Franz Hausmann reminisces with justifiable contentment on the life he's carved out for himself in nineteenth-century Bavaria. By the time he is writing to his children, he has already served honorably in the infantry-surviving the disastrous 1812 march into Russia as part of Napoleon's Grande Armee-obtained a university degree in government, and earned universal respect in his current career as an increasingly important royal counselor.
"A Priceless Legacy" offers a collection of his poignant letters showing how Franz devoted all his spare energy to educating his eleven children-sending them to the best schools he can afford, penning words of advice to be kept as reference, and always encouraging them to become self-reliant, honorable, and devout members of society. Mostly leaving the girls to his wife's care, Franz focuses on the boys. They cause him many headaches and heartaches, but he calmly-and sternly-tries to steer them in the right direction.
Franz's great-granddaughter Cynthia Joy Hausmann has translated these letters and provided useful background comments. After Franz's death in 1856, much of Europe went through a period of political and economic upheaval, causing half of Franz's children to seek their fortune in the United States, where their descendants still exemplify Franz's wise legacy.
Portrait of Franz Hausmann as a civilian official, ca. 1830. He still proudly displays the red ribbon and white cross of the French Legion of Honor, which Napoleon awarded him in 1812