Christiane Sophie Ludwig

Christiane Sophie Ludwig 1794.

Christiane Sophie Ludwig ( born Christiane Sophie Fritsche ; * 1764 in Ragwitz near Schkeuditz, † February 28, 1815 in Schkeuditz ) was a German writer .

Life

Christiane Sophie Ludwig came from a poor family. Her parents could only enable her to attend a village school, where the children of different villages were taught reading, writing and religion by a single teacher. Christiane Sophie Ludwig left school at the age of 14 and had little knowledge of reading and writing.

At the age of 16 she was married to a forester, whom she followed to his nearby but lonely hometown of Maßlau . The first few years of marriage were difficult for the girl because she lived in complete seclusion, the man was seldom at home due to his work and her in-laws did not accept her into their community. At the same time, Christiane Sophie Ludwig tried to continue her education, which was difficult due to her isolated situation. After a few years, she inherited a lexicon with which she gradually improved her reading skills. At the same time, the book aroused their interest in the writers and works of their time. Fontenelle's scripture dialogues on the majority of worlds made a particular impression on them . At the same time, Christiane Sophie Ludwig was constantly striving to improve her writing skills, which at the time of leaving school consisted of little more than unorthographic and illegible attempts. Since she had no teachers or friends available to teach her, Christiane Sophie Ludwig learned the spelling and the like. a. with the help of hymn books, from which she copied and memorized words.

By reading Friedrich Nicolai's magazine Allgemeine Deutsche Bibliothek , she continued to educate herself and finally began to write her first works. Over time, she made the acquaintance of literary greats and scholars of her time, such as Friedrich Nicolai, Christian Felix Weisse , Johann Gottfried Seume and Johann Friedrich Rochlitz . Christiane Sophie Ludwig was very successful as a writer. Her works saw several editions and were, surprisingly for the time, even announced in the Journal des Luxus und der Moden . She used the proceeds of her work partly to help poor families, which earned her the recognition of representatives of the Berlin Enlightenment.

Her husband died on February 2, 1814. Christiane Sophie Ludwig moved to Schkeuditz that same year, where she died in 1815. Her only son Christian Wilhelm Ludwig died shortly after her. Christiane Sophie Ludwig was also the mother of several daughters.

Works

• Conversations of the Christian with God (1786)
• Essays from a country woman. Richter, Altenburg 1787. ( digitized part 1 ), ( part 2 )
• Paintings of domestic scenes to refine young hearts. Walther, Leipzig 1789. ( Digitized Theil1 )
• Judah or the Slain Righteous (1791)
• The Hohenstam family or the history of noble people. Gräff, Leipzig 1793. ( Digitalisat Part 1 ), ( Part 2 ), ( Part 3 ), ( Part 4 )
• The poor family, for the good of a poor family (1799)
• Stories from and for good souls. Gräff, Leipzig 1799. ( digitized part 1 ), ( part 2 )
• Essays on higher intellectual education (1801)
• Moral Tales (1802)
• The reward of virtue (1805)
• Henriette, or woman as it can be. Gräff, Leipzig 1800. ( digitized version )
• Selenids, in moral narratives (1809)

literature

• Ruth Dawson: "Light Out! Lights Out!" Women and the Englightment, in: U. Gleixner u. MW Gray (ed.): Gender in Transition. Discourse and Practice in German Speaking Europa, 1750-1830, pp. 218-245.
• Carl Wilhelm Otto August Schindel: The German women writers of the nineteenth century , first part A – L, FA Brockhaus, Leipzig 1823, pp. 359–366.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ No copy can be found