Ulla von Höpken

Ulrika Eleonora "Ulla" von Höpken (; later von Wright; 24 March 1749 – 17 September 1810), was a Swedish countess and courtier. She is also famous in history as one of "the three graces" of the Gustavian age; three ladies-in-waiting (Augusta von Fersen, von Höpken and Louise Meijerfeldt) immortalized in the poem "Gracernas döpelse" by Johan Henric Kellgren. She was a leading socialite and trendsetter in contemporary Sweden, and one of the best known personalities of the Gustavian age.

Biography Early life Ulrika Eleonora "Ulla" von Fersen was one of six daughters of Count Carl Reinhold von Fersen, royal Crown Forester and Charlotta Sparre, a lady-in-waiting. She was the niece of Axel von Fersen the Elder, a leading force within the Caps political party, and a cousin of the famous Count Axel von Fersen the Younger, a friend of Queen Marie Antoinette of France. Her father was described as "one of the most elegant and spirited gentlemen of his time", and her mother was celebrated for her beauty at the French royal court of Versailles, when she accompanied her aunt and uncle, Ulla Tessin and Count Carl Gustaf Tessin when he was the Swedish ambassador to France.

Both of her parents spent their life in service at the royal Swedish court, and Ulla von Fersen, as well as her sisters, served as (maids of honour) prior to her marriage. From 1767 to 1770, she served as to the Crown Princess, Sophia Magdalena of Denmark.

Love affair with Prince Frederick

In 1767, Prince Frederick Adolf of Sweden fell in love with Ulla. At the same time, Prince Charles courted another lady-in-waiting, Brita Horn.

This is mentioned in the memoirs of courtier Adolf Ludvig Hamilton from 1767, when he mentioned the love of the princes for "the maids of honour Brita Horn and Ulrika Fersen. Prince Charles' love for the first, Prince Frederick's for the second, were both adjusted to the character of the two ladies. Miss Horn was blond, virtuous, sometimes cold, sometimes tender. She had almost made passion of her influence. Miss Fersen, funny, jolly, happy, capricious, considered the whole affair as a pastime which flattered her confidence and left it at that". Hamilton described a scene at Kina slott that summer: "In one corner, the Queen discussed politics, in another, the King talked about the hay- and oat prices with his equerry, the Crown Prince about fashion and France with Countess Ribbing (born Löwen). Prince Frederick bickered with his beauty (Ulla Fersen), prince Charles stood faithfully by his (Brita Horn), but in silence. The Crown Princess stood changing feet in boredom – the rest of the court yawned or slept."

In both cases, the royal family was opposed to the love matches. However, while the family of Brita Horn supported a marriage between Prince Charles and Brita, the family of Ulla opposed her marriage to Prince Frederick. The most talented participators within the famous amateur court theater of Gustav III were Caroline Lewenhaupt, Carl von Fersen, Hedvig Ulrika De la Gardie, Nils Barck, Maria Aurora Uggla, Otto Jacob von Manteuffel Zöge, Bror Cederström and the sisters Ulla von Höpken and Augusta von Fersen.

Ulla von Höpken was a fashion icon and aroused attention by her way of dress – she sometime dressed as a man in trousers to provoke, such as when she on one occasion dressed as a page boy with trousers of leather, boots and spurs.

Foremost, Ulla von Höpken is famous for her love life. She has sometime been identified as a symbol of the frivolous sexual liberty of the 18th-century aristocracy, and it was said in 1782 that "the Aphrodite of the epoch rule as sovereign in the figure of Ulla Höpken". In 1781, she was the target of another scandal, when the caricature Lisimons was written by the courtiers to describe her relationship with her three lovers; the three actual men in question was thereafter referred to as her "lisimons". From about 1781 onward, however, von Höpken had a serious and permanent long-term relationship with "a beautiful page", the younger Georg Jonas von Wright, who was her lover for the rest of her life and whom she eventually married.

Von Höpken was a close platonic friend and confidant of king Gustav III, and it was noted that they enjoyed speaking with each other as if they were flirting. Gustav III once said to her: "Well Ulla, you and me are surely friends for ever and will never leave each other", upon which she answered: "Thank you very much, I have had one unhappy marriage already and that is quite enough." This was repaired, however, and as late as in 1788, she was mentioned as one who had the privilege to speak completely openly to the monarch about anything, including political affairs. Her mother died later that same year. In 1797, von Höpken married her "fateful admirer" and long term lover, the five years younger colonel Georg Jonas von Wright (1754–1800), and reportedly lived happy with him in Uppsala.

Fiction Von Höpken is the subject of the novel Venus i rokoko; en roman om Ulla von Fersen (Roccoco Venus; a novel of Ulla von Fersen) by Ole Söderström (1960). The novel gives a relatively correct fictionalized account of her life until she enters into her lifelong love story with Georg Jonas von Wright. It also includes speculation that Gustav III at one point unsuccessfully attempts to have a sexual relationship with von Höpken, but fails, because of his homosexuality.

Von Höpken has also been suggested as a role model for Bellman's character Ulla Winblad in her "aristocratic version".