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Theodor Hierneis (1973)
At the end of his life, the former cook at the court of Ludwig II
published the memoirs of his apprenticeship. The memoires permit us an interesting insight into the nature of serving and are a document of how to become a "Royal Cook, rtrd." This film is also a contribution to the tradition of the German medium sized businesses in the provinces. On 1st Nov. 1882 the name of Theodor Hierneis as Royal cook apprentice was entered into the personnel files of the Royal Bavarian Lord Stewart. For four years, I belonged to the household of an unusual king. The kitchen boys at the Bavarian court were treated and kept very well, and were carefully trained, because we were to replace the Royal personal cooks after their retirement. We were generously fed, each of us had a piece of meat daily and of course all the other ingredients, and we were allowed to prepare it ourselves at a special place at the great cooking stove. Not at all bad for those times was the travelling allowance. In loco, at our base, in Munich we got 1 mark 40 per day, and while on tour, and the King was away for months, at the hunting lodges, or here, in Linderhof, we got as much as 2 marks 16. That wasn't bad at all, if you consider that one egg used to cost 1 pfennig. Board and lodging was free too, and we didn't have much occasion to spend money here at the palace anyway, so that by the end of the year, I had always saved a considerable sum. I've been saving money from the first day. One wants to rise to a position later in life after all. Very soon I entered myself for the voluntary first-year exam and I passed it too. Th. Hierneis or: how to become a Royal Cook, rtrd. Good day, gentlemen. Good day. A film by Hans-Jrgen Syberberg Herr Mller, good day. Freely retold after the memoirs of a kitchen apprentice at the court of Ludwig II. Not as good as the food and pay were the lodgings. In the residential palace in Munich our rooms were above the Hercules hall, as it's called now, below the former Winter Garden. That Winter Garden was the King's very special creation. of monstrous dimensions, it needed a huge and heavy iron construction and fixed water basins and real shrubs and palms. Palms most of all. The King loved palms. And the necessary amount of earth. All this was of enormous weight, so that it had to be taken out after the King's death, because the walls weren't built for it. That's what was said at the time. When we had our rooms there, the Winter Garden was still fully operating. Our beds stood, of all places, below the lake which the King used for his gondola trips. And somehow the lake must have had a hole at the bottom. Because there was constant dripping onto our beds, so that we could only go to bed with an opened umbrella. Of course, if we had reported the leak to the Lord Chamberlain, this leak would surely have been repaired. Or maybe it would. But we kitchen boys didn't have sufficient courage at the time and so we stuck to our umbrellas. And this is the palace kitchen. The basis of the Bavarian court cooking, as opposed to the Court of Berlin which preferred Anglo-German food, is the French cuisine. And I believe that the cuisine of the Munich residence, compared to the famous models, Napoleon's chefs, Bernard, Dubois, and the dwarf, Brillat-Savarin, it had nothing to be ashamed of. That one is from the violet cabinet. The rich and abundant dishes, their choice ingredients were the pride of His Majesty's cuisine. At the great court dinners no expense was spared, goose liver pt, oysters, stuff you just don't have these anymore. Koleterin ??? chicklets Polynesian fattened ducks turtle meat spiny lobster This is a rechaud from the old days. Very soon after first instructions we were taught the use of the storages. I got to know the cupboards and boxes, their contents, the difference between corinthians, sultanines, raisins. They always had be to washed carefully and searched for tiny stones, as well as the beans and peas. "Do you understand?" they asked. I said "Yes." "Really? Then show us what you've learned." Then they handed me a pound of salt. Of course I dumped it into luke-warm water. But not only that I didn't find any stones, all the salt had vanished. After such defeats, I took comfort in the plan that I myself would act likewise with my successors. And I stuck to the motto: "laughed at as apprentice... "honoured as a master." Linderhof Outside it's pitch dark. But the palace is brightly illuminated The King is about to arrive. From all the windows the candles shed their light into the night. First comes the vanguard rider with the lantern then the Cheveaux Lgers in dress uniform and then, drawn by four horses, the rococo coach with the King inside the King drives up the coach door opens, the coach steps are lowered the King alights I'm waiting inside vestibule and can't get away and place myself here the King enters his palace tall, noble handsome pale a ghost-like apparition with big dark and incredibly luminous eyes a mysterious king that's how I saw him the first time. he looked around the vestibule and then he saluted Louis XIV he was his role model then he hugged this column he thought he was alone I would have been chased from court within an hour if he had discovered me but I was quite overcome by my feelings for the King and I was the only witness. Against many of his actions and decisions there was strong resistance but when the talk turned to his personality then everybody agreed: a monarch as accomplished as in a dream a king out of a fairy tale Nowadays, there's nothing compared to the happiness I felt when I first learned that I was chosen to serve this august person. If I had been working as kitchen employee, say, for the President of a Republic, that would have been a good position, I'd say. but meager compared to the brilliance and the shimmer of that crown to be allowed to move in its sphere that is happiness. This feeling of happiness didn't prevent me from studying with curiosity my new surroundings and my curiosity's main object was of course the King at the time I thought I'd see him every day the first thing I was taught was how to behave towards His Majesty in case of an eventual encounter Meyer taught me first rule: when His Majesty approaches you're to adopt a bowing attitude like this the arms and the head pointed downwards, like this and in this position one had to wait until one was spoken to or recognized one was recognized when the King had noticed one's presence he recognized me five or six times in all of course it was utterly impossible to address the King first, or even look at him we wouldn't have dared that anyway later, when the King's shyness of other people increased, he introduced the Chinese court ceremonial which prescribes that one can only approach His Majesty crawling on one's hands and knees and crawling, one had to withdraw like a crab at that time, I avoided to meet His Majesty and I stayed away from doors and windows and from the forecourt very rarely the King commented on the food and therefore it wasn't easy to guess His Majesty's tastes also, his taste and appetite depended very much on his actual mood and one had always take into consideration the bad teeth of His Majesty and that's why everything was prepared very soft and fluffy with soups the choice was quite large brown consomm with all kinds of garnish rice, noodles, ham rolls, liver sptzle then the so-called thickened soups, pure of venison, crme la Rhin chicory soup ox-tail soup, or a nice bread soup but not like the peasants make it we strained it with egg yolk or cream or served it with a poached egg very often the King was served fish, filet of trout with wine sauce or baked with butter and herbs or sauce remoulade this was often followed by a nice piece of beef mostly roast beef that was cooked for several hours nicely bound together and served in four slices, finger thick he also liked meatballs finely minced veal cutlets with champignons and mashed potatoes or fine omelettes filled with asparagus tips or smoked ox tongue and in spring, His Majesty especially liked peewit or seagull eggs you cook the peewit eggs for five minutes and you serve them in the shell, cut in half with fresh butter the King always just picked at the yolk and didn't touch the egg-white the King wasn't a great tippler the nobles prefer quality to quantity in their wines but as I said, the King's tooth affliction was best known to us in the kitchen already at 25, His Majesty couldn't bite off anything anymore and somehow I found this comforting that he too had to suffer pain, like all of us later, in my time, the King was almost completely toothless and he always held a perfumed lace handkerchief in front of his lips and kept people at a distance now we're entering the biggest room of the palace, the king's bedroom again, a copy of the bedroom of Louis XIV of France whom you see represented in this painting over the door at the evening reception, the coucher, and opposite, at the lever, the morning reception Louis XIV used to gather his entire court around his bed in the morning and in the evening you can see this very well in those two paintings and on both sides of the bed very valuable gold applications embossed into the wood with 22 carat gold thread created by the Munich firm of Jrres over a period of several years. first they made wooden models and stitched the pattern over the wood and this chandelier is one of the highlights of the entire palace made from Bohemian crystal glass from Gablonz cut by the firm of Lobmeyr of Vienna it weighs half a ton and contains 108 candles it is a unique work, the model was destroyed afterwards in order to prevent any imitation the King worked at night and slept during the day he kept regular resting hours 9 hours and 40 minutes the first valet had to lock the King in and take away the keys the next day he had to enter the room open the curtains light up and serve a cup of tea this was followed by a deep bow as morning salute the King gets out of bed drinks his tea and goes to the bathroom he attached a lot of importance to cleanliness meanwhile a chambermaid changed the sheets daily fresh sheets white silk the chambermaid mustn't be in the room when the King came out of the bathroom after half an hour the King didn't like female servants his valet Rutz received him from the bath with two towels dressing was like everywhere else only, with the King one had to see to it that both ends of his black tie were exactly the same length then His Majesty was handed a white perfumed lace handkerchief and when everything was in order, he gave a nod last came the court hairdresser Hoppe a most important man he had to perform his task in silence he wasn't allowed to speak for a hairdresser, this was very hard then a silent morning prayer the King wanted to be alone for that at the time, the bathroom was much more sumptuous it was like this here but everything lined with blue velvet after he'd finished dressing he had breakfast it consisted of tea, coffee, butter, jam, eggs, cookies and rolls the breakfast lasted a good hour then the King went out for a drive for half an hour then for a walk for half an hour and then he read his newspaper clippings they came from Munich we never actually had the entire newspaper sometimes government dispatches arrived twice a week, but they were never important the time till lunch, 7.30 p.m. the King spent reading literature half of which consisted of French works during lunch, the food elevator wasn't used it went up before the King sat down at the table and it went down only after His Majesty had finished his lunch it wasn't used between courses because he would have to get up for it the supper was more simple, only 8 to 9 courses and it was cooked in advance so that I as kitchen boy only had to heat it on the rechauds after the main meal the King spend the time mostly in his rooms rarely outdoors he made drawings, sketches, or dictated instructions for palace building the King learned about the dinner courses from the menue very often I wrote it myself, in French, a lot of them are today in museums to the left of the soup was written the name of the personal chef on duty this was His Majesty's chair once I was busy setting the table for four during dinner, the flower bouquet wasn't here, but on the mantelpiece back there when coming from the Gobelin room, across the blue salon, I suddenly heard the Royal steps, the King came to the table, picked up the menue, read it and asked "Filets l'Allemande, what's that?" I said, "Your Majesty, this is the tendrest meat of a veal, directly below the back." "Is that so?" Then he wanted to know... That's how I heard his voice for the first time, I hadn't been at court for long then. his voice was a bit ... constrained but a very agreeable voice and pure High German [no Bavarian accent] and then he wanted to know "And why are the fillets called l'Allemande?" Then I said, "Your Majesty, "because they are larded in the German national colours, black truffles, white lard and red tongue." then he nodded and then suddenly he wanted to know "And do these filets also exist la Bavire?" but I had to answer in the negative because, we would have needed Bavarian blue and there is no edible food in blue. then the King turned back to his guests there weren't always guests, only for special occasions mostly three ladies from the French court the Pompadour then that one, the Dubarry the King had the most beautiful ladies the third one was called Maintenon or something, but she wasn't here very often the King conversed with the ladies most charmingly toasted them, smiled at them they were also served food but the ladies never ate, because they were imaginary well, the King imagined them they were products of his fantasy very practical, invite ladies who cannot speak because they aren't there very practical afterwards, they withdrew into this mirror salon for these intimate dinners very often the famous golden table service was used, with the gold plates also at Herrenchiemsee, but I wasn't there very often when after Ludwig's death those golden plates turned up in Frstenried, at Otto's and when he saw them he said at once: "Now you must address me as Your Majesty." At Frstenried, Otto never invited anybody to dinner he was a sort of blond guy, with a scraggly goat beard he didn't look like a king at all sometimes he still held speeches to his people in the park but we were still here at Linderhof and ... we were still busy with our Majesty He wasn't that easy when the King wanted to have dinner up there, there was always excitement not only that the dishes had to be taken from the stove at the right moment wrapped carefully, partly cooked, partly half-cooked and then packed into big flat baskets and then they were carried up up there 9 to 12 courses that wouldn't have been so difficult, but His Majesty expressed his wishes always at the last moment of course, the menue had to conform to each locality the dressing of the dishes on the crystal plates and golden bowls the decorating of the table was particularly difficult up here in this kitchen here, no light, humid I see, the personnel entrance is closed well, nobody cares about this anymore but the King didn't accept the word "impossible" hallo ... hallo why don't you open up, Frau Mller? how about ringing the bell? the King's orders had to be executed without protest he had no consideration for our difficulties all that constant change of location for the dinners the primitive hunting lodges with their small stoves the permanent change of the time of the meals the incessant night duties at candlelight for the King, the kitchen was a disagreeable but necessary interruption of his mental activities he didn't praise it, he didn't criticize it on important feasts, at Christmas, on his birthday or name day the circle of those who received gifts was notably wide everybody got something everybody only we didn't nothing nothing and the King distributed his gifts graciously but nothing for us in the kitchen no gratification or recognition or a souvenir still, we loved our King from the first Royal kitchen chef to the last charwoman we would have loved to fulfill special requests tasty little extras which weren't on the menue fine lobster mayonnaise veal head en tortue with sliced truffles and champignons baked fleurons, that's those crescent shaped little puff pastries or pt of snipe omelette surprise souffl. With the omelette, we once had such an accident and if you know the difficulty of that dish it didn't arrive in time on His Majesty's table and when it finally came, he got up and said: "I don't want it anymore." After we'd cleared the table, I could sometimes observe him being rowed about on the lake down there in his golden conch that looked spooky it didn't occur to me at the time that he might be ill, but there came up the question whether his fantasy was still moving within the realm of the normal. later I have often been asked if the King had been an expert gourmet more important than the actual preparation of the dish was for him the presentation, the staging then he sat all alone before the terra alba plates on which had been dressed lobster and crayfish and around allegorical figures made of Tragant were grouped piquant aspics goose liver pt and inside marbled cornucopias ... after the dinner we carried everything back downhill and by that time, the morning mists had already risen in the Graswang valley we had other destinations for excursions as well, for instance the Moorish pavilion where the King spent his nightly days each destination had its own specialty regarding the order of the dishes and the table setting. On that subject, substantial notebooks were kept which had to be studied carefully. Here in the Moorish pavilion we served pyramid punch and violet punch the pyramid punch tasted of pineapple it was served with date tartlets the violet punch consisted of violet roots, soaked in champagne served with petits fours decorated daintily with candied violet blossoms in the middle Yggdrasil the huge "world ash tree" towering over everything made from naturally grown beech wood the trunk that wide that three Germanics could hardly span it with their arms custom-made at the Court Opera, from paper-mach and wood inside the trunk, Hunding's sword, therefore the name "Hunding's hut" around the "world ash tree", bear skins so that the King would be nice and cozy on this wall, benches and heavy oak tables for the King here the cellars for mead, bear ham, reindeer ham also for heating and other provisions here the open fireplace with the mead kettle, behind lay the kitchen it was quite small because big dinners weren't served here anyway that's an ash-tree supposed to be a linden tree. two small cabinets on this wall one for His Majesty, to rest in the other, Hoppe dressed the Cheveaux Lgers as Germanics all this below a massive oak roof, covered with moss and stones a heavy oak gate with a view on the idyllic lake with swan and canoe the lake entirely lined with copper here in the Hunding Hut two big feasts were given each year a servants' feast and a big Germanic feast with the King, at midsummer tide it was prepared for weeks The Equerry Hornig picked among the Cheveaux Lgers sturdy Germanics who were trained by Hoppe, and at the opera by a choreographer teaching them some Germanic dances and also songs living images from those Germanic sagas like the paintings in the singers hall at Neuschwanstein scenes with Hunding ... well I forgot all about those folks at that time I mostly brewed the mead for mead you take six parts of water one part finest Bavarian forest honey you boil it with cinnamon Muscat nut, Muscat flower and half the skin of a bitter orange after cooling you fill it into a fermenting bottle and then you store it in the fermenting cellar down there it'll be ready to drink after about five weeks for the King, we refined the mead of course, with Romanian rose petals but as to the Germanics, we just served them Arrack. the effect of mead is terrific after two hours they were all just crazy! I was never a Germanic. When I first entered the King's service they told me at home: "Boy, don't attract anybody's attention." those weren't any orgies, as the scandalmongers wrote later sometimes the King went out alone, at a late hour once he took Huber and Osterhahn with him, they were quite beautiful Cheveaux Lgers they wore those white deerskin breeches you had to put them on wet, and when dry, they were really tight there I served mocca and Hollerklee because "Holunder" (elderberry) is also something Germanic and I served the whipped cream in a silver bowl, shaped like a little deer and as sugar sprinkler a small owl with tiny holes in its head and then the King went out took them by the hand, both of them and went with them into the lake the lake over there and ... and then ... oh well, that wasn't an orgy! afterwards ... when the mist rose early in the morning he went into Gurnemanz' hermitage down there into the loneliness to do penance. during the King's stay here, there had to be flowers everywhere and where nothing bloomed, the court gardener planted flowerbeds into the meadow in spring, the King asked for a Godfriday meadow so he had the snow removed and spring flowers planted from the hothouse the deer up in the mountain had been waiting for them already but they weren't allowed to eat anything yet we were there to prevent it only after the King had left to do penance then it was permitted then reigned the absolute Godfriday's peace Ladies and gentlemen, the weather used to be very different at the time too I can't remember it having rained just once while we were here well, when a king climbs a mountain there's a big hullabaloo you need at least 20-30 strong men they were his personal bearers the others were natives from the vicinity it was a great honour for them to be allowed to act as bearers for the King the bearers carried the King's undergarments, his mountaineer outfits toilet articles the plans for unbuilt palaces a lot of literature and the others: silverware, crockery what had been ordered for special services and Turkish robes for the Schachen up there, they were always needed down there, that's the Wetterstein mountain pasture, that was the basis station at the valley the bearers picked up their loads there and the King changed to his two-wheel mountain cart in that specially constructed mountain cart the heavy things were carried beer, kitchenware or the King's bathtub that's a new path we took that one, the old path Zanders was in charge of the whole expedition he was terribly nervous the kitchen followed the personal cook on duty and my humble self we didn't carry anything, that was the bearers' job the King arrived later in a pony cart behind his favourite, Ralf he gave him sugar cubes from the cart we had to serve Ralf a big dinner on the Schachen once but he was really wild, he threw a whole table a typical menue for the reception a dinner for the King after the soup some appetizers small pies, mussels au gratin then boiled ox meat, His Majesty loved that we cooked that for each dinner, with vegetables, then a small snack lamb cutlets with chestnut pure or chicken fricasse then something defty roasted game or fowl, depending on the season then a little piquant dish Dukaten noodles with crawfish butter and as sweet, apple strudel with cream of course, ice-cream too, and mocca and a small dessert, as usual for drinks, woodruff punch Roman ice punch, sorbet because, you see, the King doesn't drink beer, we only brought that for the bearers Not only did we prepare the King's dinners but we also cooked for the staff and the bearers the men got the same food as they were used to at home right after arrival the bearers were sent to the mountain pastures to get milk, cream, butter the others had to fetch water for the King because the King immediately took a hot bath after the strenuous climb His Majesty arrived one day after us early in the morning, because as you know, he worked at the night and lived at night, consequently he also travelled at night I think, what excited him most on his Schachen tour, that was the trip up here, a wildly romantic affair there were the vanguard riders who chased away the people if there were any on the road apparently nobody should see the King then another vanguard rider followed with torches and then the steaming ponies pulling the King behind sat Meyer, he tied himself to the bench out of fear it was just exciting, he loved that but sometimes, when his mood was more gracious, he allowed people to approach his coach a child or a peasant, a forest worker he spoke to the people, asked their names or what time it was he once asked this of a forest worker, of course he didn't have a watch the next day His Majesty sent him a silver watch that's how he was and that's why the man is still so popular today as a surprise, up on the Schachen, we gave him a festive illumination and fireworks so that the palace looked a bit more festive but he came so late in the morning that the sun had already risen, so he couldn't see much of the illumination well, he could hear the rockets, that's beautiful too there wasn't so much distraction high up in the mountains, of course a poet came up here once, Felix Dahn he wrote "A Struggle for Rome", very famous at the time today you can still find the book in many libraries and a young actor, Kainz, Josef the King discovered him in his court theatre he liked his voice, very loud and beautiful then he invited him up to the Schachen and then he was very disappointed by his voice he thought he would speak in the same unnatural voice outside the stage too then he got him up here and he talked to him and he said again and again "I can't hear you, I can't hear you" but he went a few steps away from him Kainz spoke a bit louder and the King went still a bit further away and again said "I can't hear you, I can't hear you" and finally he had the alcohol stove turned up then the little Moor came, our Abu, a gift from the Shah of Persia anyway, the King stood there, and Kainz here and Kainz started to shout we were all wondering what was going on but they only talked about fashion Kainz later became famous with his voice as actor, that was fitting, at the court theatre and he also published his memoirs, very intimate stuff after the King's death we can't see the palace park from here but we don't need it, with such a beautiful view here the Partnach the Partnach ridge Schneeferner plateau Alpspitze Waxensteiner those three in the back then from here a view on Partenkirchen you can't see Linderhof from here on the meadow many affairs of state were dealt with the King received his messengers there or the cabinet secretary he presented him the files around, the servants and bearers sat and watched the King sat in the middle on a chair, behind him two lackeys and his favourite black horse, Ralf the King wore a Scottish travelling suit, and a cap and the messengers were always sent straight back, down there they never got any food, sometimes a drink here the Schachenplatte with the famous echo hallo no, doesn't work today sometimes he climbed the mountain himself, then he looked quite dashing as a mountaineer he always looked like the real thing, no matter what he wore but not as a hunter, hunting was forbidden, he didn't permit that and here he dreamed of voyages too he travelled mostly to the Orient there he sat, surrounded by his faithful followers his men meaning us, because there were no other men present and there was incense from the sticks and pans we sat there, dressed as Turks we were smoking too narghile, yes we knew all about it at the time the King didn't smoke he used to read, study drawings he had already left for another voyage he wanted to build a Chinese Winter Palace on the Plansee but he didn't have the time left to realize it his ideal was to have the most beautiful things from all over the world buildings and plants birds, deer, peacocks birds of paradise and all that if he could have gathered it all in one place and perhaps some people too well, he wanted to build a paradise... it could have happened in Bavaria. that was the old castle at Hohenschwangau where he spent his youth that wasn't a paradise they brought up the boy totally wrong they didn't even feed him properly under such circumstances a child is simply forced into fantasies and then he builds for himself such things like that winter garden on the roof of the residential palace in front, that was a real the lake that's the one that dripped onto my bed in the background, behind the tent, that one was artificial a backdrop painted at the court opera I believe those are the Himalayas in the back he could have made all those voyages in real he was a wealthy man, Bavaria was rich at the time but that was just the point for him, he wanted to have everything in artifice just for his fantasy he was in France twice, in Paris but he didn't want the Paris of the last century, no, he wanted the Paris of Louis XIV Versailles, balls, a court like that then he tried out the opera the Germanics music, Richard Wagner helped him a lot there he met him quite early he invented a lot of those Germanics himself and those works, those operas are still performed today the theatres are packed this too is a great credit to our King that he helped to get those works created and the proof that even today many people have those longing, is the fact, that so many still watch those operas performed, especially the younger people, they understand the King. they have the same longings here Hunding fights against Wotan Wotan with a spear, carved from that "world ash tree" according to the myth, he's supposed to continue the fight till today and this is an opera set with Hunding's hut and after this set our Hunding's hut was built Siegmund pulls the sword Nothung out of the world ash tree and Sieglinde probably implores him to leave it inside there used to sit the Germanics here's the King's seat bear skin that was my place, at the mead kettle that was the door going to the lake we didn't have those trees this is the kitchen it isn't up at the lodge, but downhill, with the farm buildings it's still working and looks exactly like it used to I think this is the only stove in all the Royal palaces still in use of course, there used to be a beautiful copper smoke funnel, and much more copper kitchenware the buffet there finest crockery that was our table there sat the cook on duty there sat I there the dishwasher woman the cook on duty mostly didn't eat anything he'd already eaten enough while tasting and I, I ate my ... well I wrote this menue Schachen, 24th August 1885 that was the day before the King's birthday and name day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 eight courses and banana ice-cream to finish it off we carried it all up here apple pancakes well, I liked best a Waidling of milk that's a half litre bowl and some bread pieces in it, with a bit of salt I was used to this from home I liked that then, 20 years later, I had already a wife and kids I went up again for a visit and showed them everything but the old spirit wasn't there anymore without the King, the magic was gone beautiful mountains, beautiful weather the valley was beautiful, the landscape was beautiful but he wasn't here anymore the magic was gone up here, he was very close to us we used to have him all to ourselves at the time but in Munich it was frowned upon they searched for grounds for complaint, and found them too in Neuschwanstein, in the upper court our unhappy King's tragic fate was fulfilled there had been pouring rain for days we were out in the kitchen and heard coaches driving up then we went over here, to the dishwashing kitchen, to the window and saw Count Holnstein, another "true friend" of our King get out of the coach, he shouted to us at the window "breakfast for the gentlemen" then the personal cook, Rottenhfer, went to the window and shut it. and he said: "Lick my arse!" that's what he said anyway, that same day the first commission left again yessir Count Drckheim was really a true friend of the King because of his love and loyalty he was even brought to a court-martial later he was the adjutant, this was his office I was in here once this was the King's study I never was in here but what's that? well, I must say... Gold... and worries there he really was all alone. that the King might be ill or mad, this idea would never have occurred to us we wouldn't have dared anyway we've loved him far too much for that we looked upon his character as a sort of luxury being, he was the King after all direct acts of government we saw very little of that here in fact, none of it Court Councilor Karl Mayer was occasionally in Munich and the personal hairdresser Hoppe he was much abroad, in Naples and so on the personal hairdresser Hoppe was a very important man he was entrusted with delicate special missions mostly it was about money this place cost a lot of money this was the only room we were permitted to enter the antechamber to the dining room here stood the rechauds to keep the first courses and the soups warm and here the first valet spent his nights well, sometimes Meyer had this altered, it used to be a trunk and once, Rutz, yes, him he waited for the order to serve the supper suddenly the King came out of the dark dining room and shook the little Rutz Rutz became later the Mayor of Oberammergau he lived to an old age and he shook him and shouted "in there is a man, why isn't locked up" and Rutz went in there and and who was inside? the tall Osterholzer on his knees, imploring the King with raised hands that he should flee, that he was betrayed and the King gave the most medieval orders Nicke, the palace servant, had to write everything down put out his eyes and God knows what Drckheim's Rifle Batallion from Kenten was to march here but nobody came anymore yes, there he kneeled the King was so upset that he didn't even recognize his own personal coachman I see the bedroom in here took place the actual act of state the second commission with Baron von Gutten arrived, a big dinner was ordered in the old castle it turned into an eating orgy they brought the King in here, to his bedroom and Baron von Gutten read to him his incapacitation the King said: "How can you declare me insane?" "you haven't even examined me." But Baron von Gutten said: "Your Majesty, we have sufficient evidence, also from the servants." Not from me. No. "You haven't seen me for twelve years!" "How can you declare me insane?" "You're destroying a human life." "Shame on you." then the King said: "Leave me, gentlemen." "Why don't you leave the room!" "I want to be alone." This was too embarrassing. But only von Gutten left and the assistant doctor Mller and the lunatic attendants stayed and before each window, each door, each hole one of them stood and stared at him it was too embarrassing especially since the King couldn't bear to be looked at, into his eyes that's why we all had to ... we were strictly forbidden to look at the King our most important rule was: "the King mustn't be looked at." this strict ceremonial didn't exist at any other Royal court when by accident the King suddenly appeared and one couldn't look away fast enough, then one had to beg His Majesty's pardon for this there was a proscribed letter with the following text: "Your Majesty "your most humble servant" followed by the name "asks for most gracious forgiveness "and places it at the august person's feet." of cause, we wrote these notes in advance, because we needed them quite often As to looking at the King, really seeing him, I only did that when ... at the lake after he had died he was very close. and in here we wrote them in here we kept the notes that was Rockenhfer's office final control of the dishes by staff controller Zander Now ain't that a kitchen! that's something else than in Linderhof for just one person the King I went out to the terrace very often at night I had to stay awake because he couldn't sleep at 3 or 4 a.m. we saw the foxes getting the kitchen refuse but at the beginning of June one couldn't stay out long, it was quite cold up here one went back into the warm kitchen with pleasure to the cooking stove this was used for fowl well, one spent the time reading cooking books or specialized literature I improved my French a bit during that time you need this for the refined cuisine and I deeply thought about this and that and I made notes too one never knows, they might come in handy one day because even folks like me have thoughts about things so we sat around at night he all alone and I all alone and we could have had such a grand life by and by, the King became more impatient and more insufferable the wildest rumours were being spread I didn't sleep at all the last three days first we went over to the old castle then we were told that the King wanted have dinner here in the new castle then we packed everything and came here and when we arrived here, Zander came and said, the King wanted to have dinner in Linderhof then we packed here and left at 10 p.m. for Linderhof where we arrived early in the morning and when we arrived at Linderhof, a rider was already waiting for us and he said, the King won't come at all to Linderhof then we packed everything again and came back here then I thought I might go to bed at last but then Meyer came Meyer said, the King wanted a big dinner a big one up in the singers' hall then we started. The peacock is a dish made for kings already the ancient Romans had a preference for this proud bird the Bavarian court kitchen obtained its peacocks from the breeding farms near Rome and King Ludwig occasionally ate of that animal a peacock, after having been plucked carefully the feathers are put aside for future use you clean the inside and the outside then you insert a filling of truffles, goose liver, and fine herbs herbs according to taste one could say as a rule, the same herbs the animal would have eaten while alive the same rule applies to game after the bird has been filled, as described it is stitched up and hanged at a cool place for several days until all the meat is permeated with the fine truffles aroma now let's go upstairs and here the King lost his crown if fact, he'd already lost it in Munich, because he was deposed there and the immediate deposal took place in the bedroom anyway, the King got hold of the key to the tower, and wanted to get up here and in there but then the commission came from downstairs and the King went over here but from here the attendants came to meet him then he wanted to go down, but the commission was coming up and that's how they caught him then he only said: "What do you want? What's the meaning of all this?" anyway, how he got the key to the tower, that I don't know people say, Meyer gave them to him, but I don't believe this but I know one thing for sure the big kitchen knife he demanded of us the day before that he didn't get! besides, I know nothing we've been sworn to secrecy too but if we hadn't known anything we wouldn't have been sworn to secrecy. this is a food elevator on the day of the dinner the peacock is emptied again the truffles are mixed into a fine farce and stuffed back into the peacock then it's fried for about 1 1/2 hours, till it's light brown wrapped in lard the frying time the same as for an average goose a peacock tastes like a ... well like a duck ... no more like a chicken personally I never cared for peacocks at all the peacock was served on a big silver plate on a bread foundation, finely carved before and put together again the wheel of feathers stuck into its behind around the bread foundation, neck, head and some other beautiful feathers the King was in a very bad mood at that time we weren't surprised anymore he was going through very difficult days anyway and the peacock came just handy then at dinner, early in the morning, twelve lackeys presented the showpiece but the breast was carved too large the King only ate the breast Meyer was very helpful, as always and he said to me, "boy, go down to the food elevator" he had written a letter to the King that the kitchen boy Hierneis has a nosebleed and that he couldn't come probably Meyer himself carved the breast for him the lackey Meyer was the servant with the black mask each time he stood before the King he had to put on a black mask because the King decided suddenly: "I don't want to see his face anymore" with Meyer being the King's only connection to the outside world, he was indispensable and he looked quite normal he looked quite normal a tall and handsome man a Bavarian beautiful hair, he was one of the Chevaux Lgers he was a loyal servant of his master when the King woke up during the day with some complaints or orders who came? Meyer always with a friendly smile in his face or when the King came home from a drive at 5 a.m. who received him at the gate? Meyer with the same friendly face beneath the mask when the King had left us after the tragic events Meyer resigned from court service well, there was a lot of talk they said he'd gone to America or somewhere well, with his memoirs he could have easily ... the Meyer here in the throne hall the King said farewell he looked up to the paintings of the holy anointed kings he saluted them he never had dinner in here and he didn't govern in here either, because the throne wasn't ready yet and then the King stepped out to the balcony The valet Alfons Weber has later described this touching scene the King rested his head in his hands and looked out for the last time at his Bavarian mountains he swam frequently in the Alpsee over there it's 4 km long the King was an excellent swimmer strange that he died drowning strange we in the kitchen couldn't follow the events as well our chef, Rockenhfer he said for us, the job goes on during the night he was secretly taken away with an escort we packed everything again and followed him to Schlo Berg and the rest is well known the first big court dinner was on the occasion of the funeral ceremonies of Ludwig II 140 guests 12 courses "a beautiful corpse!" our new master was the Prince Regent Luitpold he was a passionate hunter summer and autumn he spent at the hunting lodges, in the Berchtesgaden county or in the mountain huts we were always with him and in winter, pheasants in the outskirts of Munich pheasantry Moosach Frstenried, Otto used to live there Otto in fact was the King, but ... he didn't realize that anymore in December we were in the Spessart woods, hunting wild boar we were with him there too we even had our own butcher for the sausages because the blood and liver sausages of the wild boar, they're just ... more piquant and the Prince Regent especially liked the wild boar and most of all, the head we served it glazed in the manner of Bernard Dupois I was also at Frstenried, with Otto, for a short time Otto, he liked strawberries wood strawberries of course, we were constantly cornered and questioned by journalists and editors, "How was it really?" "You were there" The "Gartenlaube" brought a big feature with sequels only this year the author was - nothing but gossip but it was the sensation of all Europe one day, Baron von Mahlsen, he was Courtmarshall to Otto he came to me and asked; "boy, don't you want to get away a bit?" to Berlin? I said: "Yes" then he gave me a very good recommendation to Berlin and I went to Berlin As a Bavarian I had some difficulties there in the beginning but I managed to assert myself very quickly I rose to the position of chef at the Imperial court in Berlin, things were on a much bigger scale of course three kitchens, 60 personal chefs, in Munich we were 6 big diplomatic and military dinners the Black Eagle ball, 1500 place settings the latest technical equipment steam pots in short: everything a modern court kitchen could need of course, they called the sauce "gravy" and mayonnaise was "oily dip" the compote they called "steam fruit" - oh well! up there I thought a lot about my Bavarian homeland where some of my former colleagues who shared our unhappy King's final years became men of importance and also of wealth. The Equerry Hornig, for instance, bought himself in Kempen a big hotel, the Bahnhofshotel and Welter court lackey settled down in Stuttgart as a considerably rich man the Prince Regent himself acted as pall bearer at Court-Fourier Hesselschwerdt's funeral and I too felt the pull back to the Bavarian court with most gracious support I bought my first delicatessen shop I founded a bourgeois existence Wine Store and Delicatessen Theodor Hierneis, Court Cook rtrd. of course, because of my special connections I became purveyor to the court very fast I catered for the Bavarian nobility and the upper bourgeois society starting with one store, later I had four that's the way it goes, one thing leads to another one had acquired a certain position the honours weren't late in coming in either and when Munich celebrated my 60th birthday the Bavarian Grocery and Delicatessen Gazette wrote, for instance on 4th October 1928, on page 1 the esteemed president of our association, Herr Theodor Hierneis has today crossed the threshold of the 60s in his simple and modest way we too want to commemorate this day. When the Bavarian Grocery Retail Trade heard the calling to create a powerful influential professional association it was he who actively, with words deeds, served for the cause for the benefit of the Bavarian medium sized businesses. The position Herr Hirneis holds today in public and commercial life he owes it to his own force and ability and to his wife, who stood by his side for 30 years as faithful Eckkehardt also the Imperial Grocery and Retail Association joins these honest blessings and good wishes may the Lord, as noblest reward for his industrious life, reveal to him the truth of the saying: "When you look back at the end "may your eye see only blessings and happiness." Theodor Hierneis died in 1953 in his 84th year Th. Hierneis or: how to become a Royal cook, rtrd. A film by Hans-Jrgen Syberberg Freely retold after the memoirs of a kitchen apprentice at the court of Ludwig II. script: Hans-Jrgen Syberberg, assisted by Walter Sedlmayr Theodor Hierneis: Walter Sedlmayr |
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