Ulrike von Kleist

Ulrike von Kleist (born April 26, 1774 in Frankfurt (Oder) , † February 5, 1849 there ) was a half-sister of Heinrich von Kleist .

Ulrike Philippine von Kleist was the second daughter of Joachim Friedrich von Kleist (1728–1788) and his first wife Karoline Luise, nee. von Wulffen (1755–1774). She was Heinrich von Kleist's favorite sister, with whom he had the closest family contact and who repeatedly supported him financially. Little is known about their life. Only fragmentary conclusions can be drawn from Kleist's letters about her life and the relationship with her brother. Ulrike von Kleist wore men's clothes when she traveled with her brother.

In the summer of 1800 she went on a trip to Rügen with her siblings, which Kleist tells the episode about:

“When we were close to sinking in a storm on a boat with horses and wagons on the Baltic Sea between Rügen and dry land, and the skipper quickly left the helm to set the sails, she jumped into place and held the helm - imperturbable Rest seems to her the happiest lot on earth. "

Ulrike accompanied her brother on his trip to Paris in 1801 and financed most of it herself. Ulrike returned to Frankfurt at the end of the year, while Kleist went on to Switzerland. When her brother fell ill in Bern, Ulrike immediately rushed to him and found him healthy again in mid-September 1802. Together they drove back to Frankfurt in October.

Also in the winter of 1803, when Kleist was staying with Wieland in Oßmannstedt , Ulrike seems to have been there too, because in 1811 she writes looking back on Kleist's hasty departure from Wieland:

“He actually left - and I stayed behind! [..] but I do not wish that you would think badly of him. - Even if he is not one of the very noble people who make an exception anyway, he is good, .. "

In the summer of 1803 Ulrike traveled again to her brother, first to Dresden with other family members, then to Leipzig to provide him with money for the second trip to Switzerland. In December 1804, when Kleist had returned to Berlin, she asked Ulrike to "arrange an apartment" with him and to run the house together.

Ulrike von Kleist's grave cross [replica in the garden of the Kleist Museum in Frankfurt (Oder)]

In the middle of 1805 the sister traveled to Koenigsberg after her brother and ran a household with him until spring 1806. Then Ulrike left Königsberg and moved to Schorin near Stolp / Hinterpommern to the relatives of von Stojentins in the hope that Kleist would soon follow. In June 1806 the brother asked his authority to be released from civil service because he wanted to move to relatives in the country for health reasons. However, he was not finally released until early 1807. On the way to Berlin, Kleist stopped in Schorin.

In 1807 - after his release from French captivity - Kleist tried to persuade his sister to take a financial stake "as an actionair" in the publishing company he was planning, but she did not accept his proposal. The project never came about.

On August 11, 1811 Kleist tried again in vain to persuade Ulrike to move to him in Berlin, where he could find her a job at the Luisenstift . In his farewell letter to Ulrike, dated "on the morning of my death", he wrote the words that later became famous:

"[...] really, you have done to me, I am not saying what was in the strength of a sister but in the strength of a person to save me: the truth is that I could not be helped on earth."

- Heinrich von Kleist

With the death of Heinrich von Kleist on November 21, 1811, the news about Ulrike's further life largely dried up. She is said to have set up a pension for older daughters in Frankfurt (Oder) around 1820 and has probably remained unmarried.

Ulrike von Kleist was buried in the old cemetery in Frankfurt. Her grave cross was lost in the 20th century. Today a replica of this cross is in the courtyard of the Kleist Museum there.

literature

Wolfgang Barthel: Heinrich von Kleist . Frankfurt (Oder) 2001, p. 7. ISBN 3-9806758-8-2
Paul Hoffmann: Ulrike von Kleist about her brother Heinrich . In: Euphorion 10 (1903), pp. 105-152.
Heinrich von Kleist: Letters to his sister Ulrike . Published by August Koberstein , Schroeder Berlin, 1860
Heinrich von Kleist: Letters from and to Heinrich von Kleist 1793–1811 . Edited by Klaus Müller-Salget and Stefan Ormanns. German classic publishing house, Frankfurt / M. 1997.

Individual evidence

↑ "Reality is constantly being falsified from deeds and documents, genders merge, Amazons exchange kisses and bites, Sister Ulrike, dressed as a man, is taken on trips." In: Ulrike Draesner , Heimliche Helden. About Heinrich von Kleist, James Joyce, Thomas Mann, Gottfried Benn, Karl Valentin and many more. Essays , Luchterhand, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-630-87373-2 , chapter “ENTITIES from falling, signs and lightning. Thoughts on the hero with the help of Heinrich von Kleist ”, pp. 85–119, p. 91.
^ Heinrich von Kleist: Complete Works and Letters. Volume 2. Edited by Helmut Sembdner. 2nd Edition. dtv, Munich 1994, p. 887.
^ Http://www.hagestedt.de/rezensions/25Kleist.html

personal data
SURNAME	Kleist, Ulrike von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Prussian noblewoman and half-sister of Heinrich von Kleist
DATE OF BIRTH	April 26, 1774
PLACE OF BIRTH	Frankfurt (Oder)
DATE OF DEATH	February 5, 1849
Place of death	Frankfurt (Oder)

[1] "Reality is constantly being falsified from deeds and documents, genders merge, Amazons exchange kisses and bites, Sister Ulrike, dressed as a man, is taken on trips." In: Ulrike Draesner , Heimliche Helden. About Heinrich von Kleist, James Joyce, Thomas Mann, Gottfried Benn, Karl Valentin and many more. Essays , Luchterhand, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-630-87373-2 , chapter “ENTITIES from falling, signs and lightning. Thoughts on the hero with the help of Heinrich von Kleist ”, pp. 85–119, p. 91.

[2] Heinrich von Kleist: Complete Works and Letters. Volume 2. Edited by Helmut Sembdner. 2nd Edition. dtv, Munich 1994, p. 887.

[3] Http://www.hagestedt.de/rezensions/25Kleist.html