EXCERPT

Chapter 1 – Basel 1896

Uta and Theo

Theo paced nervously back and forth through the hallway. As soon as he reached one wall, he turned and retraced his steps until he hit the opposite wall. His family members’ attempts to soothe him invariably failed.
“She’s strong, she will get through this,” his mother told him each time they heard Uta scream. “Every woman goes through the same thing. She is not the first.”
“Mother, Uta is not every woman to me. She is more important to me than the baby about to be born.”
“Yes, you’ve always been enchanted by her spell. Wake up, Theo. You need an heir.”
Finally, they heard the sounds of a wailing newborn. They rushed as one through the long corridor cast in the yellowish glow of wall lights towards the sound of the crying. A nurse stood in front of the delivery room blocking the doorway. She wore a white uniform, her head adorned by a coif. In her hands she cradled a tiny pinkish creature with a fine down of black hair, enfolded from head to toe in a bright white towel adorned by blue and pink trimmings.
“Congratulations, you have a baby girl. The newborn and mother are exhausted but healthy. You can’t enter the delivery room just yet, she is still weak and needs to rest.”

The midwife, a heavy woman in long baggy clothing, red-faced and dripping with sweat, dragged herself down the stairs from the delivery room. She didn’t stop, even to take her pay.
“Later, later,” she mumbled in terse exhaustion in response to Theo’s extended hand before disappearing behind the ornate front door of the home.
As soon as she left, Theo rushed towards Uta, whom he found in the bed, tired and blissful, cradling the diapered and swaddled baby on her belly. Uta reached out to Theo with her hand which he kissed tenderly, tears flooding his face.
Theo Stein, the owner and manager of a Basel banking empire, a tall, lean and swarthy man, was a typical financier. Every day he woke at six thirty to check the financial paper and survey the economic news while drinking coffee with a buttered roll – his habitual breakfast. He then went to work at the bank wearing polished black shoes, a dark gray suit and a shiny gray tie over a meticulously ironed and perfectly white shirt. The only indulgence he allowed himself was a large supply of hats for different occasions. For work he had a gray hat with a black band. For other occasions he opted for other hats. He especially liked the light-colored hat with the gray feather. Every weekend he stood in front of the mirror, adjusting the position of the hat and the angle of the feather.

Every morning as Theo left the house, he would turn around at the end of the walkway and look back up at the family home with pride. It was an elongated two-story building, dignified without being extravagant, painted a fashionable fuchsia. On either side of the walkway fragrant violet-colored roses perfumed the air amid a profusion of white, yellow and purple wildflowers. Theo pictured himself a stranger visiting the house. The greenery of the stems and leaves offset against the vibrant petals made him feel like he was immersed in an aromatic symphony of color. The house was situated in a pretty street adorned by trees whose intertwining branches protected on sunny days the pale, delicate skin of the ladies and young girls taking pleasure strolls through the stately neighborhood. Their home played regular host to a range of social events attended by the city’s most notable families. Theo knew he had more than good fortune to thank for his exquisitely manicured garden – its rare beauty depended on the talent and immaculate care of his beloved wife, Uta. Uta, who had just given birth to their first-born daughter.
The baby, born after many long years of waiting, was named Miriam after her great-grandmother who had died a year earlier. Those around her considered Miriam to be destined for a pampered life of education and wealth in the best and safest country in the world. Her father, Theo, had wed Uta ten years before. Both had grown up amid comfort and abundance, enjoying the best education the city could provide. Their marriage did not start out as a union of love. Family representatives made the introduction, seeking an aristocratic match between two highborn, successful Jewish dynasties. Both families were secular. Though they avoided assimilation through intermarriage, scrupulously committed as they were to securing appropriate matches within the Jewish community, both families were entirely integrated into the financial and cultural elites of Basel. Like their parents, Uta and Theo Stein were regular guests at all of the city’s major cultural events, concerts, theater and social functions, especially those connected to the world of banking and finance.
Theo loved Basel with all his soul. He loved the special atmosphere for which it was renowned. He especially loved how suited it was for his line of work. Basel, then as well as now, was a wealthy city, nestled on the banks of the mighty Rhine, which flows formidably in the winter months. Basel’s houses were ornate, shapely balconies surrounding the buildings, streets paved with cobblestones. Carriages and their impatient coachmen waited on every corner for their wealthy masters to rush them from one bank to the next or for their elegant ladies on their way to run errands and go shopping in the city center. The narrow streets that wound between the houses were packed with stores full of the latest fashions, jewelry and other valuables, Persian rugs, Czech crystal, fine china and beautifully carved musical instruments from Germany. Courteous and proper salesgirls in formal gray uniforms served their wealthy clients with pursed smiles.
Nevertheless, despite Theo’s love for Basel and for his wife, not everything was going well for the Stein family. In the first years after their marriage, Uta struggled to conceive and Theo’s family hinted to him that soon ten years of marriage will have passed, after which he could divorce Uta and remarry.
“Not to worry, maybe the next wife won’t be as rich, but at least they will have children,” he heard whispers in this vein from all directions at every family gathering. Uta pretended not to hear. She managed to restrain herself when the comments became even more blatant. She was frustrated, but not without hope that in time she would become a mother.
Uta was a bright and upright woman, a smile never far from her lips as she graciously and willingly helped her husband host his colleagues, including by making sure the conversation continued to flow even when taciturn Theo was frequently silent. She dressed with elegant and simple grace which gave their guests a sense of calm. Theo, who was wed to Uta through an arranged marriage, grew to love his wife and appreciate her sharp intellect, which stood out compared to the wives of his friends.
It did not happen overnight. After the brief and formal wedding ceremony at the central synagogue in Basel, the newlyweds and their guests proceeded on to a reception at the Stein family’s favorite dance-café that they had hired out for the evening for the wedding celebration. The occasion was happy but restrained. The bride, in spare make-up, wore a soft white gown of delicate cream-colored fabric, devoid of ornaments and a diaphanous veil attached to a stylish little hat.
“At least let us sew a few pearls onto the veil,” said the seamstress, perched in front of Uta’s mother who stood nodding in agreement.
“No, thank you,” Uta replied. “Don’t be mad, but I hate all those ornaments that all the brides wear to compete with each other over who has the most, or whose are the most valuable. At my own wedding I prefer to dress according to my own personal style.”
The groom stood there rigidly in a traditional gray suit and a dark gray hat instead of a traditional skullcap, which he refused to wear. He cast an aloof and impassive glance at his surroundings. He was marrying to fulfill a family duty and this was obvious to those around him by the way he was behaving. He had never courted any women and the whole routine of elaborate seduction rituals was completely foreign to him. He was polite to the guests, and by the same token polite to the bride and her family. Uta was discomfited by Theo’s behavior and tried to warm the atmosphere. She too was struggling to feel happy, or cheerful at the very least. The couple barely knew each other, and the lions’ share of joy at the wedding was spread among the bride’s and groom’s parents and relatives.
The next day, the newlyweds embarked on a honeymoon in the alps, at a resort town called Arosa in eastern Switzerland. To get to the hotel, their carriage had to navigate three hundred and sixty bends over three hours as it climbed the mountain. After an hour and a half of tortuous climbing, Uta said, “Come, Theo, let’s stop the carriage. I made pastries and I brought a flask of coffee.”
“Driver, please stop the carriage, the lady would like to rest a while.”
Uta offered Theo and the carriage driver soft, hand-made pastries.
“Here, I also have some cups, can I offer either of you some coffee?”
“Thank you very much, ma’am. That’s very kind of you,” said the surprised driver. He wasn’t used to such treatment. Theo kept himself to a small cake and denied Uta’s offer of coffee.
She expected a word of praise from Theo, but he was silent. Uta was disappointed. It will be hard to get at his heart, she thought as she climbed back into the carriage. The many bumps and turns of the road made Uta dizzy and slightly nauseated, though when they eventually reached the summit they were both stunned by the astonishing vista that opened up before their eyes. Uta turned to Theo with a radiant smile. Her parents had rented them a chalet whose every window turned toward the towering mountain peaks.
Theo entered the picturesque chalet and his face visibly softened.
“How did your parents know about this chalet?” he asked earnestly.
“They also spent their honeymoon here,” she said.
The wedding took place in July, but the alpine crags were still covered in snow which combined with the midsummer sunlight to dazzle the chalet and bathe it in a bright white glow. From there the future looked rosy, but Theo was very shy and Uta was embarrassed to be so intimately close to a man who was essentially still a stranger to her. They were exceedingly well-mannered to one another, but neither felt any sense of actual closeness. In the mornings they enjoyed breakfast together on one of the chalet’s terraces and chatted, primarily on financial matters that appeared in the morning paper.
“Theo, what’s new in the paper? My father always kept me updated, now it would be nice if you were to take that job on yourself. In the meantime, I’ll knead the dough for this afternoon’s pastries.”
Every day Theo was surprised anew by the adroitness and understanding with which Uta approached manners of politics and economics. After breakfast, Uta baked fresh pastries for a relaxing coffee break in the afternoon on the chalet’s rear terrace, which looked out onto the snowy peaks of the surrounding mountains. The rear terrace was furnished with a small round table and two straw chairs, perfect for coffee and cake. After coffee, Uta and Theo would seat themselves on the deck chairs on the front porch, which also faced the breathtaking mountain peaks, to enjoy quiet reading time or listening to music while the setting sun produced stunning reflections and shadows.

During the day, Uta went out for walks in the area while Theo read through various documents. He was most at ease engaged in his daily grind, and it took Theo only three days to start missing his work routine. In the evenings, as they sat facing the view, Uta would tell Theo about the forest trails through which she strolled, about the excitable squirrels that she met along the way and which she chased until they scurried off into the forest to hide, and about the bushes laden with forest berries and the mushrooms growing between the pine trees that spread their scent through the entire length of the forest trail.
One morning, after a rain shower, the sun emerged from behind the clouds to gently warm the world and the aroma of flowers filled the chalet. Theo said:
“Uta, leave the dough. Take me on a walk, show me the delightful green places that you’ve been telling me about every day, and afterward we can drink some coffee in a pretty spot. We didn’t come here just so you could do kitchen work all day.”
“Oh, Theo. I gave up hope that you’d ever make such a suggestion. But what about all your paperwork?”
“Never mind. It’s not going anywhere. I need to learn from you how to let go of the urgency with which I treat every document that comes in.”

After two hours of ambling through nature’s wonders, Theo led Uta to the top floor of a hotel which he had spied from the road as they wound their way up in the carriage to Arosa. As they walked into the old hotel, which appeared rather modest from the outside, the couple were amazed by the opulence of the lobby. The lounge chairs were covered in gilded fabrics run through with burgundy sprig motifs, the tables of a dark wood, and the walls covered in pictures of the familiar landscape lit by elegant lamps. As they moved further in they saw a window looking out on to a wide terrace with a view of Lake Arosa surrounded by mountains. Uta wrapped herself in her warm shawl and insisted on sitting outside for the view. Theo ordered them coffee with cream alongside a flaky seasonal plum tart. They were still enjoying the break when they were surprised by a voice from behind.
“Look who’s here. Our banker, the young Mr. Stein. Indeed, we had heard that you got married. Perhaps you’ll introduce us to your young bride?”
“I’m very pleased to meet you. Any friend of my husband’s is a friend of mine.”
“This is such a lovely place, isn’t it?” the woman said. “My name is Esther Levine and this is my husband, Joseph. There is a synagogue here too. We’ll surely bump into one another there on the Sabbath.”
Uta and Theo smiled shyly and Uta said:
“Would you be so kind as to tell me, Mrs. Levine, if there is any sort of musical entertainment here? I would dearly love to attend a concert, if this place sees any talented players.”
“I’m not sure, but here at the hotel there is a music room with a wonderful grand piano and occasionally in the evenings there is a pianist, and sometimes even a small ensemble. Come, I’ll show you. How are you enjoying the hotel?”
“We aren’t staying at the hotel. We are at a delightful holiday chalet where my parents also spent their honeymoon. The view is simply breathtaking.”
And Theo said, “Uta has a musical education.
She plays and sings.”
“Well then… I have an idea,” replied Mrs. Levine, who appeared more and more enthused with every moment that passed. She approached the concierge desk and asked for the week’s program for the music room.
“Tomorrow evening there is a trio performing here – a violin, cello and piano. Their repertoire includes Mozart and Schumann, and afterward they’re sure to play a few waltzes to get the audience dancing. You should come, we’ll wait for you.”
Joseph Levine, Esther’s husband, was a little surprised by the speed with which his wife had made the arrangements.
“You know, they aren’t observant. Are you sure they’re appropriate company for us?”
“Nu, Joseph. Stop being such a stickler. They are a young couple on their honeymoon, they seem to barely know each other. He’s our banker. Is he appropriate enough for that? And would it kill us to listen to some music with them?”
Theo was also a little reluctant. He wasn’t sure that he wanted to spend the evening with observant orthodox Jews, but he saw how much Uta wanted to listen to music and so he kept his misgivings to himself.
The evening was a great success. Guests filled the music room from wall to wall. Mrs. Levine saved a spot for the Stein couple, who came in from outside. The band’s sweet melodies captivated the audience. As the program concluded, Esther Levine surprised the guests.
“Dear friends, we meet here every year, yet here among us this evening is a young couple celebrating their honeymoon, Uta and Theo Stein. We have known the Stein family for many years. Young Mr. Stein’s mother told us of his young bride’s musical talents.
“Mrs. Stein, would you be so kind as to play something for our guests? I know you haven’t prepared anything.”
Uta was so surprised that she didn’t know what to say. The pale skin of her face blushed bright red. She was completely embarrassed.
“What do you say, Uta? I’m ashamed to say I haven’t had the pleasure of hearing you sing and I’ve barely heard you play,” Theo whispered in Uta’s ear.
Uta smiled shyly in embarrassment.
“Mrs. Levine, I’d no idea you were hatching such a plan,” she said while the rest of the guests laughed. “I don’t have my notes with me, so I will play whatever I know by heart.”
Uta played her favorite of Beethoven’s sonatas, The Tempest, and earned enthusiastic applause. She continued with Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 11, and, at the audience’s special request, she agreed to sing Der Lindenbaum by Schubert. The crowd called for more and more, but Uta’s knees were shaking from the excitement and exertion of performing in front of a crowd of strangers. She wasn’t used to it, and shocked herself by agreeing to cooperate with Esther’s plan at all.

Theo was brimming with excitement, but he was also rather embarrassed, and a tad ashamed. How is it that he had no idea of the extent of her musical talent? True, his mother had mentioned it, but he thought then that it was just another one of her attempts to persuade him to take Uta for a wife. What a waste, he thought. If only she were a man, she could be a professional musician. She could travel the world accumulating fans, instead of being married to a boring and mundane banker like him. All of a sudden he understood his good fortune. Such a creative wife, so well educated, perfectly at home discussing financial and political matters every morning as he kept her abreast of the news. When they left the music room that evening, it seemed to Theo that he had grown in stature thanks to his magnificent wife.

Two weeks later, the couple returned to Basel to begin their real lives together in the home their parents had rented them. Uta hired a young maidservant, Greta, to help her run the household. The girl and her family were very grateful. A servant’s wage amounted to little more than a place to sleep, food to eat and a small living stipend, but coming from a poor family with children and more mouths to feed, her employment was a significant relief.
Greta turned out to be a great asset for the Steins. She cooked and saw to all the household affairs, which left Uta at leisure to deal with the things she enjoyed. She had brought over to the new home a small fraction of her belongings from her parents’ house, including a silver statuette that she was fond of and a rug from her childhood bedroom, for which she found a home in one of the rooms of the house that she took over as a work room and occasional refuge from her new life. Her daily encounters with these items eased the tumult of the changing circumstances of her life.
Theo, who had had no serious relationships with women before he got married, also found himself needing to adapt to a new life accompanied by a spouse. It wasn’t easy for him but he made an effort to be courteous and kind at the very least. He learned from his friends to bring Uta flowers on Friday afternoons and chocolates filled with sherry-soaked cherries from her favorite delicatessen. Meanwhile, in her free time Uta began planning events befitting her status and her obligation to the status of her husband.
Uta, who had already proved in Arosa her broad musical knowledge, enjoyed listening to the classics. She especially loved chamber music, and she was also fond of Verdi’s operas and Handel’s oratorios, which were written about biblical characters. As soon as they returned from their honeymoon, Uta began taking note of cultural activities in the city and suggesting to Theo that they attend a concert, opera, or, more rarely, the theater. After each performance or concert, the couple spent the evening extensively discussing the show and its performers. Theo, whose background in these areas was rather limited, learned to recognize Uta’s taste and to adopt for himself some things from her rich internal life. Occasionally, they would stop on their way home from a performance at a konditorei to treat themselves to a full crystal glass of hot wine (punch) with diced seasonal fruit, which was both of their favorite.
“Theo, we so enjoy ourselves, what would you say to us setting a regular date for our nights on the town and then we can order tickets in advance?” Uta suggested cheerily with a sparkle in her eyes.
“Uta, my dear, you have a free hand to select the performances and concerts that you think are worth leaving the house for, just please let me know ahead of time so that I don’t schedule a work dinner over those dates,” Theo responded, the beginnings of an admiring smile lingering behind his lips.
“Theo, it occurs to me that on Wednesdays, a normally quiet day in the middle of the week, you’re less busy in the evenings. What do you think about setting aside the first Wednesday of every month to choose a show to go and see?” Uta asked Theo.
“You’re probably right. I hadn’t noticed. I would love to.” Uta’s facial expression radiated deep satisfaction.
On weekends, the couple took walks through the park or outside the city so that they could talk in peace beyond the hubbub of family gatherings at their parents’ tables. On Sundays, in the city’s central park, the same band played light classical music and marches. Uta enjoyed these casual performances and dragged Theo with her to watch every time the weather permitted.
“Uta, for years I tried to get Theo to attend these kinds of events,” Theo’s mother told her, “but I never succeeded, he was always too concerned with numbers.”
Gradually the ice melted and they began to feel more and more comfortable in each other’s company. Theo confessed that he had started to enjoy the musical and theatrical performances that Uta loved so dearly. At this time, he started to tell Uta more about his job and his experiences at work, about his partners, about the competition between him and his colleagues, and about his future aspirations. Uta, in her quiet and genteel way, became his confidante and most loyal advisor in every matter. Uta also learned how to stage successful meetings at her home for her husband’s business. She hosted frequently, and an invitation to their home became sought after by all in the know. More than once she had the pleasure of hearing from a guest, “Mrs. Stein, you are the best hostess in the entire city.”

After a year of married life, a contented love and mutual respect prevailed between the couple, and they decided to celebrate their first anniversary at the dance-café where they were married. The marking of this first milestone became a tradition that they were to follow every year. Uta insisted on variety when ordering the food, but no matter what, they always remained to dance after the meal. They especially liked the end of the evening, when the music was soft and the dancing intimate.
Everything was great, but Uta could not conceive. Two years after the wedding, Uta began seeing fertility specialists. At first by herself, and then later accompanied by Theo. When they found no salvation in Basel, the two traveled to every great city in Europe to consult with the most renowned doctors. Uta underwent all kinds of strange tests, but not one of the doctors could find a problem with Uta and they offered no solutions. The Stein family gave up hope and Uta’s infertility became accepted as fact. Theo refused to heed his indefatigable mother’s constant less-than-subtle hints that he could end the marriage due to Uta’s barrenness. On their ninth anniversary, they went, like every year, to celebrate their love at the dance-café. After eating and drinking a little, they danced the whole evening. Towards the end, when the band transitioned to quiet music for close dancing, Uta, with tears in her eyes, whispered in Theo’s ear:
“Theo, you know that this is the last time we’ll be doing this. Next year we will no longer be together. Your mother will never give up on having grandchildren to inherit your family’s empire.”
Theo responded, choking up, “You know that you are the love of my life and nothing can ever change that.”
Uta swelled with emotion and gratitude at Theo’s words and embraced him tightly but she still wasn’t sure if he could withstand the family pressure.

Adoption was a complicated matter among their social milieu, but Theo was prepared to consider it if it meant that he wouldn’t have to give up Uta. His tenacity in opposition to the family’s pressure for a divorce was unwavering. Since their ninth anniversary their love had become stormier, their nights filled with a sense of urgency. Uta would cling to Theo at every opportunity. Theo also changed. Every morning before leaving for work, and every evening when he returned home, he gave Uta a kiss, stroked her hair and looked into her troubled eyes. And then, all of a sudden, Uta became pregnant in their tenth year of married life. She couldn’t believe her good fortune, returning to the doctor again and again and even seeking out a second opinion believing that she was ill. The gentle Doctor Weiner, who had been the family doctor for years, said to her:
“Mrs. Stein. Please do not worry, you are indeed pregnant. The truth is there was no real reason for your infertility all these years.”
“Yes, yes. All the doctors we saw over the years told us the same thing but I stopped believing them,” Uta responded, her face still clearly showing her doubt and uncertainty that it was all really happening.
“Are you sure your stern and pushy mother-in-law had no impact on your emotional state which might have interfered with your fertility? The young Doctor Freud from Vienna has all kinds of odd theories on the subject, surely you’ve heard of him. But it no longer matters. Just don’t exert yourself too much, and you should probably reduce the amount of hosting you do to make sure this pregnancy ends in success.”
“Thank you, Doctor Weiner,” Uta said, tears welling in her eyes. “How can I ever thank you for everything you’ve done for me and all your support over the years?”
“I just want to see you with a baby, that will make me happy.”

Both families kept anxious watch over the precious pregnancy. The labor was difficult. After twelve agonizing hours, the child came into the world. The new father was overcome by gratitude for the miracle that had brought him a daughter after so many years. He took leave from his work at the bank and pampered Uta in every way that he could, bringing her delicacies and getting up in the middle of the night to care for the crying baby, patiently rocking her to let Uta rest.
When Miriam was one month old, Theo bought Uta a magnificent bracelet studded with precious gems, and he insisted that she wear it whenever they met his friends.