Süderstrasse 12
In 1864 the family returned to Husum, Storm had been appointed bailiff, thus head of the judicial and police authorities for the district of Husum. The family moved into Süderstrasse 12, which was owned by the city of Husum. Storm had to find room for the bailiffs office himself. The house offered too little space for this, so he set up the bailiffs office outhouse in the garden.
Constanze Storm died on May 20, 1865 in Süderstrasse 12 after giving birth to her daughter Gertrud. Feeling the effect of Constance’s death, Storm wrote the poem cycle Tiefe Schatten in this house in the following days.
In the poem it says:
The Vulture Pain hath flown away,
The site where he was hid lies bare,
Yet in the dephts where once he moved
Of gnawing pain I’m still aware.
It is the longing, the desire
To be with thee as once of yore.
My wings are streched, I try to fly,
The courage dies, I cannot soar!
Translation by Daisy Broicher, 1912
Text by Holger Borzikowsky (1947–2015)
Translation by Bjarne Albertsen