58 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS 



were two sons ; the elder, Carl Wilhelm, was 

 born at Potsdam, June 22nd, 1767; the younger, 

 Friedrich Heinrich Alexander, lie who engages 

 our special attention, was, as already stated, 

 born in the year 1769, September 14th, at 

 Berlin. 



Both brothers spent a great part of their 

 youth at this castle of Tegel, and their earliest 

 impressions are intimately connected with this 

 place. A mysterious, though by no means 

 uncommon rumour, was connected with this 

 residence. It is said that in the year 1797 a 

 ghost haunted this castle. Professor JSTicolai, 

 of Berlin, delivered a lecture on the subject, 

 before the members of the Academy ; and 

 Go the, offended by his (Mcolai's) attack on 

 " Werther," addresses the ghosts of Walpurgis 

 in these words : 



" Ihr seid nocli immer da 1 Nein, das 1st unerhort ! 

 Verschwindet doch ! Wir haben ja aufgeklart ! 

 Das Teufelspack, es fragt nacli keiner Regel, 

 Wir sind so klug und dennoch spukt's in Tegel."* 



During the lifetime of Major von Humboldt, 

 this old castle was a place of great hospitality, 

 and the rendezvous, not only of princes and 

 high officers of state, but also of men renowned 



* Gothe's Faust. 



