Bettina von Arnim

Bettina von Arnim (4 April 1785, Frankfurt am Main – 20 January 1859, Berlin), born as Elisabeth Catharina Ludovica Magdalena Brentano, was a German writer and novelist.

Bettina von Arnim was closely related to the German writers Clemens Brentano and Achim von Arnim: the first was her brother, the second her husband.

From 1991 until Dec., 31, 2001, her portrait was printed on the German 5-DM-Banknote

Bettina's Briefwechsel mit einem Kinde was a published volume of letters between her and the renowned author, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, that depicted a mutual romance. However, the originals of these letters were discovered after her death, and it was revealed that her published versions were significantly edited to bolster the appearance of an intimate relationship; Goethe's own letters to her were much more formal and impersonal than the versions Bettina had published.

The life of Bettina von Arnim, particularly her relationship with Goethe, was explored at length by the Franco-Czech author Milan Kundera in his novel Immortality. Closely tied to the main theme of his book, Kundera interpreted Bettina as attempting to achieve lasting fame through her promotion of and relation to great men.

Works

• Briefwechsel mit einem Kinde ("Correspondence with a Child"), 1835)
• Die Günderode, 1840
• Dies Buch gehört dem König, 1843
• Clemens Brentanos Frühlingskranz, 1844
• An die aufgelöste Preußische Nationalversammlung, 1849