Michaelishaus in Göttingen
Caroline’s childhood home, albeit after more than two hundred years of renovations.
(Photo: unknown photographer.)
Commemorative Plaque, Prinzenstrasse
Plaque commemorating the history of the Michaelis house in Göttingen. —
“Michaelis House”
Plastered half-timber house. —
1737: built by Joseph Schädeler as the inn “London Schenke.” —
1764-1791: Owned by Professor Johann David Michaelis. —
1807-1813: Royal Westphalian Prefecture. —
After 1842: Seminar building of the university —
(Photo: Cara Ryan.)
Clausthal im Harz, ca. 1900
Clausthal in the Harz Mountains, 1902. This postcard evokes Clausthal’s location in the mountainous Harz region. Caroline lived here between 1784 and 1788. Her husband is buried in the cemetery of Clausthal’s Market Church of the Holy Spirit (steeples visible in background), though the cemetery itself has long since been covered over.
(Postcard 1902.)
Reitgasse 14 in Marburg
Reitgasse 14 in Marburg, 1932. Although the building in which Caroline lived with her brother 1789-91 was renovated ca. 1900, the essential appearance seems to have remained the same.
(Photo: Bildarchiv Foto Marburg.)
Bopp’s Bierhalle Terrace, ca. 1930s
The later terrace of Bopp’s Bierhalle located in the house at Reitgasse 14, essentially showing the view Caroline had from her room.
(Postcard [ca. 1930s].)
Reitgasse 14, 1971
Reitgasse 14 in Marburg, 1971, during the construction of the new edifice on the properties Reitgasse 14 and 15. This photo is of particular interest insofar as it shows the view Caroline had from her window on the back side of the house and about which she speaks in several letters, namely, of the Lahn Valley, “through which the river runs and a couple of ravens take friendly flight.” Towers associated with the university are visible in the background center right.
(Photo: Stadtarchiv Marburg.)
Reitgasse 14 and 15 in 1971, empty lot
Reitgasse 14 and 15 in Marburg, 1971. The building in which Caroline lived was demolished along with its neighbor (Reitgasse 15) in 1965 to make way for new structures. This photo shows the empty lots of the two buildings after their removal. The earlier half-timber Fachwerk construction typical of all but stone buildings at the time is clearly visible in the houses that were left standing.
(Photo: Stadtarchiv Marburg.)
Reitgasse 14
Regrettably, the successor house to the house in which Caroline lived incorporates no historical elements.
(Photograph © Siegfried Kuhl [12 November 2008].)
Commemorative Plaque at Reitgasse 14
“Caroline Schelling 1763-1809
Writer, translator, critic. Significant figure in early German Romanticism. Politically active in the Mainz Republic. Socialized in Marburg’s literary circles and later kept a famous salon in Jena during her marriage to August Wilhelm Schlegel.
As a young widow, lived from 1789 till 1792 with her brother in the house that preceded this present one.”
(Photo: Martin Reulecke.)
Marburg, 2010
Reitgasse 14 (circled in blue) in a panoramic photograph taken in May 2010.
(Excerpt from the panoramic project Gigapixel Marburg © Peter Lauritis Photography; used by permission.)
Frauenberg Ruins
Frauenberg Castle ruins today. Caroline participated in a cheerful communal outing to these ruins south of Marburg on 15 August 1790 and indeed mentions the magnificent view.
(Photo: Martin Reulecke.)
Frauenberg Ruins
The Frauenberg ruins outside Marburg remain a popular excursion locale today just as they were during Caroline’s time in Marburg.
(Photo: Martin Reulecke.)
Welschnonnengasse, Mainz
Contemporary (2018) photograph of the corner where Caroline lived in Mainz from approx. the early spring of 1792 until March 1793, when she fled with Auguste but was arrested before getting to Frankfurt. Her house at no. 3 was the next after this corner house with the bay windows. The street was bombed out during World War 2.
(Photo: unknown photographer.)
Königstein Fortress Today
Caroline and Auguste were imprisoned here from 8 April till 14 June 1793. It was here, because of the increasing visibility of her pregnancy by a French officer in Mainz, that she contemplated suicide and even convinced Wilhelm Schlegel to secure her the means to carry it out.
(Photo: Johannes Robalotoff.)
Königstein Fortress Today
Königstein Fortress interior today.
(Photo: Martin Reulecke)
Königstein Fortress Interior: Plaque Niche
Niche in the interior of the castle today containing the commemorative plaque to prisoners from the Mainz Republic who were held in the fortress.
(Photo: Martin Reulecke.)
Königstein Fortress: Niche with Commemorative Plaque
Niche in the interior of the castle today containing the commemorative plaque to prisoners from the Mainz Republic who were held in the fortress.
(Photo: Martin Reulecke.)
Königstein Fortress: Commemorative Plaque
“Between 1793 and 1795, Democrats from the Mainz Republic were imprisoned here, including the initiator of German Romanticism, Caroline Schlegel-Schelling.”
(Photo: Martin Reulecke.)
Lucka, 2011
Caroline and Auguste lived here from 7 August 1793 till ca. 4 February 1794. Caroline’s second son, Wilhelm Julius Krantz, was born here on 3 November 1794 and is buried in the town cemetery.
(Photo: Christopher Nicolas.)
Lucka, Hirtengasse 2
The approximate location the complex of houses in which Caroline and Auguste lived in Lucka and in which Caroline brought her pregnancy to term.
(Photo: Manuela Woyda, Hohendorf [2014].)
Jena, Leutrastrasse 5
Caroline’s former residence in Jena, Leutragasse 5, in 1920. The two rear edifices are clearly visible The garden behind the building, portrayed in the earlier engraving, had since been developed with other houses.
(Photo: 1920 postcard; unknown photographer.)
Leutrastrasse in 1899
Postcard.
Leutragasse 5, 1938
Front view of Leutragasse 5 in 1938: A gentleman is standing in the doorway leading to the back courtyard where Caroline’s apartment was located (the banner over the door says Jenaische Zeitung). The building had had the address “Leutragasse 5” since 1887, and the street itself was renamed Leutrastrasse. The house and complex now belonged to the Neuenhahn family, who bought the house in 1890 and published the Jenaische Zeitung. The complex also housed their printing offices.
(Photo: Stadtmuseum Jena; by permission.)
Leutrastrasse 5, 1932
The courtyard of Caroline’s residence in Jena at Leutragrasse 5, here in a 1932 photo (Caroline’s windows to the left). This angle allows a view of the other rear edifice to the right (to the left in the earlier engraving), where the family of Gottlieb Hufeland lived, and of the buildings built behind the house since the earlier engraving was done.
(Photo: Stadtmuseum Jena; by permission.)
Jena, 19 March 1945
Jena on 19 March 1945 after allied bombing runs. Jena was also hit by bombing runs the previous month. Caroline’s former residence, known as the “Neuenhahn” house since 1890, was completely destroyed
(Photo: Stadtmuseum Jena; by permission.)
Leutragasse 5 in Jena, 1945
Leutragasse 5 after allied bombing in March 1945. The damaged steeple of St. Michael’s Church can be seen on the left. The house was essentially completely destroyed and subsequently razed. It is difficult to discern which part of the house is shown here, but from the camera angle it appears to be one of the rear structures.
(Photo: Stadtmuseum Jena; by permission.)
Würzburg, Old University, 1950
Caroline and Schelling’s Würzburg apartment, in the the Old University complex adjoining the church, is clearly visible in this 1950 photo.
Their quarters were on the 2nd (Schelling’s auditorium), 3rd (Caroline’s quarters), and 4th (Schelling’s study) floors in the wing on the right. The university library was on the ground floor with the arcades. The complex was gutted by allied bombing on the night of 16 March 1945.
(“Alte Uni 40 Hauptflügel und Turm Neubaukirche [1950] VS”; in „Alte Universität – Bestand vor 1945, Wiederaufbau von 1946–1956, Ergänzungsfotos nach 1956, Ausgrabungen im Hof 1955“; Universitätsarchiv, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg; Nachfolgebehörde des ehemaligen Universitätsbauamtes: Universitätsbau, Staatliches Bauamt Würzburg; by permission.)
Würzburg, Old University, 1950
Excerpt from previous image, closeup of the Schellings’ apartment.
Würzburg, Old University (2014)
The Schellings’ quarters in the Old University complex today on the 2nd (Schelling’s auditorium), 3rd (Caroline’s quarters), and 4th (Schelling’s study quarters) floors in the wing on the right. The university library was on the ground floor with the arcades. This university complex now houses the law school.
(Photo: by Hajotthu [15 November 2014]; GNU Free Documentation License; Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported.)
Munich, Im Rosenthal 144 (1909)
Rear view of Caroline’s final residence, at Im Rosenthal 144 in Munich, here in 1909 shortly before being demolished. A department store was build in the location (later house nos. 13, 15, 17). See next image concerning the added story.
(Photo: 1909, from the Sammlung Karl Valentin. Quelle: Stadtarchiv München, Sign.: DE-1992-FS-NL-KV-0196.)
Munich, Im Rosenthal 144 (1909)
Street view of Caroline’s final residence, at Im Rosentahl 144, here shortly before its demolition in 1909. At some point after Caroline and Schelling lived here, a fourth story was added (also evident by the different exterior window trim) and the street level had risen presumably as a result successive pavings or stonework. Note that the front door is now below street grade and is accessible by a below-grade sidewalk.
(Photo: unknown photographer and provenance.)
Caroline is buried in an unmarked grave in the former monks’ cemetery just to the left of the headmaster’s residence in this photo (building on right; cemetery obscured by trees).
(Photo: Erhard Knittel, Maulbronn; used by permission.)
Maulbronn Monastery, Rear Garden