Fanny zu Reventlow
Franziska (Countess zu) Reventlow (born 18 May 1871 in Husum; died 26 July 1918 in Locarno Switzerland, real name Franziska Liane Sophie Augusta Wilhelmine Adrienne Gräfin zu Reventlow)[1] was a German writer, artist and translator, who became famous as the "Bohemian Countess" of Schwabing (an entertainment district in Munich) in the years leading up to World War I.[2]
Life
Franziska (or Fanny, as she was called) Reventlow was the fifth of six children of the Prussian aristocrat Ludwig Graf zu Reventlow (1825-1894) and his wife Emilie (1834-1905). She was born in the family seat at Husum. The family were friendly with the North German writer Theodor Storm. Her brother Ernst was an ultra-nationalist and eventually became a Nazi.
While young she was in constant conflict with her mother. She was thrown out of boarding school for misbehavior and lack of respect for the authorities. After being sent to stay with a family friend in 1893, she fled to Hamburg. Here she met Walter Lubke, who paid for a stay in Munich studying art, and whom she married in 1894.[2]
The marriage broke up when she set off again in 1895 to Munich, to continue her art studies. They were divorced in 1897. In September of that year her son Rolf was born - she never divulged the name of the father. She supported herself by translation work and writing short articles for magazines and newspapers, such as Simplicissimus and the Frankfurter Zeitung.[3]
She left Munich for Ascona in Switzerland in 1910 (Monte Verità), where she married for the second time.
In 1916 she moved to Muralto on Lago Maggiore. She died in 1918 after an operation in a clinic in Locarno and was buried in the cemetery of the Santa Maria church in Selva in Locarno.
Feminism
Reventlow is best known as one of the most unorthodox voices of the early women's movement in Europe. While many of her peers were pressing for improved social, political, and economic rights for women, Reventlow argued that ardent feminists, whom she labelled "viragoes," were actually harming women by attempting to erase or deny the natural differences between men and women. Reventlow maintained that sexual freedom, and the abolition of the institution of marriage, were the best means by which women could hope to achieve a more equal social standing with men.[2]
Schwabing
In Schwabing she was friendly with members of the Kosmische Runde (Cosmic Circle), which at one time included Stefan George, among others.
Works
- (with Otto Eugen Thossan) Klosterjungen. Humoresken (two stories), Wigand, Leipzig 1897
- Das Männerphantom der Frau (Essay), in: Zürcher Diskußionen 1898
- Was Frauen ziemt (Essay); under the title Viragines oder Hetären? in: Zürcher Diskußionen 1899
- Erziehung und Sittlichkeit (Essay), in: Otto Falckenberg, Das Buch von der Lex Heinze. Leipzig 1900
- Ellen Olestjerne, J. Marchlewski, Munich 1903
- Der Geldkomplex, Langen, Munich 1916
- Das Logierhaus zur Schwankenden Weltkugel und andere Novellen, Langen, Munich 1917
References
Sources
- Stein, Gerd (1982). Bohemien-Tramp-Sponti (in German). Fischer. ISBN 3596250358.
- Wendt, Gunna (2008). Franziska zu Reventlow. Die anmutige Rebellin. Biographie (in German). Aufbau-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-351-02660-8.
- Egbringhoff, Ulla (2000). Franziska zu Reventlow (in German). Reinbek (rm 614). ISBN 3-499-50614-9.