Per l’ultima volta, "Friedensfeier"

Abstract

The essay distinguishes between the two different German words for “festival” (Fest/Feier) through an interpretation of the first stanza of Hölderlin’s Friedensfeier, which was found in the second half of the twentieth century. Hölderlin celebrates a political meeting (the Diet of Regensburg) by describing in detail the meeting room, which upon the occasion is also the festival room, in view of the proclamation of the European peace.