Caroline von Uechtritz
Friederike Caroline von Uechtritz (* May 12, 1749 ; † October 4, 1809 in Regensburg ) was a daughter of the Gotha Real Secret Council Carl Emil von Uechtritz (1694–1775) and his second wife Dorothea Christiane von Oppel († 1775) and granddaughter of the Gotha Chamber President Siegmund Ehrenfried von Oppel (1678–1757). As the wife of the Weimar prince educator, Count Johann Eustachius von Schlitz called von Görtz , she lived in Weimar between 1768 and 1778 and witnessed the beginnings of Weimar Classicism .
Life
Caroline von Uechtritz enjoyed the typical education of a noble daughter in her parents' home. She spoke and wrote French fluently, understood English, was very familiar with the culture at the Gothaer Hof, and loved the theater. Presumably she was also taught by the court master of her two brothers, Peter Neyron, who later became a professor at the Braunschweig Collegium Carolinum . She was to receive the final social polish from her aunt Martha Eleonore von Witzleben, sister of the mother and wife of the Weimar court master of Duchess Anna Amalia of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach , Friedrich Hartmann von Witzleben , in the winter of 1767/68.
It was there that Caroline, described by her contemporaries as happy to dance, lovable and well-read, met her future husband, the prince educator Johann Eustach von Görtz . The wedding was organized by Duchess Anna Amalia and celebrated on October 11, 1768 in Weimar Castle. Afterwards Caroline lived in an apartment on the Esplanade (today Schillerstrasse), while her husband continued to live with the two Princes Karl August and Konstantin in the castle.
In the following ten years two daughters were born, Caroline in 1772 in Gotha and Louise in 1774 in Weimar. Caroline lived in Weimar until 1778, did all of her husband's business during his frequent travels, noted the events at court and finally organized the family's move to Berlin in the summer of 1778 , where they gave birth to their third daughter, Marianne, in September 1778 brought.
From 1781 to 1782 Caroline was the companion and trainer of a Brunswick princess. From 1788 the couple lived in Regensburg , where Johann Eustach had been appointed as Kurbrandenburg Comitial Envoy to the Perpetual Reichstag . There she gradually built up a political salon, where she specifically passed messages on to the ambassadors accredited there on behalf of her husband or her son-in-law, Aloys von Rechberg . Caroline died in Regensburg in 1809.
Contemporary witness of the Sturm und Drangs in Weimar
During their marriage, Johann Eustachius and Caroline were often separated. Therefore, they used letters to assure each other of their love for one another and to keep up to date with the latest developments in family life or at the Weimar court. In this way, contemporary witness reports were created in a unique density about the beginning of the Weimar Classic. This is how Countess Görtz described the individual constellations at court and the appearance of Duke Karl August, Goethe and Lenz, which contemporaries considered scandalous.
Recently, the interest of research in letters through German translations has increased significantly. A generally trustworthy, critical edition of the letters in German or in the French original is still pending.
literature
- Gabriele von Trauchburg: Who was Countess Görtz? First biographical fragments on her 260th birthday , Weimar 2009; ISBN 978-3-936177-13-8
- Gabriele von Trauchburg: Two misunderstood Weimar aestheticians. Observations and comments by Countess Caroline and Count Johann Eustachius von Görtz on writers and philosophers between 1768 and 1778, in: Ilse Nagelschmidt / Stefan Weiß / Johanan Trilse-Finkelstein (eds.), Goethe's first Weimar decade. Anna Amalia and Goethe - conference proceedings with further research contributions , Weimar 2010, pp. 311–364; ISBN 978-3-936177-15-2
- Christian Kaserer: What is the value of the Goertz letters? Munich 2012; ISBN 978-3-656-27651-7
Web links
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Uechtritz, Caroline von |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German nobles |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 12, 1749 |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 4, 1809 |
| Place of death | regensburg |