Barbara oder Die Frömmigkeit

Barbara oder Die Frömmigkeit, novel by F. Werfel, published in 1929. The central character, Ferdinand R., a ship's surgeon, conjures up the story by recalling his past life. It ranges back to his childhood, to his parents, who have always remained remote from him, to military and monastic schooling, the war, pre-revolutionary days in Vienna, his medical studies, and the inflation of the early 1920s. Through all this the one element of security given him is the selfless devotion of the old family servant Barbara, who, on his last visit to her, has given him her life's savings in gold. As the liner steams through the night, he commits the gold to the sea in order to save this precious memorial of Barbara from the contamination of the world.