Under the Linden Tree

[AlexBell]

In the ebook by Elizabeth von Arnim I'm working on there is the passage:

Charlotte, not content with lecturing, wrote pamphlets, -- lofty documents of a deadly earnestness, in German and English, and they might be seen any day in the bookshop windows Unter den Linden. Charlotte's family nearly fainted when it had to walk Unter den Linden.

Even I know the literal meaning, but is there a colloquial meaning for Unter den Linden? Or was there in 1904? Downtown? Amongst the lower classes?

[Billi]

Unter den Linden = Under the linden trees

It's the name of the most famous and most beautiful boulevard in Berlin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unter_den_Linden

[AlexBell]

Originally Posted by Billi

Unter den Linden = Under the linden trees

It's the name of the most famous and most beautiful boulevard in Berlin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unter_den_Linden

Yes, I know that. But what does Elizabeth von Arnim mean when she puts it in the text where she does? There is no point that I can see to put that phrase there twice where she does - it's a direct quote from the book.

[beachwanderer]

No double or colloquial meaning there, just the location. - The thought behind that appears to be that the family did not identify with Charlottes "pamphlets" and as strolling down Unter den Linden was also showing ones social status (see and be seen) finding those works being advertised in public fell back on the family of the author as a group. They feared the gossip that was to follow ...

[AlexBell]

Originally Posted by beachwanderer

No double or colloquial meaning there, just the location. - The thought behind that appears to be that the family did not identify with Charlottes "pamphlets" and as strolling down Unter den Linden was also showing ones social status (see and be seen) finding those works being advertised in public fell back on the family of the author as a group. They feared the gossip that was to follow ...

Thanks for your response. I'll have to think about it. I can't think of anything like that in any English book I've read - though of course Elizabeth was a law unto herself.