The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
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32 The Linguist Vol/55 No/6 2016 www.ciol.org.uk INSTITUTE MATTERS A warm welcome to Weimar THE GERMAN SOCIETY CELEBRATES ITS 30TH ANNIVERSARY WITH THE PERFECT STUDY WEEKEND DIVISIONS & SOCIETIES No one could have dreamt that on 10 September the weather in Weimar would be so hot and summery – but the 37 people, including three speakers, attending the German Society study weekend agreed that this made a wonderful weekend just perfect. In fact, the event received more positive feedback than ever. Apart from plenty of opportunities to network over Thuringian cuisine, the weekend offered the tried and tested mixture of stimulating talks, tourist activities and culture. The topic for the day was earlier British visitors to Weimar. In her welcome speech, German Society chairperson Stephanie Tarling mentioned that almost exactly 25 years previously the very first study weekend had also been held in Weimar. Dr Ulrike Müller-Harang, a senior researcher in Weimar's golden age, painted a picture of late 18th and 19th century Weimar, which was said to be "swarming with Englishmen"and suffering "from the English disease". For many visitors, the Goethe connection was the reason to go to Weimar. Goethe's work was hugely admired by prominent British publishers and writers, including Sir Walter Scott. His first translator, Thomas Carlyle, never met the poet in person but they corresponded frequently. Goethe was increasingly unwilling to see visitors at his house, although some, including the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray, did manage to meet the great man. Robert Muscutt gave a lively presentation of the three months that George Eliot spent in Weimar. When she travelled to Weimar, Mary Ann Evans had not yet written the novels, under the pseudonym George Eliot, that were to make her famous. In a censorious age, she took the enormous risk of travelling with her lover, a married man named George Henry Lewes; in 1854 he was working on his biography of the recently deceased Goethe and was eager to interview people who had known him. In London, the couple had moved in radical intellectual circles and initially George Eliot wondered, "How could Goethe live here, in this dull, lifeless village?" However, they rapidly developed a friendship with Franz Liszt – then Weimar's most famous resident, a man with rock-star status and a dedicated fan base. Liszt was also openly living with a woman who was not his wife. Thinking of the fuss back home, Eliot wrote, "No one here seems to find it scandalous that we should be together." The fascinating aspect was that not only, as we were later to discover on the afternoon walk with Bob Muscutt, were Eliot's poetic descriptions of the Park and River Ilm still valid, but that we were meeting in the very room at the Altenburg villa where Liszt played the piano for his guests from England. In retrospect Eliot wrote, "If you care nothing at all about Goethe, Schiller and Herder, why, so much the worse for you – you will miss many interesting thoughts and associations; but still, Weimar has a charm independent of these great names." Linda Mayne, joint Treasurer of the George Eliot Fellowship, gave her personal view of Eliot, tracing the connection between members of her own family and events that happened in Eliot's lifetime, and showing how the places around Nuneaton, with which the writer was familiar, found their way, sometimes only thinly disguised, into her novels. This stimulating morning ended with a celebration of the society's 30th anniversary at the Gasthaus zum Weißen Schwan, which has seen countless British visitors and German luminaries over its long history. Judith Ridgway, a member of the CIOL Council, spoke briefly before the meal and conveyed greetings and congratulations. A proper birthday party needs a cake – and the Germany Society had one decorated with the official (edible) crest. Those looking for a bit more culture attended a two-person evening performance in the tiny, intimate theatre in the Cranach House on the market square. At the end, it had to be admitted that Goethe was far from the ideal husband. A Sunday sightseeing tour and lunch rounded off the official portion of this highly successful study weekend. Plans are already being made for next year's Study Weekend in Lübeck – although sunny weather cannot be guaranteed! MAKING CONNECTIONS (Left to right) Participants in Altenburg, Thuringia; Goethe's garden house; and the German Society's 30th anniversary cake