Wesendonck, who had settled in Zurich a short time before, sought
my acquaintance, and took up their abode in the same quarters in
the Hintern Escherhauser where I had lived when I first came to
Zurich. They had taken the flat there on the recommendation of
the famous Marschall von Bieberstein, who moved in after me in
consequence of the revolution in Dresden. I remember, on the
evening of a party there, that I displayed uncontrolled
excitement in a discussion with Professor Osenbruck. I tormented
him with my persistent paradoxes all through supper to such an
extent that he positively loathed me, and ever afterwards
carefully avoided coming into contact with me.

The acquaintance with the Wesendoncks was the means of giving me
the entree to a delightful home, which in point of comfort was a
great contrast to the usual run of houses in Zurich. Herr Otto
Wesendonck, who was a few years younger than I was, had amassed a
considerable fortune through a partnership in a silk business in
New York, and seemed to make all his plans subservient to the
wishes of the young wife whom he had married a few years before.
They both came from the Lower Rhine country, and, like all the
inhabitants of those parts, were fair haired. As he was obliged
to take up his abode in some part of Europe which was convenient
for the furtherance of his business in New York, he chose Zurich,
presumably because of its German character, in preference to
Lyons. During the previous winter they had both attended the
performance of a symphony of Beethoven under my conductorship,
and knowing what a sensation this performance had aroused in
Zurich, they thought it would be desirable to include me in their
circle of friends.