We now come to the second case, which is called ‘sociability among Frankfurt patricians’.

Günderrode’s literary reception was strongly determined by her relationship to the Brentano family. Bettine von Arnim, Clemens Brentano’s sister, published a novel composed of letters in 1835 with the title ‘Die Günderode’, which purported to reproduce the lively correspondence between her and Günderrode. These letters are partly made up by Bettine von Arnim, but this novel was fundamental for shaping the image of Günderrode in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Yet Günderrode’s social circle was not restricted to her acquaintance with the Brentanos. Members of the Leonhardi banking family, as well as the Fichard family, were also among her acquaintances.

The first letter that you see in the case is addressed to Günderrode’s friend Karoline von Barkhaus, who was born into the Leonhardi family. Günderrode laments the social conditions during her stay in Butzbach around 1800 with her maternal grandfather. The reason for her visit was the death of her grandmother, Luise, who wrote the second letter in the first case. Karoline von Günderrode spent three months in Butzbach overall and took care of her grandfather, Christian Maximilian. It is from Butzbach on 14th February 1800 that she writes that she is often dissatisfied with herself, because she finds no meaningful social contact with the people in Butzbach, for lack of shared interests. Günderrode stresses how conservative and orthodox the residents of Butzbach are. She, by contrast, supports progressive ideals – Enlightenment and the welfare of all. She shared these ideals with the pastor in Butzbach, Johann Georg Diefenbach.

The second letter in the case is from around 1803 and is probably addressed to Karoline von Barkhaus’s brother, Friedrich von Leonhardi. This letter contains one of the most provocative statements by Günderrode about gender relations, and it culminates in a re-writing of the Fall of Man – where it is Adam, not Eve, who commits the sin of taking the fruit from the tree of knowledge. Unfortunately, the precise context of this letter cannot be reconstructed, but it is shot through with a distinctly critical and sarcastic tone. Günderrode’s correspondence with Friedrich’s sister, Karoline von Barkhaus, is far more friendly, with whom she also shared literary interests.

The third letter is from 1804 and was written by Günderrode’s friend, Lisette Nees von Esenback. The topic at hand here is also to do with the gender relations and how young women saw themselves in the world. Lisette stresses on the one hand her desire for freedom, but at the same time discusses the longing for (physical) union with her husband, the doctor Christian Nees von Esenbeck, whom she had just married. The part of the letter displayed here culminates in a depiction of an overwhelming and redemptive storm, and here Lisette is likely alluding to a famous part of Goethe’s novel The Sorrows of Young Werther, where Werther and Lotte share their own literary interests in the famous poet Klopstock during a similarly apocalyptic storm.