Sophie von Kühn
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Christiane Wilhelmine Sophie von Kühn (March 17, 1782 – March 19, 1797) was the love interest and eventual fiancé of the German Romantic poet and philosopher Friedrich von Hardenberg, known to many simply as Novalis (May 2, 1772 – March 25, 1801). Her image famously appears in Novalis’ Hymns to the Night, a foundational text of the literary movement known as German Romanticism.
Although Novalis’ love for Sophie has taken on mythic proportions, their time together was short and uneventful. The two met in November of 1794 when Novalis was twenty-two and Sophie was only twelve. In March of 1795, they became engaged. Sophie became sick in November 1795, and her sickness continued until her death at the age of 15 in March of 1797. The loss of Sophie brought about a deep period of mourning and suffering in Novalis' life. He married Julie von Charpentier in December 1798.
The depth of Sophie’s love for Novalis is uncertain given her young age. Some of her diary entries, found in Wm. O’Brien's Novalis: Signs of Revolution, provide some insight into her relationship with Novalis:
March 1. Today Hartenberch visited again nothing happened.
March 11. We were alone today and nothing at all happened.
March 12. Today was like yesterday nothing at all happened.
March 13. Today was repentance day and Hartenb. was here.
March 14. Today Hartenber. was still here he got a letter from his brother.
Sophie had a sister Caroline von Kühn and a stepsister Wilhelmine von Thümmel.
[edit] Secondary Literature
- O’Brien, Wm. Arctander, Novalis: Signs of Revolution. Durham: Duke University Press, 1997.
- Regula Fankhauser, Des Dichters Sophia, 1997.
- German Wikipedia page about Sophie von Kühn [1]
