Caroline Schelling, née Michaelis, widowed Böhmer, divorced Schlegel (2 September 1763 – 7 September 1809), was a noted

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

intellectual. She was one of the so-called '' Universitätsmamsellen'', a group of five academically active women during the 18th and 19th centuries, daughters of academics at Göttingen University, alongside

Meta Forkel-Liebeskind Meta Forkel-Liebeskind (22 February 1765 – 1853), was a German writer and translator. She was one of the so-called '' Universitätsmamsellen'', a group of five academically active women during the 18th-and 19th century, daughters of academics ...

Therese Huber Therese Huber (7 May 1764 – 15 June 1829) was a German author. She was one of the so-called , a group of five academically active women during the mid-18th and early 19th centuries. The group consisted of daughters of academics at Göttingen Un ...

Philippine Engelhard Philippine Engelhard (21 October 1756 – 28 September 1831), was a German poet. She was one of the so-called '' Universitätsmamsellen'', a group of five academically active women during the 18th-and 19th century, daughters of academics on Gött ...

, and

Dorothea Schlözer Dorothea (also spelled Dorothée, Dorotea or other variants) is a female given name from Greek (Dōrothéa) meaning "God's Gift". It may refer to: People * Dorothea Binz (1920–1947), German concentration camp officer executed for war cri ...

Biography

Schelling was born at

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

in 1763, the daughter of orientalist

Johann David Michaelis Johann David Michaelis (27 February 1717 – 22 August 1791) was a Prussian biblical scholar and teacher. He was member of a family that was committed to solid discipline in Hebrew and the cognate languages, which distinguished the University ...

, who taught at the progressive

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

. She was educated by private tutors and by her father. In 1784, she married a district medical officer, Johann Böhmer, and the couple moved to

Clausthal Clausthal-Zellerfeld is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located in the southwestern part of the Harz mountains. Its population is approximately 15,000. The City is the location of the Clausthal University of Technology. The health resort ...

in the

Harz The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

. After his death in 1788, she tried to live financially independently. Together with their only surviving daughter she moved to Göttingen, then

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximate ...

, and in 1792 she settled in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

. In Mainz, Schelling joined the intellectual circle around

Georg Forster Johann George Adam Forster, also known as Georg Forster (, 27 November 1754 – 10 January 1794), was a German naturalist, ethnologist, travel writer, journalist and revolutionary. At an early age, he accompanied his father, Johann Reinhold F ...

, who had married her childhood friend

. Forster was an explorer, journalist, and revolutionary. When Mainz was occupied by the French during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

, she moved into Forster's house. Mainz was declared a republic, aligned with France (see

Republic of Mainz The Republic of Mainz was the first democratic state in the current German territoryThe short-lived republic is often ignored in identifying the "first German democracy", in favour of the Weimar Republic; e.g. "the failure of the first Germa ...

). But when Prussian troops recaptured Mainz (22 July 1793), Schelling was imprisoned for her political opinions. Schelling was pregnant and asked friends and family for help. She was released and

August Schlegel August Wilhelm (after 1812: von) Schlegel (; 8 September 176712 May 1845), usually cited as August Schlegel, was a German poet, translator and critic, and with his brother Friedrich Schlegel Karl Wilhelm Friedrich (after 1814: von) Schlegel (; ; ...

arranged for her to give birth under an assumed name in

Lucka Lucka is a town in the Thuringian landkreis of Altenburger Land. History The settlement of the area around Lucka occurred in the early Stone Age (5000-2500 b.c.). Lucka was first mentioned in writing in 1320 as "opidum Luckowe". The area was als ...

near

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

. Schelling and August Schlegel married in 1796, and she moved to

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...

, where he had received a professorship. Their house became a meeting place for the young literary and intellectual elite later associated with German Romanticism. His brother

Friedrich Schlegel Karl Wilhelm Friedrich (after 1814: von) Schlegel (; ; 10 March 1772 – 12 January 1829) was a German poet, literary critic, philosopher, philologist, and Indologist. With his older brother, August Wilhelm Schlegel, he was one of the main figure ...

and Friedrich's wife Dorothea Veit moved in. They were at the centre of

Jena Romanticism Jena Romanticism (german: Jenaer Romantik; also the Jena Romantics or Early Romanticism (''Frühromantik'')) is the first phase of Romanticism in German literature represented by the work of a group centred in Jena from about 1798 to 1804. The move ...

. Schelling was involved in the literary projects of her husband and his brother. She is credited with contributing to many of the 300 reviews her husband published in the Jena ''Allgemeine Literaturzeitung'' between 1796 and 1799. In 1803, she divorced Schlegel and married the young philosopher

Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (; 27 January 1775 – 20 August 1854), later (after 1812) von Schelling, was a German philosopher. Standard histories of philosophy make him the midpoint in the development of German idealism, situating him be ...

. Her new husband was at the center of Romantic

natural philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior throu ...

. The couple moved to

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

, but were maligned by gossip. In 1806, they moved to

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, where Friedrich Schelling received a professorship and was honored for his work. Between 1805 and 1807, Schelling published several reviews in her own name and assisted her husband in his reviews, which shaped Romantic literature and literary taste. She also engaged in extensive correspondence with numerous Romantics. Having suffered poor health for some time, she died of

dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...

in 1809.

References

* This work in turn cites: **Georg Waitz, ''Caroline: Briefe an ihre Geschwister, etc.'' (2 vols., 1871) **Georg Waitz, ''Caroline und ihre Freunde'' (1882) **Johannes Janssen, ''Eine Kulturdame und ihre Freunde, Zeit und Lebensbilder'' (1885) **Mrs. A. ecilySidgwick, ''Caroline Schlegel and her Friends'' (London, 1899)

External links

Caroline. Letters from Early Romanticism
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schelling, Caroline 1763 births 1809 deaths Writers from Göttingen German literary critics German women critics Women literary critics English–German translators German salon-holders 18th-century German writers 18th-century German women writers 18th-century German translators