Marie Petersen

Princess Ilse . Superb edition. Berlin 1857

Marie Luise Auguste Petersen (born July 31, 1816 in Frankfurt (Oder) , † June 30, 1859 there ) was a German writer .

Life

Marie Petersen came from a wealthy family of pharmacists . Her grandfather, the “university pharmacist” Friedrich Petersen, bought the Zur Goldenen Kugel pharmacy in Frankfurt an der Oder as early as 1780 . His second son Karl Petersen later took over the business. After Karl Petersen's marriage to Wilhelmine, b. Dionysius, the first child Marie Petersen was born in 1816.

Marie Petersen suffered from a chronic curvature of the spine shortly after giving birth, which even stays in orthopedic institutions in Berlin could not resolve. Karl Petersen therefore sold his pharmacy in 1834 after the death of his wife in order to be able to devote himself to the care and upbringing of his children. Thanks to his second wife, Amalie, the Petersen's house soon became one of the first musical houses in Frankfurt. Marie Petersen lived here secluded and modest. Her varied education earned her the affection of her contemporaries, who, however, knew nothing of her poetic talent.

Due to her physical illness, Marie Petersen was tied to her hometown. In 1851 she undertook a single trip to the Harz Mountains , which sparked off her writing. A travel letter she had sent to a relative was titled Princess Ilse. A fairy tale from the Harz Mountains published anonymously in 1852. The font was a great success, so that from the 12th edition on, its name was also mentioned on the title. Her second work, Die Irrlichter , became even more successful, so that, after initially anonymous publication, the addition A fairy tale by Marie Petersen, author of Princess Ilse, named the author's name from the 12th edition . Both works have also been translated into English and French.

Marie Petersen did not live to see the great success of her two works. She died as early as 1859 as a result of a slight inflammation, which, however, soon became fatal due to the weakness of her body.

Works

• Princess Ilse , A fairy tale from the Harz Mountains, first edition, 1852 (the book had 25 editions by 1906)
• The will-o'-the-wisps , first edition 1854 (the book had 48 editions by 1908)

literature

• Heinrich Groß: German female poets and writers in words and pictures . Fr. Thiel, Berlin 1885, pp. 430-433.
• Paul Hoffmann:  Petersen, Marie . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 55, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1910, p. 576 f.
• Franz Brümmer : Lexicon of German poets and prose writers from the beginning of the 19th century to the present . Reclam, Leipzig 1913, p. 261. (Scan in the Internet Archive)
• Elisabeth Friedrichs: The German-speaking women writers of the 18th and 19th centuries. A lexicon . Metzler, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-476-00456-2 , ( Repertories on the History of German Literature 9), p. 232.

Web links

Wikisource: Marie Petersen  - Sources and full texts

• Literature by and about Marie Petersen in the catalog of the German National Library