Countess Caroline von Keyserling (1727-1791) was an Honorary Member of the

Prussian Academy of Arts The Prussian Academy of Arts (German: ''Preußische Akademie der Künste'') was a state arts academy first established in Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and lat ...

in Berlin. She was the daughter of Carl Ludwig from the princely

House of Waldburg The House of Waldburg is a princely family of Upper Swabia, founded some time previous to the 12th century; some cadet lineages are comital families. Eberhard von Tanne-Waldburg (? - 1234) was the steward, or ''seneschal'', and adviser of the St ...

and Countess Sophie Charlotte of Wylich and Lottum. In 1744, she married Count Gebhardt Johann von Keyserling. In 1763, she married the nephew of her late spouse, Count Heinrich Christian von Keyserling, the only son and heir of Count Herman Karl von Keyserling. From 1755, she held a literary salon in her residence, the Schliebensche Palace on the Vorderroßgarten in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was na ...

, which became a culture center of East Prussia. Among her guests were

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (, , ; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aes ...

Johann Georg Hamann Johann Georg Hamann (; ; 27 August 1730 – 21 June 1788) was a German Lutheran philosopher from Königsberg known as "the Wizard of the North" who was one of the leader figures of post-Kantian philosophy. His work was used by his student J. G. ...

, Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel, philosopher and political scientist

Kraus Kraus is a German surname meaning "curly". Notable people with the surname include: * Adalbert Kraus (born 1937), German tenor * Adam Kraus (born 1984), American footballer * Adolf Kraus (1850–1928), lawyer and Jewish leader * Adolph Robert Kr ...

, Professor history and poetry Mangelsdorf, the war and Domänenrat Scheffner; it was also an aristocratic center, among the guests of that category being the Prince of Hesse-Kassel, the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, the Russian Grand Duke Paul Petrovich and the future King

Frederick William II of Prussia Frederick William II (german: Friedrich Wilhelm II.; 25 September 1744 – 16 November 1797) was King of Prussia from 1786 until his death in 1797. He was in personal union the Prince-elector of Brandenburg and (via the Orange-Nassau inherita ...

. At her receptions, theater and concerts were performed. She is described as a talented dilettante artist: she painted portraits, scuppered busts, and played several musical instruments. She was an educated autodidact and highly interested in the sciences. From the 1750s onward, she wrote and published various translations, writings and essays in scientific subjects. She was known to be active in this regard, but her works were published anonymously.

References

* http://kulturportal-west-ost.eu/biographien/keyserlingk-charlotte-caroline-amalie-grafin-von-2 {{DEFAULTSORT:Keyserling, Caroline von 1727 births 1791 deaths 18th-century German people Baltic-German people German salon-holders