Julie von Bechtolsheim

Ludwig Doell : Julie von Bechtolsheim , oil, 1817

Julie Freifrau von Bechtolsheim (full name: Julie Freifrau von Mauchenheim called Bechtolsheim ), b. Countess von Keller (born June 21, 1751 on the Stedten estate near Erfurt , † July 12, 1847 in Eisenach ), was a German poet and salonière . She is also known for her friendship with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Christoph Martin Wieland .

Life

In 1774 her mother, the widow Countess Auguste von Keller, arranged to marry Julie's uncle Johann Ludwig Freiherr von Bechtolsheim, her mother's older brother. When he was appointed Vice Chancellor of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach , the couple moved to Eisenach.

In the period from 1777 to 1795 Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a guest at her Palais in Eisenach on Jakobsplan several times . Julie's witty, refreshing nature made her a pleasant conversation partner for Goethe, whom he often asked for her opinion on his works. He called Julie a soul mate, his "little soul".

Julie also had a close friendship with the poet Christoph Martin Wieland, who called her his "Psyche" and addressed it in coded form in his poem " An Psyche ".

Julie herself wrote articles as a poet on the Vossischen Musenalmanach from 1788, on the monthly "Erholungen" published by Wilhelm Gottlieb Becker from 1796 to 1810 and on the monthly "Urania;" edited by Johann Ludwig Ewald ; for head and heart ”.

For many years she led a literary circle in Eisenach. Some of her friends from this literary circle were killed in an explosion in 1810. Napoleonic troops passed through Eisenach. A powder keg exploded near the market square and destroyed the building in which the literary circle was held. Julie was absent that day because of an illness.

Johann Ludwig Freiherr von Bechtolsheim died in 1806, Julie lived until 1847. She found her final resting place in the old cemetery on Schlossberg in Eisenach, near the Kreuzkirche. There she rests alongside many other personalities such as the parents of Johann Sebastian Bach and Dorothea Grimm, the wife of the fairy tale poet Wilhelm Grimm . Julie's grave is still preserved and has been provided with an additional plaque since 2003.

Quotation to the literary circle of Julie v. Bechtolsheim

The philosopher Christian Schreiber writes about his encounters in the salon of Julie von Bechtolsheim (spelling adopted unchanged):

"From 1803 to 1806 I privatized in Eisenach. Here I was fortunate enough to be acquainted with one of the noblest women, and through her with many highly interesting people of that eventful time. It is the one who is still living in an advanced and prosperous age Ms. von Bechtolsheim, née von Keller, whose house was the meeting point of the most respected, intelligent and virtuous people, local and foreign. I will only name a few whose memory I have in mind:

Count Narbonne, wife von Schardt , wife von Wollhaben, wife von Stael-Holstein ; Mrs. von Schlaberndorf; Benjamin Constant ; Duke August of Gotha ; Karl August and his ... wife; Karl Friedrich , the now reigning Grand Duke of Weimar and his wife, Maria Pawlowna ..., Duke Bernhard of Weimar , who later became Minister; von Gersdorf, ... von Müller, von Thümmel , Count v. Schwendler, Amalia v. Imhof, Fouqué , Rochlitz , von Müffling , Colonel (later General) von Dörnberg , Count von Thielemann , Horstig, the American Aaron Burr , former Vice President of the Congress, von Kotzebue , Count von Loeben , von Trott, the Leipzig Erhard , the poet Ernst Wagner, the envoy v. Campenhausen , v. Alopäus, Graf Keller and so many other men and women distinguished by fame, class and education.

Here was the school of good taste and tone; According to legend, not unlike those ingenious Parisian circles who, before the revolution and before they themselves degenerated into Epicureanism , made the capital the seat of the finest spiritual pleasures, and have long since disappeared from life but not from history. Grace and dignity, informality and decency were united in the sociable circle of this celebrated woman, whom no traveling scholar, no artist, man of the world and statesman of any importance passed by. Here came what Frau von Stael once said: “All truly educated people are compatriots.” There was no mention of the difference in class, confession or way of life; Art, science and higher wisdom linked the most heterogeneous minds; the national itself disappeared on the higher level of humanity.

The modest access to many of the attractive things that have been seen, heard and experienced here was granted to me through the friendship of Frau von B (Echtolsheim) and her noble husband; I've strengthened myself from it for my whole life. Everything interesting was read, judged, and what could lend stimulus to spiritual striving was applied. A family theater in which the best possible was tried, amused all art lovers in the city and area. There was no lack of musical declamation and even theatrical exercises. The wonderful nature around Eisenach and the Wartburg gave material and an incentive for some small poems. Men of science and taste, who were always counted in Eisenach, competed with one another in mutual instruction and dignified entertainment. "

literature

• Elisabeth Friedrichs: The German-speaking women writers of the 18th and 19th centuries, Metzler, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-476-00456-2 .
• Eva Schmid: Julie von Bechtolsheim. Wieland's "Psyche". A biography for her 250th birthday . PlayAlpha-Verlag, Rattenkirchen 2003, ISBN 3921277000 .

swell

1. ↑ See the heading "Other names" in the entry in the catalog of the German National Library: http://d-nb.info/gnd/116100273
2. ↑ Bechtolsheim . In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon . 4th edition. Volume 2, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig / Vienna 1885–1892, p. 586.
3. ^ Old cemetery in Eisenach
4. ↑ Memories of Julie von Bechtolsheim . EisenachOnline. Accessed on December 27, 2015: “Volkmar Schumann, the chairman of the Eisenach Goethe Society, found that Julie von Bechtolsheim became the spiritual and cultural center of Eisenach through her work, but that she also had a social conscience. (...) The old gravestone Julie von Bechtolsheim is at the old cemetery. She was buried there in 1847. Donations made it possible to display the writing on the tombstone. Hubertus Freiherr von Bechtolsheim, a descendant of the family, also came to the unveiling of the table "
5. ↑ Biography of Christian Schreiber In: Karl Wilhelm Justi Basis for a Hessian Scholar, Writer and Artist History from 1806 to 1830 , continuation of Strieder's Hessischer Gelehrten- u. Writer's story and addendum to this work, Garthe, Marburg 1831, p. 833 ff. (Library of the University of Marburg)

Web links

• Literature by and about Julie von Bechtolsheim in the catalog of the German National Library