Bayreuth Festival King Ludwig (who attended in secret, probably to avoid the Kaiser), and other members of the nobility, as well as the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche who committed much effort to helping his then good friend Wagner establish the festival, and such accomplished composers as Anton Bruckner, Edvard Grieg, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Franz Liszt, and the young Arthur Foote. Artistically, the festival was a success. ("Something has taken place at Bayreuth which our grandchildren and their children will still remember", wrote Tchaikovsky, attending the Festival as a Russian correspondent.) Financially, however, the festival was a disaster and did not begin to make money
Bayreuth Altstadt–Kulmbach railway like a stroppy little billy goat" ("hie und da etwas eigenwillig bockte und stieß wie ein gereiztes Böcklein"). Bayreuth Altstadt–Kulmbach railway The Bayreuth Altstadt–Kulmbach railway was a branch line in the Bavarian province of Upper Franconia in southern Germany. It was also known colloquially as the "Thurnauer Bockela" (which roughly translates as "Little Thurnau Goat"). On 17 August 1872 the market town of Thurnau applied for the envisaged railway line from Forchheim through Hollfeld to Bayreuth not to be routed to Bayreuth but via Thurnau to Kulmbach, and to extend it via Nordhalben to Eichicht (de) and thus link it