false 2639872 4 MEMOIRS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH ALBERT SCHWEITZER DR. THEOL., DR. MED., DR. PHIL., OF STRASSBURG TRANSLATED BY C. T. CAMPION, M. A. ORIEL COLLEGE, OXFORD FIRST AMERICAN EDITION THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK 1949 AH rights reserved Second Printing PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CONTENTS ONE EARLIEST RECOLLECTIONS 1 TWO HOME AND HOLIDAYS 18 THREE EDUCATION SECOND STAGE 32 FOUR LATER EDUCATION 51 FIVE RETROSPECT AND REFLECTIONS 65 CHAPTER ONE EARLIEST RECOLLECTIONS I was born in the little town of Kaysersberg, in Upper Alsace, on January 14, 1875, in the small house with the turret, which you see on the left as you leave the upper end of the town. My father lived there as pastor, and teacher of the little evangelical congregation, for the majority of the inhabitants were Catholics. Since Alsace became French there has been no pastor, and our little home with the turret now houses the police. I was the second child, following a sister who was my elder by a year. It was from Kaysersberg that a famous mediaeval preacher took his surname, viz. Geiler von Kaysersberg 1445-1510 who used to preach in Strassburg-Cathe dral He was born at Schaffhausen, in Switzerland, but after his fathers death was brought up in Kaysersberg by his grandfather, and when a boy I used to pride my self not a little on having been born in the town where Geiler von Kaysersberg had lived, and in a famous wine year, for the season of 1875 was an extraordinarily good one for the vines. 1 MEMOIRS OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH When I was six months old my father left Kaysers berg and settled at Giinsbaeh, in the Miinstertal, as pastor. This was my mothers home-district, for she was the daughter of Pastor Schillinger, of Miihlbach, higher up the valley. I was a very sickly child when we moved to Giinsbach. On the occasion of my fathers induction my mother had decked me out as finely as she could in a white frock with coloured ribbons, but not one of the pastors wives that had come to the ceremony ventured to compliment her on her thin and yellow-faced baby, and none of them went beyond embarrassed commonplaces. So at last my mother she has often told me about it could restrain herself no longer she fled with me in her arms to her bedroom, and there wept hot tears over me. On one occasion they actually thought I was dead, but the milk from neighbour Leopolds cow, together with the excellent Giinsbach air, worked wonders for me from my second year onwards I improved marvel lously, and became a strong and healthy boy, and in the manse at Giinsbach I passed a delightful childhood with the companionship of three sisters and one brother. A sixth child, a daughter named Emma, was lost to my parents by a premature death. My first recollection is of seeing the devil As soon as I was three or four years old, I was allowed to go to church every Sunday, and I used to look forward to this the whole week through. I can still feel on my lips our servant-girls cotton glove, which she used to hold over my mouth when I yawned or sang too loud. And now RECOLLECTIONS every Sunday I noticed in a bright frame by the side of the organ a shaggy face which was continually turning about and looking down into the church. So long as the organ was playing and the singing going on it was visible, but as soon as my father was praying at the altar it dis appeared. When the playing and singing began again it reappeared, but as soon as my father began his sermon it was again lost to sight, to show itself once more for the closing hymn and voluntary. This is the devil that is looking down into the church I said to myself, c but as soon as father begins with Gods Word, he has to make himself scarce This weekly dose of visible theology gave quite a distinctive tone to my childish piety... 2664598 book 6 1960 Memoirs of Childhood and Youth total:4|5:3|4:0|3:1|2:0|1:0| 4 18 8 1 2639872 0815604467 9780815604464 3 1 4.50 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2639872.Memoirs_of_Childhood_and_Youth 5 0 false Fri May 16 12:13:00 -0700 2008 Fri May 16 12:14:15 -0700 2008 2639872 0815604467 9780815604464 3 1 4.50 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2639872.Memoirs_of_Childhood_and_Youth 5 0 false Sat Oct 10 09:50:30 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 10 09:50:30 -0700 2009 6474383 0049220144 9780049220140 0 0 4.50 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6474383-my-childhood-and-youth 0 0 false Wed Oct 07 07:01:25 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 07 07:02:00 -0700 2009 2639872 0815604467 9780815604464 3 1 4.50 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2639872.Memoirs_of_Childhood_and_Youth 0 0 false Tue Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 20 18:30:21 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 20 18:30:21 -0700 2009 6474383 0049220144 9780049220140 0 0 4.50 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6474383-my-childhood-and-youth 0 0 false Sat May 16 12:21:48 -0700 2009 Sat May 16 12:21:48 -0700 2009 2639872 0815604467 9780815604464 3 1 4.50 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2639872.Memoirs_of_Childhood_and_Youth 0 0 false Fri Feb 13 10:35:57 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 13 10:35:58 -0800 2009 2639872 0815604467 9780815604464 3 1 4.50 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2639872.Memoirs_of_Childhood_and_Youth 5 0 false Thu Dec 18 21:29:45 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 11 06:55:31 -0800 2008 Thu Dec 18 21:29:45 -0800 2008 2776672 1406735426 9781406735420 1 0 4.50 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2776672.Memoirs_of_Childhood_and_Youth 3 0 false Sun Jul 20 06:39:11 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 20 06:39:11 -0700 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=2639872