Wagner in Teplice and Strekov Castle
The series about historical places of opera art & culture. Get to know exciting excursion and travel ideas for opera lovers. This time: Wagner in Teplice and Strekov Castle.
All Destinations on google maps with links to detailed Blogposts:
Wagner in Teplice
Wagner visited Teplice several times in his younger years. Particularly significant were the two trips he made in 1842 and 1843 from Dresden, 50 kilometers away, where he had recently been appointed Kapellmeister. The area seems to have stimulated his imagination; he worked on his operas there on several occasions. Especially the nearby castle Strekov inspired his imagination for the creation of his “Tannhäuser” (see below).
LINK TO THE COMPLETE WAGNER BIOGRAPHY
Destination Strekov Castle
This castle sits picturesquely on a rock above the Elbe. Many painters, such as Caspar David Friedrich, stayed at the castle. When Wagner saw the castle, he was working on Tannhäuser and was thrilled. In his memoirs he later reported: “For this I was attracted to the so romantically situated castle Strekow, where I took my quarters for several days in the small guest room, in which a strawbed was prepared for me at night. Daily ascents of the Wostrai, the highest peak in the area, refreshed me, and the fantastic solitude revived my youthful courage in such a way that one moonlit night, wrapped in a bare sheet, I climbed around on the ruins of the Schreckenstein, thus becoming a missing ghostly apparition for myself, whereby the thought of being perceived with horror by someone delighted me. Here I wrote down in my pocket book the detailed plan for a three-act opera “The Venus Mountain”, to which I later completely faithfully executed the poem.
Today, a commemorative plaque at the castle entrance commemorates this memorable stay.
Great view from the restaurant over the Elbe. The whole complex is closed in the winter season.
Strekov Castle:
https://www.lobkowicz.cz/en/strekov
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