Bettina von Arnim (1785-1859) - Find a Grave Memorial

Author and Poet. Born Bettina Catharina Elisabetha Ludovica Magdalena Brentano, she was the daughter of the Como merchant P. A. Brentano and Maximiliane von Laroche, and sister of Clemens Brentano, another important writer of that time. In 1811 she married Achim von Arnim, a young talented German writer, who will become one of the greatest exponents of the romantic period. However, her marriage was not a happy one. She was tied by close friendship with Christoph Martin Wieland and especially with Goethe, who knew three generations of her family. In 1835 she wrote the three-part work "Goethe's Correspondence with a Little Girl", which was a huge success. In 1840 she published an epistolary novel based on the story of a poet friend of hers, Karoline von Guenderrode, who had committed suicide for love. Four years later she published a work full of letters exchanged with her recently deceased brother: "Clemens Brentano' Spring Crown". In 1843 she wrote "The King's Book", addressed to Frederick William IV of Prussia, which Bettina would have liked to win over her libertarian and populist ideals. She was also a great friend of Ludwig van Beethoven, whom she met in Juli 1812. The living room of her house in Berlin became a reference point for the cultural elite of the city. In 1853 the twenty-year-old Johannes Brahms dedicated one of his first works to the elderly writer: his Lieder op. 3. From 1991 to 31 December 2001 her portrait was featured in German 5-mark banknotes.

Bio by: Marina Caracciolo