Happy birthday Sophie von La Roche!

The first German female professional writer inspired many women to read

Marie Sophie Gutermann was born to a family of doctors in Kaufbeuren, Swabia, on 6 December 1730. After breaking off her engagement to her cousin Christoph Martin Wieland – who would later become one of the most important Enlightenment thinkers – she married a councillor at the electoral court in Mainz and worked as a companion and lady-in-waiting. She wrote the first novel published by a German woman in her spare time. As novels were generally frowned upon by respectable society, and writing was considered improper for women, Sophie von La Roche published The Story of Miss von Sternheim anonymously. With detailed descriptions of emotions that delighted her readers, Sophie von La Roche’s “women’s novels” inspired many women to read. Conservatives viewed this with suspicion, fearing that women would develop “silly ideas” and neglect their duties. After Sophie von La Roche’s husband was appointed privy councillor to the Elector of Trier, her family moved to Koblenz, where she ran a literary salon for many years.

Her happy life came to an abrupt end when her husband was dismissed from his post for criticizing traditional religion and the La Roches eventually settled in Offenbach am Main. Although her husband had lost his income, Sophie had made a considerable amount of money from her successful novels and earned even more by contributing articles to a women’s magazine and editing a monthly magazine for “Germany’s daughters”. With its educational and Enlightenment themes, this magazine differed significantly from the fashion magazines of the time, which confined women to the role of mere adornments for men. When her husband died and her widow’s pension was discontinued by the French occupation of Trier, Sophie von La Roche fell into financial difficulties. In her old age, she was forced to write about anything and everything in order to reach a popular audience and maximize income. Sophie von La Roche died in Offenbach in 1807. Her grandchildren Clemens Brentano and Bettina von Arnim were both well-known writers of the Romantic period, and Bettina von Arnim’s social activism caused a sensation throughout Germany.