(To his parents 5 April 1943)
I quickly and consciously determined to make an inward peace with my imprisonment. Now four weeks of habituation gradually adds a sure, unconscious, natural adaptation. That is a relief, but it brings its own problem; because one does not wish to get used to this condition, and one should not. I think you will agree.
You wish to know more about my life here: It sure doesn’t take much imagination to picture a cell—the less you use, the more accurate the picture; but for Easter the Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung published a reproduction of Dürer’s Apocalypse, which I have hung up. Also, some of Maria’s primroses are still here! Of the fourteen hours of our day I spend about three going for a stroll in my cell—many kilometers—not counting the half-hour in the yard.
I read, learn, work.
I have been reading Jeremias Gotthelf and again finding a special joy in his clear, wholesome, quiet art.
I am well, I am healthy.
(excerpt from a letter to his parents 13 Oct 1943)
I have been writing a lot lately, and there are not enough hours in the day for all that I have planned; so that often I even have the ridiculous feeling that I don’t have enough time for this or for less important things. In the morning after breakfast; (i.e., from approximately 7 O’clock on) I study theology; then I write until noon. In the afternoon I read; then comes a chapter from Delbrück’s World History, then some English grammar (from which I can still learn all kinds of things), and finally, depending on how I feel, I write or read some more. Then in the evening I am tired enough that I am glad to lie down, even if not to sleep . . .
NOTES:
Jeremias Gotthelf A Swiss protestant pastor and writer whose “38 volumes of prose are characterized by Christian fervor, humor, sincerity, and vigor. Many were written in the Swiss-German idiom.”
M. Maria von Wedemeyer, Bonhoeffer’s fiancée.
On Dürer’ s Apocalypse, see here or here.
Hans Delbrück (1848-1929) historian at Berlin. Famous for his seven-volume military history. His five-volume World History was his final work, finished a year before his death. He was a neighbor of Harnack and the Bonhoeffers: “Sunday evenings with the Bonhoeffers was a tradition.” (Janet Manning, “Personal History“) Modern edition of Delbrück’s Military History (Amazon).
