Foreword

Helge-Wolfgang Michel prefaces his book with a quote by the Roman philosopher Seneca,"Docendo discimus" ("By teaching, we learn"). This is a perfect fit for a book about Leopold Heinrich Pfeil (1726 - 1792), who was not only the author’s ancestor but also a tutor of Johann Wolfgang Goethe. Leopold Heinrich Pfeil was a teacher and a scholar in one person and thus a kindred spirit of Goethe's father, Johann Caspar Goethe (1710 - 1782). As the young Goethe notes in his biography 'Dichtung und Wahrheit' (Poetry and Truth), his teacher, Pfeil seemed to have adopted his father's maxim"that nothing can encourage and stimulate young people more than if one declares oneself to be a pupil again at a certain age".1

Goethe has much for which to thank his father and his Frankfurt tutors. They provided him with a very thorough education. Many of his teachers are favourably described retrospectively in 'Dichtung und Wahrheit' but none is singled out for such high praise as Leopold Heinrich Pfeil,"a man in his prime, of the most wondrous energy and vitality". Pfeil had been working as an independent French language master in Frankfurt am Main since 1746, if not earlier. He came from Butzbach in the Wetterau region. His father was a cook and his rise to become the most esteemed language teacher in Frankfurt did not come easily. His life story is in some ways comparable with that of Johann Caspar Goethe, who, as the son of a skilled craftsman, worked his way up to become an imperial councillor in Frankfurt. Social advancement for bourgeois and craftsmen in the Age of Enlightenment could primarily be achieved through learning and study. Gradually, the old class system and social status was becoming more penetrable.

We know from Goethe's father that he left nothing to chance when it came to the education of his children and he imposed strict standards. If he engaged Leopold Heinrich Pfeil as a French teacher for Wolfgang and Cornelia, we can assume that Pfeil was one of the best in his field. French was not only the most important European language at the time, the Goethe family also set great store by good French for personal reasons. Goethe's grandfather, Friedrich Georg Göthé (1657 - 1730), had spent several years in Lyon and Paris as a journeyman tailor and as an exclusive master tailor in Frankfurt am Main, he had retained the French spelling of his name. He ensured that all his sons, including those he had trained as merchants or craftsmen, were taught the French language by tutors. It is also possible that he attended church services with his family in the Frankfurt Weissfrauenkirche, which since 1593, had been the place of worship for Lutherans who had immigrated from France as well as the Dutch congregation of the Augsburg Confession. Services there were preached in French and German. In a way, the French language was part of Goethe family traditions, which was passed on to the children. Cornelia even wrote a diary in French to her friend Katharina Fabricius (born in 1750), a 'Correspondance Secrete'.

From 1746 onwards, Pfeil also qualified as a tutor through his family connections to the Goethe family. Pfeil married Goethe's grandmother’s niece, Friederike Charlotte Wilhelmine Walther (1718 - 1783). Friederike was the daughter of Goethe’s grandmother’s brother, the Frankfurt brewer Hans Georg Walther (1680 - 1733). Pfeil’s daughter Cornelia, born in 1750, was in fact named after Goethe's great-aunt, who was her godmother.

Consequently, there were close ties between Pfeil and Johann Caspar Goethe. He recalls this in 'Dichtung und Wahrheit',"My father had employed a young man who served in all capacities as footman, valet and secretary. His name was Pfeil. He spoke good French and understood it well. Once he was married, his patrons had to find a suitable position for him. It occurred to them to establish a boarding house for him, which could be expanded to include a small school teaching all the necessary subjects along with Latin and Greek. Broad based contacts beyond Frankfurt provided the opportunity to gain young French and English students who wanted to learn German and receive a German education from this institute."

It was not only Goethe's father who supported Pfeil but also the respected Frankfurt lawyer, Friedrich de Neufville (1710 - 1778), Brandenburg-Bayreuth privy councillor and Frankfurt burgher. The French schoolmaster later succeeded in opening the aforementioned"boarding school establishment", the Pfeilsche Pension. It was also located in the Grosser Hirschgraben, probably in the Weisse Hirsch, a spacious property near the Goethe House in Frankfurt.2 As previously mentioned, pupils from England and France came to the Pfeil boarding school to learn German. One of them, the young Englishman Harry Lupton, was presented by Pfeil at Goethe's parents' house.

The young Cornelia Goethe fell in love with Lupton.

In a letter from Leipzig to his sister, Goethe calls him,"a good fellow".3 Lupton and Cornelia were united by their love of music. She played the piano, he the violin.

As we know from 'Dichtung und Wahrheit', Pfeil,"because he could never be busy enough [...] decided to throw himself into music and pursued piano playing with such enthusiasm that he, who had