Sara Grotthuis, born Sara Meyer, also known as Sophie Leopoldine Wilhelmine Baroness von Grotthuis and as Sara Wulff by her first marriage (1763 – 11 December 1828), was one of the most well-known "salonnières" (salon hostesses and patrons of the arts) of the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Berlin.

Biography

Sara Grotthuis was born Sara Meyer in Berlin in 1763 as the eldest daughter of the Orthodox Jewish banker Aaron Moses Meyer and his wife Rösel. Through her mother, Sara was the great-granddaughter of

Veitel Heine Ephraim Veitel Heine Ephraim, 1703 – 16 May 1775 in Berlin) was jeweller to the Prussian Court, a silk entrepreneur in Potsdam, the chairman of the Jewish congregation in Berlin/Prussia, and since 1756 Mintmaster in Saxony and from 1758 also in Prussi ...

, who served

Friedrich the Great Frederick II (german: Friedrich II.; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Sil ...

as a "Münzjude" or

mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaAES g ...

master. She was the cousin of

Rahel Varnhagen von Ense Rahel Antonie Friederike Varnhagen () (née Levin, later Robert; 19 May 1771 – 7 March 1833) was a German writer who hosted one of the most prominent salons in Europe during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. She is the subject of a celebr ...

. The well-known Jewish scholar and

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

thinker

Moses Mendelssohn Moses Mendelssohn (6 September 1729 – 4 January 1786) was a German-Jewish philosopher and theologian. His writings and ideas on Jews and the Jewish religion and identity were a central element in the development of the ''Haskalah'', or 'Je ...

, a close friend of the family, was consulted on Sara's education and upbringing. Sara was noted as being bright and talented in languages. In 1778 at the age of 15, Sara was married to the older Jewish businessman Liebmann Wulff. Her parents were in favor of the marriage, and the ceremony was performed by Moses Mendelssohn. It was an unhappy marriage, one that distressed the young Sara. After her husband Wulff died in 1787, Sara moved back in with her parents. She converted to Christianity in 1788. She may have converted back to Judaism for a time, but she was a converted Protestant Christian by the time of her second marriage. In 1797, she married the Livonian

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

Ferdinand Dietrich von Grotthuis, a land owner and officer in the Prussian army. The couple lived in Berlin, and Sara led one of the most important literary salons of the time and exchanged letters with

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...

. After the Prussian army's 1806 loss to Napoleon, the Grotthuis couple lost all of their property and fell into poverty. They lived in Oranienburg, where Baron Grotthuis took on a position as a postman. Sara Grotthuis died in Berlin on 11 December 1828.

Literary Salon

Alongside other salonnières

Henriette Herz Henriette Julie Herz (née de Lemos) (September 5, 1764 – October 22, 1847) is best known for the "salonnieres" or literary salons that she started with a group of emancipated Jews in Prussia. Biography She was the daughter of a physician, B ...

and

Rahel Varnhagen Rahel Antonie Friederike Varnhagen () (née Levin, later Robert; 19 May 1771 – 7 March 1833) was a German writer who hosted one of the most prominent salons in Europe during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. She is the subject of a celeb ...

, Sara Grotthuis led one of the most influential literary salons in Berlin around 1800. Her guests included not only diplomats, writers, and actors but also members of the Prussian nobility like Prince Louis Ferdinand. Her salon gained influence through her friendship with

Johann Wolfgang Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treatis ...

, of whom she was a long-time admirer. As a thirteen-year-old, Sara would steal away from family in the evenings to read Goethe's '' The Sorrows of Young Werther'', which a young love interest had sent to her. Moses Mendelssohn, a close friend of the Meyer family, disapproved of ''Werther'' and considered Goethe a bad influence on youth. He threw Sara's copy of ''Werther'' out a window.

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (, ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the developmen ...

, another friend of the family and an admirer of Goethe, gave her another copy. She met Goethe in 1795 at a spa in Karlsbad, far before any of the other Berlin salonnières. Their friendship thus also predated the Goethe-cult created by the brothers August Wilhelm Schlegel and Friedrich Schlegel. She maintained correspondence with Goethe for years. Goethe sent her unpublished manuscripts to be read in her salon, and sometimes he sent actors to read them, such as the famous actor couple Amalie Wolff-Malcolmi and Pius Alexander Wolff. Grotthuis for her part connected Goethe with certain important figures including Prince Karl Joseph von Ligne, among others. In addition to Goethe, Grotthuis counted Lessing, Herder, and Prince Karl Joseph von Ligne among her friends. Rahel Varnhagen's husband

Karl August Varnhagen von Ense Karl August Varnhagen von Ense (21 February 1785 in Düsseldorf – 10 October 1858 in Berlin) was a German biographer, diplomat and soldier. Life and career He was born in Düsseldorf, the younger brother of Rosa Maria Varnhagen, a noted poet, w ...

wrote of Sara Grotthuis: "She was flattered by Lessing in her youth and later by Herder, and then she became friends with Frau von Genlis, the Prince of Ligne and Goethe."Wilhelmy-Dollinger, Petra.
Die Berliner Salons
'. Verlag Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2000, p. 77. The German reads: „''Sie hörte in ihrer Jugend Schmeicheleien von Lessing, in späterer Zeit von Herder, dann standen Frau von Genlis, der Fürst von Ligne und Goethe mit ihr im freundschaftlichen Verkehr.''“ Sara Grotthuis' salon ended – like the first salon of her cousin Rahel von Varnhagen – with the Prussian defeat in 1806 and the resulting impoverishment of the Grotthuis family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grotthuis, Sara German salon-holders People from Berlin 18th-century German Jews 1763 births 1828 deaths 18th-century Prussian women