Finally, the colonel handed me a letter sealed in black, though before I opened it, I wanted him to prepare me so that I might not be shocked so much [ . . . ]: I implored [the colonel] to tell me, whether possibly one of my parents had died; that I just could not comprehend since I had only departed from my hometown six days ago and left everyone in good health, and now nevertheless this letter with the black seal, which amazed me. [ . . . ] “What if, fellow countryman, it concerned an even closer companion than your parents, and if it even were the wife, whom God had suddenly taken from the world. How would one show oneself in that case, probably as a Christian?”
[ . . . ]
I was now in an awkward situation that could not have been worse for me. My late wife left me with two children, the youngest of whom was five years old. Therefore, I sat down right away and wrote to my parents that they should make sure that my children would be taken care of, and secondly that I would keep my current room and board, and thirdly that they should please tell me in detail in what way and for what reason my wife departed to suddenly from the world. I immediately received their return answer, stating that my parents had accommodated my daughter [14 years old] with them, while putting the boy in someone’s care, for which I would have to pay 48 kreuzers a week.
[ . . . ]
[In May 1781, Händler returns to Nuremberg.]
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