdash 
in his deep voice. I had greater difficulty in putting up with the 
gang of Hamburg-Bremen-Hanover philistines, male and female 
alike, who simply refused to leave me in peace. But my patience 
came to an end finally when he inflicted his family scenes on me. 
The fact is that this arch-pedant, this pettifogging, bourgeois 
philistine has got the idea that his wife” is unable to understand 
him, to comprehend his Faustian nature with its aspirations to a 
higher world outlook, and he torments the woman, who is his 
superior in every respect, in the most repulsive manner. So it led 
to a quarrel between us; I moved to a higher floor, completely 
liberated myself from him (he was having a ruinous effect on my 
cure) and we only became reconciled once more just before his 
departure (which took place last Sunday‘). However, I declared 
point-blank that I would not visit him in Hanover. 

A man who turned out to be quite an agreeable companion was 
Simon Deutsch (the same one I had the row with in Paris, and 
who looked me up without more ado here). In addition half the 

4 then - > Gertrud Kugelmann - © 13 September 

local medical faculty soon assembled round my daughter’ and me; 
all very acceptable people for my present purpose when I have to 
think little and laugh often. Also Knille, the painter from Berlin, a 
very charming chap. 

Shall regale you in London with some amusing details of my 
adventures with Hans Heiling Kugelmann. 

The more one hears of the details about the ‘situation in 
Austria’ the more one becomes convinced that this state is coming 
to the end of the line. 

Up to now I have lost about 4 lbs (imperial weight) and even 
with my hand I can feel that the fat on my liver is in a status 
evanescens. I believe that I have finally achieved my purpose in 
Karlsbad, at least for a year. It would give me great pleasure if I 
could find a few lines from you awaiting me at Meissner’s in 
Hamburg. 

With best regards from Tussy and me to Madame Lizzy and 

Pumps. 
Your 

Moor 

I was invited to go to Ischl (by Dr Kraus, editor of the Wiener 
Medizinische Zeitung”) and to Prague by Mr Oppenheim (the 
brother of Mrs Kugelmann and a very agreeable man), but after a 
certain stage is reached, one longs to be back at home.