Im Jahre 1906 zog der Maler Max Rossmann (1861-1926) nach Amorbach, und mietete ein Atelier im Fürstlich Leinischen Theater. Ein Anbau mit Balkon diente dort als Wohnung.

Hier lebte er bis zu seinem Tod mit seiner Frau, der Malerin Auguste Caroline (1873-1951), genannt Lily. An diese Holzterrasse, zum Schlossplatz hin, wo innen und außen Lebenslust und reges Treiben herrschte, erinnert der Essay.
Wagnersänger aus Bayreuth waren hier Gäste. Adorno verband Amorbach mit Rossmanns Lieblingsstelle aus den Meistersinger Takten: „… der Vogel der heut sang, dem war der Schnabel hold gewachsen“.

„Tatsächlich kam ich mit der Sphäre Richard Wagners in Amorbach in Berührung. Dort hatte, in einem Anbau an den Konvent, der Maler Max Rossmann sein Atelier; oft waren wir auf der Terrasse nachmittags bei ihm zum Kaffee. Rossmann hatte Dekorationen für Bayreuth gefertigt.“ „Auf jene Tage geht zurück, daß ich die Meistersinger Takte »Dem Vogel, der da sang, dem war der Schnabel hold gewachsen«, Rossmanns Lieblingsstelle, als Amorbach empfinde.“

Theodor W. Adorno, Ohne Leitbild – Parva Aesthetica – AMORBACH, Seite 20

^{„Dem Vogel, der heut sang“, gesungen von Raimund Eisert, aus: Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg von Richard Wagner}

^{Abbildungen: abbarchiv, Fürstenhaus zu Leinigen, Tretter-Archiv
Zitat aus: Theodor W. Adorno, Ohne Leitbild – Parva Aesthetica – AMORBACH, Seite 20
Portrait Theodor W. Adorno, © Elisabeth Becker, 1961 
Gesang: Raimund Eisert
Übersetzungen: Annette Allwardt
Sprecher: Annette Allwardt, Frank Rädler
Video: Anna Tretter, Carolyn Krüger}

Rossmanns Terrace

In 1906 the painter Max Rossmann (1861-1926) moved to Amorbach and rented a studio in the Fürstlich Leinisches Theater. An annex with a balcony served as his apartment there, where he lived with his wife, the painter Auguste Caroline (1873-1951), called Lilly, until his death. The essay is reminiscent of this wooden terrace, facing the Schlossplatz, where inside and outside there was a lust for life and bustle. Wagner singers from Bayreuth were guests here. Adorno connected Amorbach with Rossmann’s favourite passage from the Meistersinger bars: „The bird which was singing there, his beak to him was gently grown“.

„As a matter of fact, it was in Amorbach where I came in touch with the aura of Richard Wagner. There, in an annex of the Coventry building, the painter Max Rossmann had his studio. Quite often in the afternoon, we would have coffee together on his terrace. Rossmann had made the decorations for the set in Bayreuth.“ “It dates back to those days, that feel for Amorbach what the verse of the Meistersänger meant, Rossmann’s favorite song: »The bird which was singing there, his beak to him was gently grown«“„Except for the entrance portals it lacks any form of energetic articulation. Nonetheless, at it I experienced for the first time what architecture was. Until this day I do not know whether this impression is simply based on the fact that in front of the Konventbau the essence of style dawned on me, or whether in its measurements, shunning any éclat, something expresses itself the buildings afterwards lost.“

Theodor W. Adorno, Ohne Leitbild – Parva Aesthetica – AMORBACH, page 20

The Rossmanns

Adorno’s family often stopped there for afternoon coffee. They were friends of the artist and his wife Lilly (1873-1951), who also painted, and they also owned some of his works. Not only he alone and „the Rossman woman“, as she was called by the locals, discovered Amorbach „as a fitting subject“ for their art. Rossmann had „brought many painters, among them especially Wilhelm Trübner, to this place,“ wrote Joseph Heimberger in his brochure Amorbacher Personalities (1929). „He was also entrusted with designing costumes and decorations for the Bayreuth opera performances“.
This is why even Cosima Wagner (1837-1930), the composer’s widow, and her son Siegfried (1869-1930) visited Rossmann in Amorbach.
He had converted the unused stage of the former Royal Court Theater into his studio.

Translation: Annette Allwardt