Letter from Edward Renouf to Anny Schey von Koromla

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Calle Gral. Aureliano Rivera 17-B
Villa Obregon
Distrito Federal
Mexico

13 August 1947

My very dearest Annerl!

Your letter from 24 July arrived while Catharine, Hester (my eldest, below us in the picture, kneeling) and I were as good as lying on our deathbeds with mushroom poisoning. Catharine and Hester have now almost completely recovered, and I’m doing much better again despite the constant headaches and diarrhoea. The deadly mushrooms were a gift from a Swiss friend who has been studying fungi for twenty years, looking at them under microscopes, reading God knows how many volumes about them. She’s supposed to know more about her subject than anyone else in the country! So be careful with mushrooms!

I’m glad to hear the CARE parcels finally arrived. I ordered them for you on 10 April, in New York: two for you, two for Beate. There should have been forty-three pounds and four ounces of foodstuffs for you (without the weight of the packaging), and the same for Beate. Please write to let me know that’s what you got. Each parcel should have contained a ‘contents of food package’ – a list of everything inside. But since the whole world has now gone mad, there’s no end to the mistakes people make. But all CARE parcels are guaranteed, and one can claim refunds if necessary.

How I wish I could have been there with you to enjoy the Gugelhupf you made for Beate’s birthday! Do you remember her birthday in Schwaz, when I wrapped up the empty box as a joke and gave it to her as a gift? She was so angry that she lashed me around the knees with a bunch of nettles that same day! I didn’t hold it against her! Your English Hügelhof is enchanting. I wish I could come and visit you there! But is it not possible that we might actually see each other again at the real Hügelhof in Schwaz? From time to time I receive a letter from Hanni Lintner, who’s eagerly waiting a visit from you. Her letters always sound so much more positive and cheery than any of those from Germany, and so I remain under the false impression that nothing in Schwaz has changed at all. I still believe I can see you there, in the scent of the honeysuckle and in the gentle music of the summer rain, or even up on the mountain, in the shade of the hazelnut shrubs, where the meadows glistened in the silvery moonlight. Ach, Annerl! What an incomparably lovely woman you were! And still are, I’m sure! And if I do ever manage to make something of my life, for the most part it will be because you were so kind to me back then.

I hardly know why, Annerl, but I often think of that day when we drove through the fields of wheat on the other side of the Danube together. You suddenly started crying uncontrollably, and it made me feel so lonely, because you were crying for a past that didn’t include me, and I couldn’t be there for you, couldn’t help you at all. But how well I understand your pain and your homesickness now! And the ominous sense of foreboding that hung in the air above us and over the whole world even then!

I was very sorry to hear that May and Rupé have died. I’d always hoped to see Rupé again someday. He was such a kind man. Do you ever hear from Grete Wiesenthal, the Motesiczkys, Jenó Weisz or Friedrich Kaulas?

I almost want to persuade you to emigrate to America. But we haven’t been in the United States for almost seven years now, so it’s hard for me to say whether such a move would be advantageous for you. We plan to travel to the States to visit relatives if possible, but we don’t yet know whether it will be possible, partly because it’s virtually impossible to find an apartment, partly because everything is so expensive at the moment, and prices are still rising. Also, there’s almost no domestic service to speak of, which doesn’t make life easier for those with children! But Inge should definitely take a good look around when she’s there so she can tell you about the prospects. Should you ever decide that you are interested in moving over as a family, I could put your sons-in-law in touch with various architects in New York so they can find out about potential vacancies. Mexico would also be a possibility – though we’re actually hoping to move away soon. People often tell us that life in Switzerland is far more congenial than here in every way: cheaper, healthier, more reliable, culturally and intellectually more stimulating, with outstanding schools and universities, theatres, concerts and so on. We often discuss the possibility of travelling to Zurich or elsewhere in Switzerland. What would you say to that?

Whether Mexico would be congenial for architects, I couldn’t say. There’s been a phenomenal amount of building going on here over the last five years or so. In fact, people often say that there’s been too much building and that all the architects and builders, having earned fabulous amounts over these last few years, will soon be unemployed. In the USA, on the other hand, there will have to be a phenomenal amount of building in the next ten to twenty years, as indeed there will be in Europe. Populations are on the increase everywhere, and the supply of buildings can’t keep up with demand. The population of ‘Latin America’ is actually growing faster than anywhere else on earth, so I’m sure there’s still plenty of work for architects here too.

Dear Annerl, when I think of you I almost forget that I’m now a married man – and a particularly faithful and responsible family father at that. My thoughts are filled with enticing dreams: I’m meeting you in Portugal or Spain, in Switzerland, in Paris, and it’s as though barely half an hour had passed since we last saw each other. But then I awake from my reverie, the children are calling me and my wife senses that my dreams are carrying me off into the past, and then she takes me in her arms to call me back to her. Then I too come to see that I’m an incorrigible fantasist, and that it's high time I made my peace with the reality of our everyday life. And I also realise that you and I can’t possibly start rebuilding our friendship from the place where we last saw each other, and that we can only do that from where we are now. And that could only be for the best, because then we’d have so much to share with each other: children, work, travel, friends, all the things that fill our lives! Please, dear Annerl, would you help me out by writing to tell me as much as possible about your life now – what you’re doing, who you’re seeing, who your friends are, who your children’s friends are? How wonderful it would be if we could all see each other again! You didn’t mention Clemens in your last letter. How is he? What does Inge want to see? New York?

A little while ago I sent one of my stories to an agent in New York, and he wrote back with such enthusiasm that I finally have some hope that I might soon see something in print. As soon as I get something published, I’ll send it to you. I don’t yet know whether any magazines will want to take my story, of course, because the agent says it’s very different from anything the American public is accustomed to reading in a magazine.

Catharine and I look very unnatural in the little photograph enclosed here, but the three children look sweet and true to life. Please write back to me immediately.

Lots of love from all of us,

Ettl

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