The epistolary novel Die Günderode from 1840 is one of the few sources that scholars can consult to gain an impression of the relationship between Bettina Brentano and Karoline von Günderrode. Of the original correspondence between the two women, which spanned the years 1804 to 1806, only nine letters have survived. It is not even possible to say how extensive their correspondence was. Bettina wrote most of the letters in Die Günderode after her friend’s death.

Clearly, the epistolary novel cannot be seen as the definitive source for real-life details of their relationship. However, a comparison of the novel with the surviving letters is highly revealing, especially as regards intimate communication. Die Günderode evokes an intimacy between the two women, a kind of unbroken mutual understanding, for which there is little evidence in their correspondence. The “Bettine” in the letters is unsure how her confidential tone is received by her friend. Even in late 1805 (their friendship lasted nearly two years), Bettina expressed the desire to learn the “truth” of Karoline’s “sentiments” about her, while at the same time emphasising her independence of the “truth of [her] existence”. Indeed, there is a striking contrast between Bettina’s willingness to open her heart and the inscrutable laconism of Karoline’s reply.