William Tell, 1804 (Wilhelm Tell)
by Friedrich Schiller
Schiller’s last and most popular drama “Wilhelm Tell” premiered on March 17, 1804, at the Weimar Court Theatre. The play was published by Cotta in October the same year, dedicated as a “New Year’s Gift to the World”. It was actually Goethe who mentioned the “fairy tale with hat and apple” to Schiller. The drama is based on chronicles and legends of the Swiss liberation movement from Austrian oppression. Medieval archer Wilhelm Tell, the “nonpolital man of action” is forced to shoot an apple of his son’s head for not paying deference to bailiff Gessler. But instead regaining his freedom he is imprisoned again…As in previous dramas Schiller chose a historical subject involving a range of issues close to his concerns about freedom and humanity. The play “Wilhelm Tell” is part of Germany’s theatre repertoire and an immensely popular choice for Open Air Theatre.
The “Ruetli Oath”
-We will become a single land of brothers,
nor shall we part in danger and distress.
-We shall be free, just as our fathers were,
and sooner die, than live in slavery.
-We shall rely upon the highest God
and we shall never fear the might of men.
Wilhelm Tell
Wilhelm Tell
A high rocky shone of the Lake of Lucerne opposite Schwytz. The lake makes a bend into the land; a hut stands at a short distance from the shore; the fisher boy is rowing about in his boat. Beyond the lake are seen the green meadows, the hamlets and farms of Schwytz, lying in the clear sunshine.
