Therese Dahn

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Therese Dahn, b. Freiin Droste zu Hülshoff (born May 28, 1845 in Münster , † January 21, 1929 in Breslau ) was a German writer and honorary senator of the University of Breslau .

Life

Veitshöchheim palace garden, place of activity of the Droste family in Hülshoff

Therese Freiin Droste zu Hülshoff was the sixth child of the ophthalmologist Joseph Maria Freiherr Droste zu Hülshoff (1789–1850), until 1843 landowner of Haus Alst and Grollenburg, and Maria Anna Julia (Julie) Kock (1810–1881) and was born in the 21st century Generation of their family. She was a sister of the Franciscan Constantin Maria von Droste zu Hülshoff , who had emigrated to the USA , a granddaughter of the composer Maximilian-Friedrich von Droste zu Hülshoff and a second niece of the poet Annette von Droste-Hülshoff . She was also a niece of the first degree of the university professor and rector of the University of Bonn Clemens-August von Droste zu Hülshoff , her father's younger brother. After the death of her father, she grew up with her mother and siblings in Veitshöchheim , where one of her brothers, Werner, was the manager of the court garden at Veitshöchheim Castle . (The family grave is still in the local cemetery.) She received her schooling at the Dominican boarding school in Nancy . Even in her youth she played the harp and wrote poetry.

Felix Dahn, professor, writer and Therese's husband

She studied at the University of Würzburg . Her professors included the already then famous legal historian and writer Felix Dahn , from whom she took lessons to refine her poetry from 1867 onwards - through the mediation of theology professor Hettinger and the archivist and poet Alexander Kaufmann from Wertheim. After an initial dislike on both sides, a stormy love developed between the then 22-year-old Catholic baroness and the eleven years older professor, who came from a Protestant family of actors and was married to the painter Sophie Fries (1835–1898). Felix Dahn processed this love story as a writer in his work Are Gods? (1874). Against the strong resistance of the Droste zu Hülshoff family, they both married in the castle church of Königsberg in 1873 after the Franco-German War , in which Dahn had participated as Johanniter . He had received a call there in 1872. The couple had no children, but had a marriage about which Felix Dahn wrote in 1894: “And I was also inexpressibly lucky to have found my Therese and finally fought for it. I don't think there can be a happier marriage than ours has been for twenty years ”. Therese led, especially in Wroclaw, a kind of literary salon , where many scholars and artistically interested her time wrong. After the death of her brother Werner, she kept the estate of her grandfather, the composer Maximilian-Friedrich, and had it brought to Hülshoff Castle . Honored as Senator hc of the University of Breslau, Therese Dahn died there. According to Felix Dahn, her character traits are indicated in the character of Hukberta in his novel The Bad Nonnen von Poitiers .

Act

Illustration by Therese and Felix Dahn in an edition of the Gazebo (1894)

Therese Dahn inspired her husband to a rich literary production and supported his publications. This is how she saved his hit novel A Battle for Rome when Dahn tried to throw it into the fire. At the same time, she supported his research. Felix Dahn praised her talent for languages. In order to be able to read the sources in the original, she learned z. B. the Nordic and Old Norse languages , but also Old French and the Provencal language . She wrote numerous poems and scholarly contributions, some of which appeared in joint publications. According to Felix Dahn, she was the sole author of the heroic sagas . The poems she wrote are marked by name in the poem edition. After the death of her husband, she published the work Charlemagne and his paladins alone .

Works

  • Poems in: Felix Dahn's complete works of poetic content . 21 volumes. 1899 and new version 4 volumes, 1903
  • Valhalla, 1880 (with Felix Dahn)
  • Charlemagne and his paladins, 1887

literature

  • Felix Dahn: memories. 5 volumes, 1890–95.
  • Wilderich from Droste to Hülshoff: 900 years of Droste to Hülshoff . Verlag LPV Hortense von Gelmini, Horben 2018, ISBN 978-3-936509-16-8
  • Wilderich from Droste to Hülshoff : Annette v. Droste-Hülshoff in the tension between her family. Starke, Limburg 1998.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Felix Dahn in "Die Gartenlaube" 1894
personal data
SURNAME Dahn, Therese
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Droste-Hülshoff, Therese
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German writer
DATE OF BIRTH May 28, 1845
PLACE OF BIRTH Muenster
DATE OF DEATH January 21, 1929
Place of death Wroclaw