Eva Catharina König née Hahn (22 March 1736 - 10 January 1778) was a German woman letter writer.

Life

Eva Hahn was born in 1736 in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

. She was one of six children born to Eva and Heinrich Hahn. In 1756, she married the

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

businessman Engelbert König. The couple had four children: Maria Amalie Henneberg, Theodor, Engelbert, and Fritz. In 1767, she became friends with the playwright

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

, who became godfather to her son Fritz. When her husband died in 1769, Lessing took a special interest in the family. Eva and Lessing became engaged in 1771 and they were married in 1776 in Jork near Hamburg. During their engagement, Eva made several visits to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

to settle her late husband’s estate. She also chaperoned the young Prince Leopold of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel on some of his travels. As a result, the couple's mode of contact during their engagement was through written correspondence, most of which has survived. After their marriage, the Lessings moved to

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District Wolfenbüttel (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel (district), Wolfenbüttel Distri ...

. Eva died in 1778 at the age of 41 of neonatal sepsis soon after the birth of their son Traugott Lessing. She was buried at Bürger Friedhof hinter der Trinitatiskirche, in Wolfenbüttel, Landkreis Wolfenbüttel, Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), Germany.

References

External links

König, Eva Catharina, 1736-1778
at Toronto Public Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Konig 1736 births 1778 deaths 18th-century German letter writers Women letter writers Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Writers from Heidelberg Deaths in childbirth