A Priceless Legacy
Franz Hausmann’s Letters to His Children, 1841–1856
by
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On May 16, 1844, Franz Hausmann writes to Otto, his oldest son, who at age 14 is a military school cadet in Munich. (Otto eventually becomes a colonel in the Bavarian Army. Many of Franz’s other children will emigrate to the United States.) Now is the time for you to learn what you will need to know in your future life, since whatever you do not acquire at this time, you will not learn later. Remember the rule: “Whatever little Johnny does not learn, John will nevermore learn for the rest of his life.” All great men—and they should be your model—strove to take advantage of their young years, in order to prepare themselves for life. Only so could they become great and famous, making them stand out above the thousands, even millions, of ordinary souls. Napoleon, the greatest man of our times, was, like you, educated at a military school (Brienne). The same was true of Schiller, the greatest poet, who was educated at the Karl’s School for officers’ sons in Ludwigsburg, and later in Stuttgart. If you will find pleasure in learning to play a musical instrument, namely the flute, and particularly if you will thereby be spurred on to working harder in your other courses, then I would not begrudge the sacrifice of getting you a flute. You know that I care above all about education, and that we—your mother and I—are happy to do without, just to raise you children to become useful citizens who later, through your talents and abilities, will be capable of deciding your own fate as you see fit. We will give you an opportunity for that as long as God grants me life. It will be up to you, however, to take advantage of this opportunity with all you energy. Your grades that were sent to me, especially those in history and geography, do not entirely satisfy me. You should try very hard to raise yourself above the average, for especially those two subjects are very important in the military. The other grades I can live with. As I have said, just constantly strive to improve yourself.
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About the Book
Franz Hausmann reminisces with justifiable contentment on the life he’s carved out for himself in nineteenth-century Bavaria. By the time he is writing to his children, he has already served honorably in the infantry—surviving the disastrous 1812 march into Russia as part of Napoleon’s Grande Armée—obtained a university degree in government, and earned universal respect in his current career as an increasingly important royal counselor.
A Priceless Legacy offers a collection of his poignant letters showing how Franz devoted all his spare energy to educating his eleven children—sending them to the best schools he can afford, penning words of advice to be kept as reference, and always encouraging them to become self-reliant, honorable, and devout members of society. Mostly leaving the girls to his wife’s care, Franz focuses on the boys. They cause him many headaches and heartaches, but he calmly—and sternly—tries to steer them in the right direction.
Franz’s great-granddaughter Cynthia Joy Hausmann has translated these letters and provided useful background comments. After Franz’s death in 1856, much of Europe went through a period of political and economic upheaval, causing half of Franz’s children to seek their fortune in the United States, where their descendants still exemplify Franz’s wise legacy.
Portrait of Franz Hausmann as a civilian official, ca. 1830. He still proudly displays the red ribbon and white cross of the French Legion of Honor, which Napoleon awarded him in 1812
About the Author
Cynthia Joy Hausmann translated and annotated these letters from her great-grandfather Franz Hausmann, a senior Bavarian official in the mid-nineteenth century. She has published several other books, including A Soldier for Napoleon and Priest and Patriot.