Caroline Herder

Maria Karoline Herder (28 January 1750 Reichenweier, Alsace — 15 September 1809 Weimar, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach) was a German editor who collected and published the works of her famous husband, philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder.

Biography

Family and education She was born Maria Karoline Flachsland, the daughter of Johann Friedrich Flachsland (1715–1755) and his wife Rosina Catharina Mauritii (1717–1765). Orphaned at a young age, she went to live at the home of her sister Friederike Katharina (1744–1801) in Darmstadt, which in 1761 got married statesman (1728–1803). Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who soon became her friend, Franz Michael Leuchsenring, Sophie von La Roche, Johann Heinrich Merck and her future husband Johann Gottfried Herder belonged to the group. Later, Goethe called her his "sister."

Through Merck's mediation, Karoline met Herder, who was passing through, in August 1770. Their subsequent correspondence is among the most important documents of the time, but also reveals the ambivalence of their characters in the two lovers' struggle to reach a decision. Despite her sober and practical approach to life, however, the passionate woman often succumbed to her excitable temperament, knew few bounds in love and hate, and judged hastily and sometimes unfairly. In their secluded residence, the couple lived their "happiest" and spiritually fruitful time.

Works After Herder's appointment to Weimar in 1776, a new sphere of influence opened up for her wife, among her growing family and her husband's friends; she also constantly participated in his official and literary work. She became the "Theano" of the "Gott" gespräche (1787), assisted in the creation of many of Herder's works (the "Volkslieder," the "Ideen," the "Zerstreute Blätter"), and, especially in later years, conducted his extensive correspondence as his "secretaire." Above all, however, her entire care, although she herself was often ill, was devoted to her aging, declining husband.

She suffered a severe blow when Goethe, in 1795, turned away from her during a financial dispute with Duke Karl August. From then on, they had little contact, but she remained spiritually close to him. Her friendship with Johann Gleim, Johann Georg Müller in Schaffhausen, and Jean Paul made her happy, but could not compensate for this loss. After her husband's death in 1803, her sole concern was for her sons, who were living in difficult circumstances, the publication of Herder's complete works, which she finally completed alone with Johann Georg Müller at Cotta from 1805 onwards, albeit not without some shortcomings, and the tireless promotion of his ideas.

Maria Karoline von Herder died in Weimar on 15 September 1809 at 59 years of age and was buried there in the old Jakobsfriedhof (Jacob's cemetery).

Works

Herder, C. Memories from the life of Joh. Gottfried von Herder. Collected and described by Maria Carolina von Herder. 2 vols., Tübingen, 1820