Caroline Perthes
Caroline Perthes , née Caroline Ilsabe Claudius (born February 7, 1774 in Wandsbek ; † August 28, 1821 in Hamburg ) was the daughter of the poet Matthias Claudius and the wife of the retail bookseller Friedrich Christoph Perthes . Her letters, written during the so-called French era , are a valuable source for historical research today.
Childhood and youth
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Caroline Claudius was born on February 7, 1774 as the first daughter of Anna Rebecca Claudius, née Behn (* October 26, 1754 † July 26, 1832) and Matthias Claudius (* August 15, 1740 † January 21, 1815) in the then Danish Place Wandsbek born. Her father entered the full first name Maria Caroline Elsabe in the family's house Bible . Caroline was baptized on February 9, 1774. Matthias Claudius had studied theology and cameral sciences and, in addition to German, spoke other languages such as Latin, Greek, Danish, English, and Spanish. Since he could not afford a tutor for his children, he taught them himself and took two other students into his household. The upbringing was Christian and Protestant. There was a lot of music played in the family circle. The living conditions were modest, but thanks to the many friendships the parents made with people of high education and nobility, the children grew up in stimulating conditions. Friends included Friederike Juliane von Reventlow , Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg , and Amalie von Gallitzin . Princess Gallitzin remained a maternal friend and religious role model for Caroline Perthes until her death.
Marriage and family
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Caroline Claudius met the general bookseller Friedrich Christoph Perthes (* April 21, 1772, † May 18, 1843) on November 27, 1796 at Wandsbek Castle , where she and her family were guests of Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi . Originally from Thuringia , Perthes had lived in Hamburg since 1793 . He initially worked as an assistant in the Benjamin Hoffmann bookstore , but had already opened his own bookstore in Hamburg in July 1796 . He had been friends with Matthias Claudius for a short time. The engagement of Caroline and Friedrich Perthes took place on July 15, 1797. The two married on August 2, 1797. By 1813 the family had grown by 10 children, a daughter and two sons died at an early age.
- Agnes (* May 28, 1798 † 1868, ⚭ May 12, 1818 Wilhelm Perthes )
- Matthias (born January 16, 1800 - † August 28, 1859), pastor in Moorburg
- Luise (born January 10, 1802)
- Mathilde (born February 25, 1804, ⚭ June 1, 1824 Friedrich Becker)
- Johannes (January 23, 1806 † December 18, 1809)
- Dorothea (September 15, 1807 † December 17, 1807)
- Clemens (March 2, 1809 - November 25, 1867), lawyer
- Eleonore (born April 4, 1810)
- Bernhard (born September 27, 1813 † January 19, 1814)
- Andreas (December 16, 1813 - January 1, 1890), publisher
First years in Hamburg
In addition to Caroline and Friedrich Perthes, Friedrich Perthes' mother and his half-sister Charlotte also lived in the Perthes household. In 1799 Johann Heinrich Besser became a partner in the bookstore, and through his marriage to Charlotte Perthes in 1803 he became a family member. From 1805 the business and residential building of the Perthes and Besser families was at Jungfernstieg 22. This house was destroyed in the Great Fire in 1842 . Friedrich Perthe's annual trips to the Leipzig Book Fair usually lasted six to seven weeks. The letters written by the married couple Caroline and Friedrich Perthes during this period have largely been preserved.
Philipp Otto Runge belonged to the circle of friends of Friedrich and Caroline Perthes . His painting Die kleine Perthes depicts the second daughter Luise. Caroline Perthes looked after Runge, who was suffering from tuberculosis, until his early death.
French times, escape
Hamburg was occupied by French troops on November 20, 1806, and on January 1, 1811, the city was incorporated into the French Empire.
As in many households, soldiers of the French troops were quartered in the house of Perthes. After the lost Russian campaign, the French occupying power left Hamburg for a short time (March 12th - May 30th 1813). Friedrich Perthes was a member of the vigilante group; the Hamburg vigilante group held secret military exercises in his house. Friedrich Perthe's name was on a list of suspicious citizens of Hamburg, and house searches could be expected at any time. In this threatening situation, he had his family brought to Caroline's parents in Wandsbek, Denmark. But even here he feared that family members could be used to blackmail his release. Therefore Caroline Perthes fled with her seven children, her sister Auguste and a wet nurse to Gut Nütschau , which was owned by the Moltke family, who were friends . It went on to Lütjenburg , then to Eckernförde . In the summer of 1813, the refugees stayed in the garden house of a dairy in Aschau near the Baltic Sea. Friedrich Perthes only gave his family brief support there. The Danish government could not give him any protection, so he fled to Mecklenburg. The eldest daughter Agnes Perthes reports in her memories about the difficult time she experienced as a 15-year-old. The Perthes family lived in very difficult conditions. Caroline Perthes was unwilling to accept money from friends, instead she tried to keep the family afloat by collecting outstanding bills from customers of the bookstore.
In September 1813, Caroline Perthes moved with her family to Kiel, where they lived in cramped conditions on Flämische Strasse. Caroline gave birth to her last child here in December. In January 1814, their second youngest son, Bernhard, died. Friedrich Perthes came to Kiel for a short time, but had to leave the family shortly afterwards to receive aid for the Hamburg displaced on behalf of the Swedish Crown Prince Bernadotte .
Exactly one year after they started to flee, the Perthes family gathered on the outskirts of Hamburg in the fishing village of Blankenese , where they waited together for the city to be liberated. Despite Napoleon's abdication in April 1814, Marshal Davout's troops did not withdraw from Hamburg until the end of May 1814. As the daughter Agnes Perthes reports in her memoirs, the family found their house in a desolate state. With a lot of effort they restored the living and business premises. Through a delaying tactic, Johann Heinrich Besser was able to save a large part of the book inventory confiscated by the French. This enabled the Perthes and Besser families to build the business base for the coming months.
Peace time
Caroline's Perthes parents, Matthias and Rebekka Claudius, also had to flee during the French occupation of Hamburg. After months of hardship, they returned to Wandsbek in May 1814. The time of the flight had seriously damaged Matthias Claudius' health. Caroline Perthes took her father in her house on Jungfernstieg and looked after him until his death on January 21, 1815.
Agnes Perthes married her cousin Wilhelm Perthes, who had completed his training in the bookstore Perthes & Besser . The two went to Gotha in 1818 . The daughter Luise married shortly afterwards and also lived with her husband in Gotha.
Caroline Perthes has suffered from a heart problem since her hard flight, from which she never recovered. She died on August 28, 1821 in Hamburg. She was buried in the cemetery at Dammtor . The grave no longer exists, today the collective grave of Outstanding Women in the area of the Althamburg Memorial Cemetery at the Ohlsdorf Cemetery commemorates Caroline Perthes (together with Johanna Margaretha Sieveking and Emilie Wüstenfeld ).
Friedrich Perthes moved with his youngest children to his daughters in Gotha in 1822. There he met the 30-year-old widow Charlotte Hornborstel, whom he married in 1825. They had four other children together.
The eldest daughter Agnes Perthes and her husband Wilhelm Perthes wrote down their memories of the so-called French period for their family members.
literature
- Inge Grolle : Friedrich Christoph Perthes . Ellert & Richter, Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-8319-0183-X .
- Agnes Perthes and Wilhelm Perthes: From the French period in Hamburg . Experiences of Agnes Perthes and Wilhelm Perthes. Janssen, Hamburg 1917, OCLC 252404448 .
- Karoline Perthes: Karoline Perthes in correspondence with her family and friends . Experiences of Agnes Perthes and Wilhelm Perthes. Hartung, Hamburg 1926, OCLC 9450663 .
- Karoline Perthes in correspondence with her family and friends (online edition) .
- Martin Gottlieb Wilhelm Brandt: Caroline Perthes, b. Claudius . Friedrich Andreas Perthes, Gotha 1890.
- Caroline Perthes, b. Claudius (online edition) . OCLC 845766982 .
Web links
- Biography and portrait of Caroline Perthes at the women's garden
Individual evidence
- ↑ "Christmas Eve with Matthias Claudius, 1796" , painting by Theobald von Oer , as well as "Christmas Eve at Wandsbeker Castle, 1796" by Hugo Bürkner (at "Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz")
- ↑ Perthes, Karoline: Karoline Perthes in correspondence with her family and friends , Hamburg, Hartung, 1926
- ^ A b Agnes Perthes and Wilhelm Perthes: From the French period in Hamburg. Experiences of Agnes Perthes and Wilhelm Perthes. Hamburg 1917
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Perthes, Caroline |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Perthes, Karoline; Perthes, Maria Carolina Elizabeth; Claudius, Caroline Ilsabe; Claudius, Maria Carolina Elizabeth |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Daughter of the poet Matthias Claudius and the wife of the general book dealer Friedrich Christoph Perthes |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 7, 1774 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wandsbek |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 28, 1821 |
| Place of death | Hamburg |