{"id":4104,"date":"2023-05-16T17:36:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-16T15:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.evir.uni-muenster.blog\/?p=4104"},"modified":"2024-10-23T12:24:29","modified_gmt":"2024-10-23T10:24:29","slug":"ideasofjustice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.evir.uni-muenster.blog\/en\/ideasofjustice\/","title":{"rendered":"Ideas of justice in “The Jews\u2019 Beech”. Annette von Droste-H\u00fclshoff, on the 175th anniversary of her death"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Annette von Droste-H\u00fclshoff, one of the great German authors of the 19th century, died 175 years ago. She is regarded today as a master of eco-sensitive literature. Her birthplace, M\u00fcnster in Westphalia, is associated with Droste\u2019s name both nationally and internationally. Not far from there, in the Paderborn region, is the setting of her famous novella The Jews\u2019 Beech<\/em>, whose subtitle characterises it as A portrait of morals in hilly Westphalia<\/em>. The place of action is abbreviated to \u201cB\u201d and, according to the story, is somewhere in a principality in the Teutoburg Forest. However, \u201cB\u201d conceals a historical case: a servant from Bellersen had killed a Jew in Droste\u2019s grandfather\u2019s estate, before fleeing, returning and finally committing suicide. The Jews\u2019 Beech<\/em> alludes to this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Annette von Droste-H\u00fclshoff (1797-1848)<\/em> \u00a9 Public Domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Crime novels<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Droste wrote the story around 1830, she gave it the working title Friedrich Mergel<\/em>, a crime story of the 18th century<\/em>. In doing so, she placed it clearly in the contemporary wave of literarised legal cases and case histories. The genre of the crime story boomed during Droste\u2019s lifetime, and her story was in the best of company: texts such as Friedrich Schiller\u2019s edited collection Strange legal cases as a contribution to the history of mankind<\/em> (1792-1795), the Crime stories full of adventure and wonder, and yet strictly close to the truth<\/em> (1802-1804) attributed to Christian Heinrich Spie\u00df, Carl Friedrich M\u00fcchler\u2019s Crime stories<\/em> (1828-1833), Theodor Haupt\u2019s Library of notable criminal and legal cases of older and more recent times and of all civilised peoples<\/em> (1830-31), as well as even more entertainment-oriented formats such as Friedrich Spiess\u2019 Painting room of human monsters and rogues<\/em> (1839) \u2013 these all testify to the popularity of the genre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the abundance of such titles, it can be assumed that the \u201ccrime story\u201d was seen as exciting entertainment and sold well. Publications with the word \u201ccrime\u201d in the title did not stop in the 1840s. However, when Droste finally published her story in 1842 as The Jews\u2019 Beech: A portrait of morals in hilly Westphalia<\/em>, she departed from this common title. Nevertheless, the book is part of the criminal literary discourse and alludes to the legal system of the time from the very first page. It is true that Droste dated the plot to the time before her birth and set it in the middle of the 18th century. But this did not prevent her from addressing pressing legal problems of the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crime and punishment?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The narrative itself is preceded by a poem that seems to be directed against the legal prosecution of crimes. The scales (of Justitia) should be laid down, and the stone should not strike the perpetrator. Just as Jesus says in the Gospel of John: \u201cLet him who is without sin among you cast the first stone\u201d (John 8:7), so Droste says: \u201cPut down the scales, to thee never allowed! \/ Let lie the stone \u2013 it strikes thine own head!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The claim that crimes must or can be lawfully punished is radically questioned even before the action begins. It is therefore not surprising that The Jews\u2019 Beech<\/em> should tell of capital offences such as murder and manslaughter that either go unsolved or escape official punishment. They go hand in hand with a murderous destruction of the environment that no one knows what to do about: the cleared, plundered and ruined forest landscape in the text corresponds to the impoverished, neglected and brutalised village population who live in a destroyed community where lies, alcoholic excesses and violent crime are the order of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How closely are linked the crimes against the human being and nature can be seen in the parallels both spatial and in terms of motifs. First, the father of the main character Friedrich Mergel is discovered dead in the forest for no apparent reason; a little later, a felled beech tree lies in the same forest clearing as though dead. Later it will be the eponymous Jewish beech tree, in whose vicinity the forester Brandis is killed violently, the Jew Aaron is murdered and his presumed murderer Friedrich Mergel is (again presumably) found hanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No less violent than the murder and manslaughter are the acts of a gang of wood thieves who cause serious damage to the forest ecosystem. In a gruesome nocturnal scene, the extent of the environmental destruction becomes clear when Friedrich enters the forest clearing with his uncle: \u201cThe moon shone clearly \u2026 and revealed that the axe had shortly before raged unmercifully. Tree stumps stuck out everywhere, some several feet above the earth \u2026 The despicable work must have been unexpectedly interrupted, for one beech lay athwart the path, in full leaf, its branches stretching high above itself and the fresh leaves shivering in the night wind\u201d. The beech tree seems to have been just as brutally torn from life as the human figures. But the narrative emphasises that the destruction of nature cannot be stopped \u201cby legal means\u201d. In denouncing this notion, though, Droste indirectly spoke out in favour of nature being better protected \u2013 also by legal means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Criticising the law<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A dysfunctional legal system is already outlined in the opening sentences. \u201cUnder highly simple and often inadequate laws, the inhabitants\u2019 notions of justice and injustice had become somewhat confused, or rather, a second justice had formed alongside the legal one, a justice of public opinion, of habit and of negative prescription arising from neglect\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What legal pluralism is meant here? The passage is generally reminiscent of the contrast between written law and unwritten customary law. It is possible that the \u201csecond justice\u201d also refers to village customs such as the eldest son of a family being the heir to the farm. One possible allusion to the \u201cinadequate laws\u201d is the heterogeneous criminal law, which should actually be consulted in view of the crimes described, such as murder and manslaughter. Criminal codes existed at various times in the Old Empire at a territorial level, but the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina<\/em> (Emperor Charles V\u2019s 1532 Code of Criminal Procedure) still had a certain weight at a supra-regional level. In addition, the General Land Law<\/em> with its penal code had been in force in Prussia since 1794. The different sources of law led in historical practice to considerable legal uncertainty in court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fact that the \u201ccourt hearing\u201d concerning the murder of Aaron remains without result is due to the fact that the investigation of the offence is left to the patrimonial jurisdiction. Droste\u2019s text begins succinctly: \u201cLandowners, who had the right of jurisdiction at the lower levels, punished and rewarded according to their own, in most cases sincere, judgment\u201d. Common during Droste\u2019s lifetime, this legal practice was highly controversial, since it was especially problematic for dependents and serfs. Thus, the course of events in the book shows that neither the lord of the manor of S nor his court clerk Kapp are able to solve and punish the crimes \u2013 no matter how many interrogations and investigations are pursued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jewish law<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In The Jews\u2019 Beech<\/em>, the bankruptcy of patrimonial jurisdiction is outweighed by the solvency of another law: namely, that of Jewish law, which is based on the Torah and other books of the Hebrew Bible, such as the five books of Moses. Droste quotes the books of Moses by having the wife of the slain Jew Aaron say: \u201cAn eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!\u201d. This Biblical phrase comes in the second and third books of Moses. In the third book, it says: \u201cWhoever kills any man shall be put to death. But whoever kills a piece of livestock shall replace it, life for life. And whoever injures his neighbour, the same shall be done to him as he has done, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; as he has injured a man, so shall it be done to him. … There shall be one and the same law among you for the stranger and for the native-born; I am the LORD your God\u201d (Leviticus 24:17-22). Christian theology refers to this legal concept as ius talionis<\/em> or the talion principle. It refers to the principle of equal retribution and is based on a literal interpretation of Biblical passages. As Simon Grundwald writes, the talion principle was often regarded historically \u201cas the epitome of the difference between Judaism and Christianity\u201d. However, the Jewish interpretation of the Biblical passages assumes that these are aimed at a \u201cright of compensation\u201d and not at the right to revenge or \u201cphysical retribution against a criminal\u201d. Grundwald explains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Talmudic interpretation thus assumes that the talion principle cannot be interpreted literally. Revenge and retribution have no place in Jewish Talmudic thinking, because revenge is always God\u2019s business (Deuteronomy 32:35). The Talmud demands that the right of talion be carried out through material compensation. This means that corporal punishment should not be imposed; instead, the Talmud establishes a system of damages, compensation for pain and suffering, medical expenses (doctor\u2019s fees), compensation for missed work and compensation for humiliation. This should fulfil the Talion principle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only in the case of murder or manslaughter does the third book of Moses demand the death of the perpetrator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But back to The Jews\u2019 Beech<\/em> and its author. It is possible that Droste was familiar with Jewish legal thought through her circle of friends and acquaintances, which also included the orientalist Anton Lutterbeck and the physician Alexander Haindorf, who knew Hebrew. In any case, Droste\u2019s story takes a turn that fits the principle both of compensation and of retribution: after the failed trial, members of the Jewish community acquire from the lord of the manor the beech tree where Aaron\u2019s murder occurred \u2013 on the condition that it may not be felled. Later, another body is found in the same beech tree \u2013 probably that of Aaron\u2019s murderer, who has taken his own life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Droste\u2019s text, however, the beech is inscribed with Hebrew characters by members of the Jewish community. The English translation reads: \u201cIf you approach this place, it will happen to you as you have done to me\u201d. It is evidently a reformulation of the Talion passage from the third book of Moses: \u201cWhoever injures his neighbour, the same shall be done to him as he has done\u201d (Leviticus 24:19). It seems that Droste added felled trees to the criminal offences in the Bible \u2013 slain cattle, slain people and bodily harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, the Jews\u2019 beech can be seen as a symbolic substitute for the destruction of nature, while the corpse of the alleged murderer atones for the death of man. There is still the addition that Droste placed before the prophecy: \u201cIf you approach this place\u201d. Droste was obviously familiar with the word \u201cHalacha\u201d, the term for Jewish law. \u201cHalacha\u201d is derived from the Hebrew verb \u201chalach\u201d (to walk), and therefore literally means \u201cthe path to be travelled\u201d (Homolka).  Anyone approaching the scene of the crime of the Jews\u2019 beech is therefore setting out on the path of law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bibliography<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Annette von Droste-H\u00fclshoff: Die Judenbuche. Studienausgabe. Paralleldruck der Handschriften H2 und H8 mit dem Text des Erstdrucks, hg. v. Bernd Kortl\u00e4nder, Stuttgart 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

English version: Annette von Droste-H\u00fclshoff: The Jews\u2019 Beech, online: https:\/\/www.lwl.org\/droste-download\/texte\/Judenbuche-Swan-LV.pdf<\/a> (22.12.2023)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simon Grundwald: Auge um Auge? Zur j\u00fcdischen Rezeption des Vergeltungsprinzips, online: https:\/\/www.israelogie.de\/dialog-zwischen-juden-und-christen\/auge-um-auge-zur-juedischen-rezeption-des-vergeltungsprinzips\/<\/a> (24.04.2023).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walter Homolka: Das J\u00fcdische Recht. Eigenart und Entwicklung in der Geschichte, in: Humboldt Forum Recht 17 (2009), 1-33.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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About the Author <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PD Dr Claudia Lieb<\/a> is a scholar of German studies and research associate at the K\u00e4te Hamburger Kolleg, where she works on the relationship between law and literature.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Cite as:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lieb, Claudia, Ideas of justice in “The Jews\u2019 Beech”. Annette von Droste-H\u00fclshoff, on the 175th anniversary of her death, EViR Blog, 16.05.2023, https:\/\/www.evir.uni-muenster.blog\/en\/ideasofjustice\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

License:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200b\u200bThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Annette von Droste-H\u00fclshoff, one of the great German authors of the 19th century, died 175 years ago. She is regarded today as a master of eco-sensitive literature. Her birthplace, M\u00fcnster in Westphalia, is associated with Droste\u2019s name both nationally and internationally. Not far from there, in the Paderborn region, is the setting of her famous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":4100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[],"coauthors":[119],"class_list":["post-4104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-focus-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evir.uni-muenster.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evir.uni-muenster.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evir.uni-muenster.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evir.uni-muenster.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evir.uni-muenster.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4104"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.evir.uni-muenster.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5469,"href":"https:\/\/www.evir.uni-muenster.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4104\/revisions\/5469"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evir.uni-muenster.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.evir.uni-muenster.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evir.uni-muenster.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evir.uni-muenster.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4104"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.evir.uni-muenster.blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=4104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}