7 - “Freifrau von Droste-Vischering”

Summary

THE SONG “Freifrau von Droste-Vischering” (Countess von Droste- Vischering) satirizes a miracle healing that allegedly took place at the exhibition of the “Holy Robe” in 1844 in Trier. This travesty of the Catholic Church's belief in miracles was written by the young Berlin journalist Rudolf Löwenstein. In the nineteenth century the song was known primarily in student circles and circulated in utility songbooks until the turn of the century. After many decades of obscurity “Freifrau von Droste-Vischering” was revived in the Liedermacher and folk scene of the 1970s. Traditionally enjoyed for its comic aspect, the song was also adapted for political parodies.

“Freifrau von Droste-Vischering” was written in autumn 1844 by Rudolf Löwenstein (1819–91), who was later to become editor of the satirical magazine Kladderadatsch. He first recited the text on November 10, 1844, in the Berlin literary society Tunnel über der Spree (Tunnel over the Spree). A private print was published shortly afterwards to celebrate the society's Founder's Day. Although there is no indication that Löwenstein had a particular melody in mind, the text was soon adapted in student circles to the tune of “Ich nehm mein Gläschen in die Hand” (I Take My Glass in My Hand). The song was presumably disseminated mostly in handwritten form, as the first records of its reception are in private songbooks: one from 1846/47 belonging to the student Friedrich Rolle, and a similar version dating from 1848 in East Prussia.

As mentioned, the song “Freifrau von Droste-Vischering” is linked to the spectacular case of a miracle healing that is alleged to have taken place on August 30, 1844 at the “Holy Robe” exhibition in Trier. According to this, the nineteen-year-old Countess Johanna von Droste zu Vischering touched the alleged tunic of Christ and by doing so was cured of the limp she had acquired through illness. The satire was also fueled by the general controversy surrounding the Trier exhibition: organized by the Ultramontanist movement, this concession by Protestant Prussia to its mostly Catholic Rhine province had been heavily criticized. One of the main points of contention had been the various reports of miracle healings at the mass event in the Trier Cathedral, to which around half a million people made the pilgrimage to see the Holy Robe between August 16 and October 6, 1844.