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the “literary fauna” on capri and naples
a nostalgia for “one of the most beautiful places on earth” (d.h.
lawrence) emerges in the modern age with the discovery of the blue
grotto by the painter august kopisch.
in august 1826, the young man from breslau wandered adventurously across
the island, which had hardly been considered by foreigners since
antiquity, and let a notary resident on capri inspire him to visit a
grotto that was accessible only from the sea. naturally, at the time,
the locals already knew of the existence of this limestone grotto,
carved out by the seawater. however, they feared this grotto as a place
of the devil, as the island’s clergymen had for centuries interpreted
the spectacles of light that glittered up from the seafloor in this
natural water basin as an apparition of evil spirits. kopisch, who
courageously explored the grotto by swimming around with a burning
pitch-pan, immediately uncovered the secret of the waves which glowed in
a phosphorescent blue: diagonally descending daylight enters the grotto
from above through a broad underwater opening in the outer rock-wall,
mirroring itself on the white, sandy seabed and reflecting upwards in a
miraculous blue.
seeing as kopisch was, at the time, making his living in campania as a
cicerone or travel guide for wealthy german travellers, he immediately
made the unique grotto into a highlight of his tours around the gulf of
naples. at the same time, he also raved about the magical blue in the
german artists’ colony in rome. his friends there included numerous
writers, who, as was customary in the romantic period, fulfilled their
longing for the south, with its mild climate and the special zest for
life of its inhabitants, with a long-term stay in italy.
at first, the writer friends of kopisch, including august graf von
platen and wilhelm waiblinger, inebriated themselves on the deep blue of
the grotto. their poems and stories attracted further german authors,
who in turn let capri inspire them. and so, in the nineteenth century, a
wave of enthusiasm developed for this enchanting island, onto which the
german soul’s yearning for sun, sea and palm trees could be wonderfully
projected, then as today.
the myth of capri is therefore first and foremost a german invention.
only towards the end of the nineteenth century did writers from france,
england and russia travel to the island, and in the twentieth century
those from other parts of italy. many of them, roger peyrefitte, graham
greene, alberto moravia and elsa morante, for example, came back again
and again. others, such as norman douglas, francis brett young or curzio
malaparte, built their own houses here and lived on capri for a longer
period of time. after all, “the island entails the danger that, once
there, it becomes impossible to pull yourself away”, as the literary
critic and philosopher walter benjamin expressed, after having
repeatedly postponed his departure in the summer of 1924.
an equally dense “literary fauna” also appeared in the course of the
centuries in the port city of naples. however, women and men writers
mostly had a different reason for visiting this city: while they became
immersed in a unique micro-cosmos on capri, conquering a small paradise
for themselves, they predominantly moved through the city of naples as
voyeurs. In particular, the sight of “the miserable, dirty, starving,
rag-clad … popular masses” (curzio malaparte) captivated them in the
alleyways of the old city. they also experienced the soundscape of the
city as a typical phenomenon which has characterized naples since the
nineteenth century. the “unbearable street noise” (fanny mendelssohn).
many made use of the city as a stopover on their journey to capri,
sicily or the amalfi coast. since the late eighteenth century, a further
attraction of naples has been its location as the starting point for day
trips to the ancient city of pompeii or to the top of the vesuvius,
whose spectacular eruptions continued to impress tourists until 1944.
the focus of the following seven walks are women and men authors, whose
journeys to capri and naples left numerous traces on-site and in their
work. in addition, the individual portraits of male and female composers
and painters are also presented. wherever an itinerary leads past
significant sights, these too are named. seeing as guests often changed
their place of residence on capri, it is advisable, not only to follow
the walks step by step, but also to elaborate on the individual
biographies by following the cross references.
the walks on capri have been designed as roundtrips. they begin and end
on the popular piazza or piazzetta, as the umberto I square is called,
and last from two to three hours. with the exception of the fifth walk,
they lead largely along traffic-free streets and pathways. all are
characterized by the – often unexpected – views over the island and onto
the sea. it is worth keeping one’s eyes open while walking and, while
doing so, to look to the left and right into the well-kept gardens and
often charmingly designed villa entrances. typical of the arts and
crafts of capri are the pretty majolica tiles everywhere with their
hand-painted inscriptions, which show the way around.
the first walk on capri, which initially takes us to the popular
belvedere tragara and then on through the historical centre of the
municipality of capri, leads, among other things, to the oldest hotel of
the island, in which most of the writers lived in the nineteenth
century.
the second walk is dedicated above all to secluded villas which, like
the casa malaparte, can be found outside of the municipality of capri in
an awe-inspiring mediterranean coastal landscape. from the higher-lying
district of matermania, numerous steps lead downhill to the grotto of
the same name.
the third walk takes us uphill to the remains of the ancient villa
jovis. again we pass numerous hotels and villas in which women and men
writers once lived. we can also visit the inside of the spectacular
villa lysis of the aristocratic poet jacques d’adelswaerd fersen.
the fourth walk leads down many steps to the picturesque marina piccola.
following a detour to the interesting villas on the castiglione hill,
the fifth walk takes us to the port of marina grande. with a boat we are
then able to reach the blue grotto.
in anacapri, the sixth walk leads initially to axel munthe’s well-known
dream house, the swedish museum villa san michele, before we finally get
to experience the historical centre of the so-called upper town via a
comfortable roundtrip to the homes of other important people.
on our seventh and last walk, we get to know the noble chiaia quarter of
naples and the historical centre of the city. seeing as these two
quarters stretch along the coast of naples, our final walk to key
palaces and houses is not completed as a roundtrip. however, we can
always find public means of transport at the start and end-points.
for the research on this book, which took almost five years in all, I
was able to rely on the numerous contacts which I have established
through my work on-site as a journalist who has lived on capri and in
naples since 1994. as a result, it was possible to gain access not only
to public libraries on capri, such as the centro caprense ignazio cerio
(my thanks go above all to the librarian carmelina fiorentino) and the
centro archivistico e documentale (without the extensive knowledge of
enzo de tuccio and giuseppe aprea, important details on the history of
the island would be missing), but also to as yet unknown private
archives, as for example, the undoubtedly biggest library on the topic
of capri, which the art historian dr. peter tigler set up in the course
of three decades. the archive of the writer claretta cerio in ambra in
tuscany is also unique. her memories of her daily life in capri among
writers and artists in the middle of the twentieth century and her
photographs were also a unique source for my research. giovanni
schettino, one of the island’s untiring scholars, also supported my work
with extensive information and, above all, with his wide-ranging
photographic collections. my sincere thanks go to each and everyone.
stefanie sonnentag
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