Augusta's Friends Archives - Page 2 of 8

Cecilias’s Album: Adèle Rudenschöld – Princess Eugénie’s Maid of Honor

There is a card in Cecilia’s album that is signed Adèle. On the card is a small watercolor painting of peaches, grapes, and a blue butterfly.

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Adèle Rudenschöld

Of course, I don’t know if the girl who signed the card was in fact Adèle Rudenschöld. All I know is that Adèle Rudenschöld (Louise Rudenschöld’s little sister) attended Edgren’s school and was a friend of Cecilia and our Augusta.

Another girl in Edgren’s school, Ebba Almroth, writes about Edgren’s school in her autobiography and also writes that Miss Rudenschöld, who she met at the Royal Palace, was an old schoolfellow. That would indicate that Adèle Rudenschöld attended Edgren’s school.

“My father took great pleasure in the education of my sister and myself. We attended the school of Frau Edgren, a German lady, wife of an excellent Swedish clergyman.

My school days were very happy. The teachers in Frau Edgren’s school did all in their powers to instill the noble ambition into their pupils of a desire to excel in their studies.” Ebba Almroth’s autobiography

Later in life, Ebba visited Princess Eugénie of Sweden at the Royal Palace. When the princess died in 1889, Ebba wrote an obituary which was published in Sunday at Homes. In the obituary she writes about her surprise in meeting Adèle Rudenschöld in the palace:

“I was interested to find an old schoolfellow, Miss Rudenschöld, living with her in the palace as a maid-of-honor to Her Royal Highness.”

Adèle’s Childhood

Adèle was born at Tyresö castle on October 4, 1832. In 1838, when Adèle was 5 ½ years old, the family moved to Stockholm. Edgren’s school had opened in the fall of 1838. Might that have been a reason for the family to move from their castle in the country to an apartment in town? To make sure their 3 daughters, Louise, Emma, and Adèle got a good, Christian education? Who knows.

Princess Eugénie’s Maid of Honor

Princess Eugénie of Sweden was born to King Oscar I and Queen Josephine in 1830. She had three older brothers.

In 1866, at the age of 34, Adèle became Princess Eugénie’s maid of honor (Hovfröken) and moved into the Royal Palace. Princess Eugénie was two years older than Adèle. Neither was interested in marriage, and both were inspired by the revival movement within the Lutheran church. They also had common hobbies and interests.

Princess Eugénie spent considerable time at Fridhem, her villa built on the island of Gotland in 1861. There are a few photos of her and Adèle at Fridhem. Some pictures even include Adèle’s sister Emma and her father.

The park at Fridhem. Emma and Adéle Rudenschöld, Princess Eugénie, a student, and Count Rudenschöld (Emma and Adéle’s father), 1868

Animal Rights

Adèle and Princess Eugénie were both passionate about animal rights. In 1882, Princess Eugénie, Adèle, and 6 others met at the Royal Palace and created an organization to combat animal cruelty in science (The Nordic Association for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). Four days later, the association held its inaugural meeting at which Dr. Adolf L. Nordwall, bureau chief at the Department of Education, was chosen as the president of the organization. Adolf Nordwall was our Augusta’s husband (and our great-great-grandfather)!

When Adolf met Adèle on that day, did he know that Augusta and Adèle had been schoolmates? Likewise, did Adèle know that Adolf had been married to Augusta? Maybe not.

Adolf held the position of president of the organization until his death in 1892. In 1909, the organization changed its name to Djurens Rätt (The Association of Animal Rights). Today, it is the largest animal rights and animal welfare organization in Sweden.

Art

Adèle and Princess Eugénie were also interested in art. In the 1860s, Princess Eugénie took sculpting lessons from Professor Johan Peter Molin (1814-1873). He is famous for having designed the bronze fountain sculpture in Kungsträdgården (the oldest functioning fountain in Stockholm) and the statue of King Karl XII, also in Kungsträdgården.

The sculptures that Adèle and Princess Eugénie created were made in Parian ware and the motives they chose were very similar. They most likely made them under the tutelage of Professor Molin. Some were then manufactured commercially by Gustavsberg’s porcelain factory. Adèle made a sculpture of a dog and a boy:

Dog with Boy. Sculpture in Parian ware, designed by Adèle Rudenschöld, and manufactured by Gustavsberg’s porcelain factory, 1870-1925. (Nationalmuseum, Sweden)

Princess Eugénie also made a sculpture of a dog and a boy:

Can You Speak? (Kan du tala?). Sculpture in Parian ware, designed by Princess Eugénie, and manufactured by Gustavsberg’s porcelain factory 1882-1925.

Adèle’s sculpture in Parian ware of a girl carrying a little boy, manufactured by Gustavsberg’s pordelain factory, recently sold at auction for 400 SEK (~$40)!:

Girl with a Boy on her Shoulder. Sculpture in Parian ware, designed by Adèle Rudenschöld, and manufactured by Gustavsberg’s porcelain factory 1960s.

Later Years

Princess Eugénie died in 1889 at the age of 59. Adèle, who had lived at the Royal Palace since 1866, now moved to an apartment on Artillerigatan 37 in Stockholm. In October of 1923, she moved in with her nephew, Ernst Stenhammar, and his family. She died two months later, on new years eve, at the high age of 91.

What happened to Emma?

I have already written about Adèle’s sister Louise. But what happened to the third sister, Emma? There is no card in Cecilia’s album that is signed by Emma.

Emma was born on August 4, 1830. She contracted tuberculosis (TB) and died in 1868 at the age of 38. The cause of death was TB which had also caused kidney disease.

Emma Augusta Ottilde Rudenschöld (1830-1868)

Cecilia’s Album: Louise Rudenschöld (Stenhammar) – A Childhood at Tyresö Castle

In Cecilia’s memory album, there is a beautiful drawing of a chapel by a lake. The drawing is signed, Louise Rudenschöld.

I assume that Louise copied a print, maybe of a chapel in the Dolomites (based on the architecture of the chapel and the mountains in the background).

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Louise Rudenschöld

Eva Christina Lovisa (Louise) Rudenschöld was born on October 4, 1828, at Hinderstorp, a large estate south of Lidköping. Her parents were Count Thure Gabriel Rudenschöld and Countess Augusta Charlotta Lovisa Stackelberg. Louise had two younger sisters, Emma Augusta Ottilde, born 1830 (also at Hinderstorp), and Adèle Marina, born 1832 at Tyresö castle.

Louise’s maternal grandparents, Count Carl Adolf Ludvig Stackelberg and Eva Sofia Adelsvärd owned Hinderstorp where the family lived. They then bought a magnificent castle, Tyresö, southeast of Stockholm. Now, the extended family moved to Tyresö, where they attended their first church service in Tyresö parish in May of 1832.

Louise was 3 ½ years old. Her early childhood memories would have been from Tyresö: running through the huge rooms of the castle, maybe being scared of the portraits on the walls, walking under fragrant linden trees in the expansive park, and maybe playing with a little dog.

In May of 1838, the family moved to Stockholm. Why did they give up their opulent lifestyle (yes, the number of servants in the household, listed in the church records, is mind-blowing, as are their titles or tasks) for an apartment in Stockholm? Maybe it was because of Louise’s father’s position as a chamberlain. Maybe they missed social life. Louise was now 10 years old.

The year Louise gave Cecilia the memory card, the family lived in Jacob’s parish at Malmskildnadsgatan 32. That’s where the shopping center Gallerian is located today.

Going to School

Did Louise and her sisters attend Edgren’s school? I know that Louise’s sister Adèle did (she will get her own story told in a separate blog entry). One would assume that all three sisters attended Edgren’s school and were friends with Cecilia and our Augusta.

Marriage

Louise married architect Per Ulrik Stenhammar (b.1829) in 1858. He designed Ersta Chapel in Stockholm and some other churches. He was also a composer of both sacred and secular music and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. The couple had (at least) 5 children. Two have their own Wikipedia pages – Ernst and Wilhelm.

Ernst Wilhelm Emanuel (1859-1927)
Anna Cecilia Augusta (1860-1909)
Christina Lovisa Gabriella (1862-1934)
Johan Samuel (1867-1872)
Carl Wilhelm Eugen (1871-1927)

Wilhelm Stenhammar

The youngest child in the family was Wilhelm. He was musical prodigy.

“Dinner with Countess M. Leijohufvud, together with Lieutenant Adolf von Koch, his Baroness, Mrs. L. Stenhammar, and others. In the afternoon music, among others by the young, 7-year-old Vilhelm Stenhammar, who improvised and played so extraordinarily well that those who had not heard him before, must be amazed at what they rightly called him “a prodigy”. Yes, in truth it may be said here – what may become of this child?” (Diary entry on 2 April 1878 by Pastor B. Wadström).

Wilhelm grew up to be a famous composer and pianist. He composed the music for a national anthem – a song called Sverige (Sweden), that is played on Swedish Radio at midnight every New Year’s Eve.

Religion

Louise was raised in a deeply religious family. Her father was one of the founding members of The Swedish Evangelical Mission Society (Evangeliska Fosterlands-Stiftelsen). Pastor Wadström, who wrote the diary entry above, was a spiritual mentor to Louise’s grandfather. In his book From Memories and the Diary – Notes from the years 1848-1898 (Swedish: Ur Minnet och Dagboken – Anteckningar från åren 1849-1898), Wadström also included writings in his memory book by his friends. Lousie, her parents, her sisters, and her husband, all contributed to Pastor Wadström’s memory book and Louise even made a drawing.

Artistic Talent

Louise, her sister Adèle, their father, and their paternal grandfather were all hobby artists. Louise specialized in portraits and made drawings and watercolor paintings. Adèle was a sculpturist. Their father made landscape drawings and oil paintings while their grandfather made landscape drawings.

Oil Paintings of Tyresö Castle by Louise’s father, Thure Gabriel Rudenschöld 1867. (Source: Uppsala Auktionskammare)

According to Uppsala University Library, the following drawings were made by Louise’s grandfather (who had the same name as her father, Thure Gabriel). These drawings of Tyresö were supposedly made in 1820-1830. Could they actually be drawings by Louise’s father? Nevertheless, they are beautiful drawings.

Source: https://www.alvin-portal.org/alvin/imageViewer.jsf?dsId=ATTACHMENT-0002&pid=alvin-record%3A369789&dswid=7816

Louise lived a long life and died in Stockholm in 1902. Her diary from 1884-1899 and some correspondence with her family members can be found in Wilhelm Stenhammar’s Archive.

Cecilia’s Album: Adèlaide Peijron (Sparre) – A Poem about Friendship

Today’s card in Cecilia Koch’s memory album is from Adèlaide Peijron. I wrote about Adèlaide in 2018 when I was searching for the girls who, like Augusta, lived with the Edgren family in Stockholm. Soon after writing the blog post, I received an exciting email from Adèlaide’s great-great-granddaughter (and our new friend), Kathinka Lindhe. At that time, she was working on a book about Adèlaide’s son. More about that down below.

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Tomt och ödsligt blir Ditt lif
Om ej någon vän du äger
Wänskapen Ditt hjerta gif
Den allt annat öfverväger
Den är fast som klippans stål
Och ur denna verld dess mål

My translation (I am no expert on translating poetry and this time I took some liberties to improve on a simple literal translation)

Empty and desolate your life will be,
if not a friend you have.

A heartfelt friendship, do bestow,
a gift that beats all else.

Friendship – solid as a rock,
aim for it in life.

Who was Adèlaide?

Adèle’s full name was Adèlaide Virginia Peijron and she was born on 13 June 1831 in Stockholm. She was almost 13 years old when she wrote the loving poem to Cecilia.

Adèlaide’s mother was Adèlaide Elisabet Schön (1808-1837) and her father was the officer Edouard August Peyron (1796-1858) who had been introduced into the House of Nobility in 1837 with the new name, Peijron. In 1844, when Adèlaide wrote the poem to Cecilia, her father was a chamberlain (kabinettskammarherre) to King Oscar I.

Adèlaide’s mother died when Adèlaide was only 6 years old. It is understandable that the father could not take care of his young daughter. In 1840, at the age of 9, Adèlaide was therefore boarding with the Edgren family. She lived with the Edgrens until they left Stockholm in May of 1844. She then moved in with Mademoiselle Andriette Frigell who continued the school.

“My own Augusta!

Thank you, thank you, for your latest and, for so long, an anticipated letter which was dearly received.

… Yesterday, I was visiting Mademoiselle Frigel and she always asks about you and she sent you her warmest regards. Adèle Peyron also sent you lots of greetings. Erica Degermann and I are invited to Mademoiselle Frigell on a graduation ball on Tuesday…” (Lotten Westman’s letter to Augusta, 16 April 1846)

In September 1846, Adèlaide’s father married Anna Maria Bagge (1810-1858) and Adèlaide now had a stepmother. This upcoming wedding was already news in Mademoiselle Frigell’s school in the spring of 1846:

“Speaking of Mademoiselle F., Adèle Peyron’s father will remarry, with Mrs. Bagge, born Groen. So Adèle gets a stepmother. She went with her on May 1^st but Adèle did not look happy at all, said Erica Degerman who saw her. Poor Adèle, I do not think it should be fun to have a new mother when you are that old.” (Lotten Westman’s letter to Augusta, 6 May 1846)

In 1853, Adèle married chamberlain Gabriel Gerhard Sigge Sparre af Rossvik and they had 2 sons and 2 daughters. One of the sons was Sixten Sparre.

Sixten Sparre

Sixten Sparre was married and had two children when he became infatuated with a beautiful circus performer, Elvira Madigan. He left his family and convinced Elvira to leave the circus and join him. They traveled to Denmark but had no means to support themselves. Their “honeymoon” ended in tragedy. Their bodies were found in a forest, Elvira presumably shot by Sixten who then shot himself. Their short story was the perfect fodder for the press – a romantic love story of a lieutenant and a beautiful circus artist who in desperation jointly committed suicide. Did they?

For the surviving family, it was something else – the tragedy, the shame, the history that should be forgotten and not mentioned. Kathinka Lindhe writes about this in her book Vacker var han, utav börd: Sixten Sparre, mannen som mördade Elvira Madigan (Transl. He was beautiful, of noble birth: Sixten Sparre, the man who murdered Elvira Madigan), published in 2020. It is a fascinating narrative about Sixten Sparre. She also writes about Adèle’s life after her son’s murder/suicide.

Adèle had had her own marital problems. Her husband had squandered all the wealth she had brought into the marriage. He had been forced to declare bankruptcy, and when he died in 1897, there was no inheritance for Adèle to live on. She had to manage on a pension but fortunately, she later received a substantial inheritance from a relative. She died in Stockholm in 1909, at the age of 78.

Cecilia’s Album: Axelina Fries (Fock) – A lock of her hair

Axeline Fries was 14 years old in May of 1844. When she sat down to write a card for Cecilia Koch’s memory album, she had already decided on her favorite poem. She knew it by heart.

Måtte nya blommor smycka,
Hvarje dag du möter än.
Intet saknas i din lycka,
Helgad utaf vänskapen.

(Literally translated as:
May new flowers adorn,
every day that greets you
Nothing lacking in your happiness
sanctified by friendship)

She made sure that her letters were perfectly lined up on the card and she underlined friendship (vänskapen).

But she wanted to give Cecilia something more and something personal.

A lock of her hair.

She gathered a few strands of her long, straight, brown hair and then, with her embroidery scissors, made the cut. She twisted the lock into two circles, like a pretzel, and tied it with a strand of red embroidery floss.

Two years later, her friend Cecilia died of measles and Axelina’s message would not bring any personal memories to those who read it. Now, 178 years later, I feel like I am finding a message in a bottle.

Who was Axelina? What did she look like? Did she marry? Did flowers adorn every day that greeted her?

Axelina Maria Magdalena Fries

Axelina was born in Malmö on September 5, 1829. Her father was Bengt Fredrik Fries (b. 1799), a professor of zoology who in 1831 became the curator of the Museum of Natural History in Stockholm. His wife, Axelina’s mother, was Anna Christina Lundberg (b. 1804).

Anna Christina Lundberg (Professor Bengt Fredrik Fries’ wife). Drawing by Maria Röhl, 1846.

Axelina had two younger sisters, Josefina Helena Gustafva (b. 1831) and Ida Maria Elisabet (b. 1834).

Axelina’s father died suddenly in 1839. In 1842, the family moved to Clara parish and to the house at the corner of Stora Vattugränd and Clara Östra Kyrkogata. It was the same house where Charlotta Lindström’s family lived (Charlotta, who also wrote a card for Cecilia’s album). The situations of the two families, Fries and Lindström, were similar. The fathers in both families were professors who had 3 young daughters when they suddenly died in their 30s.

Josefina and Axelina Fries in 1846. Drawings by Maria Röhl.

Axelina marries Baron Alfred Henrik Edvard Fock

“You probably already know that Axeline Fries is engaged to a Baron Fock, but they will not marry yet. He is awfully much smaller than her, it does not look very nice. When she takes his arm, he disappears right under her red coat.” (Lotten Westman’s letter to Augusta, March 6, 1848)

It was well known that Baron Alfred Henrik Edvard Fock was unusually short in stature. A friend of Alfred Fock, Fritz von Dardel, referred to him as “little Fock”.

“I had been asked to speak, but I instead persuaded little Fock to do it and he succeeded much better than I should have done.” (Fritz von Dardel describing a visit by industrialists and artists to thank Crown Prince Oscar for his support).

Alfred Fock. Drawing by Fritz von Dardel

Alfred Fock was born in 1818 in Bjurbäck, close to Jönköping. When Axelina met him, he was a lieutenant and a teacher of physics in Stockholm. He would later leave the military and become a professor of physics at the Technology Institute in Stockholm; nowadays the KTH Royal Institute of Technology. He also became a member of parliament.

Axelina and Alfred got married on February 24, 1849. They had five children:

Anna Magdalena ”Malin” (1849-1933), did not marry
Axel Fredrik (1852-1878), did not marry
Carl Alexander (1854-1938), married Huldina Beamish
Gertrud Maria (1856-1856), died in infancy
Ida Lovisa Josefina (1864-1914), married John Edvard Magnus Sager

In the winter of 1858-59, Axelina and her two sisters visited Maria Röhl again. These are the artist’s quick sketches. She focused on the faces at these sessions.

Axelina, Josefina, and Ida Fries. Sketches by Maria Röhl.

A new home at Hantverkargatan 18, Kungsholmen

In 1851, the family moved to Hantverkargatan 18 (block Fikonträdet). They lived there until the end of the year 1856.

The address seems familiar, and in the house examination records, I recognize the names of Augusta’s childhood friends from Krusenhof in Kvillinge parish: the Hjort family. This is the house Augusta visited on her trips to Stockholm in the 1850s. And this is where she lived when she was ill with tuberculosis and was treated by Dr. Pehr Henrik Malmsten, a famous doctor in Stockholm. Augusta must have run into Axelina when she visited the Hjorts and when she stayed with them.

Augusta describes her visit to the Hjorts in her diary, March 12, 1851.

“The day after our arrival, we waded through quarter-deep dirt to our friends on Kungsholmen, where we were warmly received, had a pleasant evening and reminisced about our winter evenings at Krusenhof.

Aunt and Nanna have a small sunny and nice home, in the middle of a garden that extends all the way down to the lake shore. In the summer, this little place must be a real paradise where you have flowers and light, fresh air and Lake Mälaren’s blue surface and verdant islets to rest your eyes on, as well as the most magnificent views of Riddarholmen and Söder and, over all, the steamships that from different directions rush to their common goal – Riddarholmsbron.”

Axelina’s Grandchildren

Axelina died on October 9, 1888, in Stockholm. That should probably be the end of this blog entry – one about a young, happy girl who wrote a lovely poem to her friend and gave her a lock of her hair.

But there are at least two of her grandchildren who should be mentioned. Axelina’s son, Carl Alexander, and his wife Huldina had 5 daughters: Fanny, Elsa, Mary, Carin, and Lilly.

My Memory of Axelina’s Granddaughter Mary

I actually have a memory of Axelina’s granddaughter.

I am around 5 years old and we are celebrating midsummer at Rockelstad Castle in Helgesta parish. I only remember two things: my parents dancing in a crowded place, and the old countess, who lived in the castle, giving me a large, shiny coin, maybe a 2-crown or 5-crown coin as a prize in a game organized for the kids. I curtsy politely as expected of me. It feels like a fairy tale, getting a shiny coin from an old countess who lives in a real castle.

Countess Mary von Rosen was Axelina’s granddaughter. She was born in 1886 and married Count Eric von Rosen (b.1879) in 1905. He was a pilot, an ethnographer, and the owner of Rockelstad Castle.

When I was a child, our family spent the summers at Ådö in Helgesta parish not far from Rockelstad Castle. There were lots of stories about Eric von Rosen, of his travels, parties, hunting trophies, etc. That is all I knew.

When I searched for Axelina’s granddaughters, I learned that Eric von Rosen died in 1948 and his wife in 1967. I guess she wasn’t as old as I thought she was when I was little.

Axelina’s Infamous Granddaughter Carin

Mary’s younger sister Carin married nazi-leader Hermann Göring in 1922. He was working as a commercial pilot in Stockholm after World War I and knew Eric von Rosen (also a pilot). Carin was visiting her sister Mary when she met Göring at Rockelstad. The couple moved to Germany in 1922 and became high-profile members of the nazi party. Carin died before World War II in 1931, at the age of 42, from a heart attack. Hermann Göring’s war crimes are well documented.

Notes:

Axelina’s sisters Josefina and Ida never married.
The poem Axelina copied is an anonymous poem. It was published in a book in 1857.
All drawings by Maria Röhl are available at regina.kb.se

Cecilia’s Album: Charlotte Ahlberg (Weidenhielm) – Also an Artist?

Last week I wrote about Amelie Ahlberg who drew a picture of Haddon Hall. I speculated that her older sister, Charlotte, might also have given Cecilia a drawing for her memory album.

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In Cecilia’s album, there is a pencil drawing of a house. The painting is signed Charlotte and is dated 30 January 1844. Charlotte was a very common name in the 1840s and it is of course possible that the drawing was made by some other girl named Charlotte. However, because both drawings, Amelie’s and the one signed Charlotte, are excellent, I believe this one was in fact made by Charlotte Ahlberg.

Again, Google Lens nailed it and I should probably have recognized it anyway. This is Haga Palace outside Stockholm. It is now the home of the Swedish crown princess and her family. But which rendering of Haga Palace did Charlotte copy?

I search the Swedish Royal Library for images of this palace and can hardly believe my luck. There is a digitized copy of a lithograph from 1835 and when I crop it, I am stunned. Charlotte was a great artist!

Left: Lithograph of Haga Palace, 1835. Right: Charlotte’s drawing, 1844.

Here is the full-size lithograph print:

Full-size lithograph

Charlotte Ahlberg

Charlotte Henriette Bothilda was the oldest child of Dr. Johan Daniel Ahlberg and his wife, Louise Henriette Moll. She was born in Stockholm on September 20, 1828. She was confirmed in St Klara parish in 1845 and inducted into the Order of the Innocence in January 1846. Being inducted into the two secret orders, the Innocence and the Amaranth, was the introduction to high society. Augusta attended her first Innocence Ball in January 1844, a year before Charlotte.

Another important step was to have one’s portrait painted. To have a drawing made by Maria Röhl was also popular, and in 1852, the three oldest daughters – Charlotte, Emelie, and Eugenie – visited Maria Röhl.

Charlotte Ahlberg. Drawing by Maria Röhl, 1852

Marriage to Erik Oskar Weidenhielm

Erik Oskar Weidenhielm (b. 1816) was a nobleman and an officer. He also had his portrait drawn by Maria Röhl.

Erik Oskar Weidenhielm. Drawing by Maria Röhl, 1842.

Charlotte and Oskar married in 1857. Oskar had an illustrious career. He became the minister of national defense (Swedish: Statsråd och chef för landtförsvarsdepartementet). They had two daughters, Agnes Charlotta Henrietta (b. 1860) and Dagmar Elisabet (b. 1868).

A friend of Charlotte, Ebba Ramsay , describes their friendship in her autobiography “Om flydda tider: ur en gammal dagbok“. The book (in pdf format and in Swedish) can be downloaded for free at the following link from the Swedish National Library (Kungliga Biblioteket, KB). (Charlotte is mentioned at several places in the book – the first, very endearing description is on page 23.)

Finally, I found several photographs of Charlotte later in life. Her outfits are really stunning.

Photos of Charlotte Ahlberg (Weidenhielm). Source: The House of Nobility’s Portraits.

Cecilia’s Album: Lovisa and Eugenia Dethmar

Lovisa (or Louise) Edgren (born Dethmar) was a beloved teacher. Unfortunately, there is not a single portrait of her. When the family Edgren’s private school for girls closed in 1844, the students kept in touch with each other and with their former teacher through letters, reminiscing about this wonderful time in their lives.

Lotten Westman’s letter to Augusta, Stockholm, 18 December 1845.

“Lucky Augusta who gets letters from Mrs. Edgren! Greet her a thousand times from me. Tell her that I still worship her as warmly as when I said goodbye to her for the last time, and when I start talking about them, it is always an inexhaustible topic and at those times, I forget both time and place and it takes me back to the happy times when I was educated by them; when a smile and a friendly word by Mrs. Edgren sent me to the seventh heaven. Tell her all this, and say that if in the future, whether I get ever so happy or unhappy, I will never forget them. Oh, when I just think of them, I get overly joyous.”

Lovisa Dethmar was born in 1802 at Reckenburg, an estate close to Anholt in southwestern Germany close to the Dutch border. Her father, Friedrich Wilhelm Dethmar, born in 1773, was the pastor in Anholt and a writer. Lovisa had at least two sisters, Eugenia, born in 1806, and Adelheid Clementine Therese, born in 1809. One sister moved to England.

When Lovisa was young, she was sent to Dresden to study. She was already a great artist and good at playing the harp. During her studies, she got interested in the works of the Swedish poet Atterbom and decided to visit Sweden. It is fascinating that a pastor’s daughter, in the early 1800s, was sent away to study so far from home. Dresden was famous for its architecture and art treasures and maybe she was sent to Dresden to study art? Or did she study literature? The fact that she traveled to Sweden because of an interest in poetry shows signs of independence and determination. Maybe it was these personality traits that made her such an engaging and loved teacher.

This is how I image Lovisa Dethmar in Dresden. Kerstin and I saw the painting there during our Augusta journey through Europe. The painting “Woman on the Balcony was painted in 1824 by Carl Gustav Carus (1789-1869)

It was in Sweden she met her future husband, Johan Fredrik Edgren. He was an educated man and also a pastor. They were married in Anholt in 1838 and then settled in Stockholm. Lovisa’s sister, Eugenia, decided to join them and the same year, the family opened their private school for girls in Stockholm.

The school closed in June of 1844 when Pastor Edgren was appointed pastor at Morup’s parish on the Swedish west coast. As the girls in the school bade farewell to each other and the Edgren family, Cecilia got many cards for her memory album. But from some correspondence between Augusta and Lotten Westman, we believe that Cecilia actually stayed with the Edgren family in Morup after the school closed in Stockholm.

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Lovisa Edgren wrote her greeting to Cecilia in her native German. The owner of Cecilia’s Memory Album kindly provided me with a translation of the German text to Swedish. The English translation is my own.

In Swedish: “Endast det rika sinnet älskar, endast det fattiga begär.” (Schiller)
In English: “None but the wealthy minds love; poor minds desire alone.”

(The quote is from Friedrich Schiller’s Liebe und Begierde:

Recht gesagt, Schlosser! Man liebt, was man hat, man begehrt, was man nicht hat;
Denn nur das reiche Gemüt liebt, nur das arme begehrt.

In Swedish: “Dig, min Cecilia, blev ett så rikt sinne givet, även oss har det glädjat att leva tillsammans med Dig. Förhoppningsfullt var den korta tiden även för Dig ej förgäves ödslad. Detta önskar längtansfullt,

Din trogna väninna L. Edgren”

In English: “You, my Cecilia, were given such a rich mind, we too have been delighted to have you with us. Hopefully, the short time was not wasted in vain even for You. This wishes longingly,

Your faithful friend L. Edgren”

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Lovisa Edgren’s 38-year-old sister, Eugenia Dethmar, also wrote to Cecilia.

In Swedish:
“Dig ledsagar genom det vilda livet ett nådigt öde;
Ett rent hjärta gav dig naturen,
O! giv det så rent tillbaka!

Giv att världen möter dig så vänligt som du möter den,
giv att hon dig gör vad du gör henne,
så kan du bara bli lycklig.

Detta önskar dig din väninna E. Dethmar.”

In English:
“A merciful destiny shepherds you through the turbulent life;
Nature gave you a pure heart,
Oh! give it back so pure!

May the world treat you as kindly as you treat it,
may it do to you what you do to it,
then you can only be happy.

This is the wish of your friend, E. Dethmar”

Cecilia’s Album: Aurore’s Drawing of Île Rousseau

In Cecilias’s memory album, there is a lovely drawing of a steamboat named Le Vivant, moored to a pier and with a line of people waiting to board. There is also a small island in the drawing with tall poplars and a sculpture. The island is connected by a walking bridge to the opposite side of the river. On that side, there is a prominent, 5-story building. The painting is annotated with “Genève” in the lower-left corner, “L’Île de Rousseau” under the drawing, and “Auror” in the lower right corner. I assume Auror (or Aurore) was the name of Cecilia’s friend who gave her the drawing.

IMG-7945

Île Rousseau and Hotel des Bergues

Île Rousseau is a small island in the Rhone River at the center of Geneva. It was named after Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the famous Swiss philosopher and writer. In 1834, a bridge was built across the river with a connection to the island. The bridge – Pont des Bergues – was named after the magnificent hotel at the end of the bridge, Hotel des Bergues (the large 5-story building in the drawing and nowadays the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues).

It is easy to find old paintings of Île Rousseau online but most seem to be later renderings of the island. Some paintings feature buildings on both sides of Hotel des Bergues. These would have been painted after 1850. Other paintings feature two bridges. The second bridge, Pont du Mont-Blanc, was built in 1862.

Aurore’s drawing depicts Geneva between 1834 and 1850. I initially pictured Aurore sitting on a bench in Geneva on some journey through Europe with her parents. On her lap is a loose-leaf sketchbook and she is busy sketching the tranquil view with her small graphite pencil.

More googling, and I find an almost identical image!

Hotel des Bergues and Île Rousseau (1834-1850)

Besides being a much more detailed print, the main difference between Aurore’s drawing and this print is the steamboat. This one is much larger and ornate.

I just realize that Aurore, of course, did not make her drawing en plein air but most likely made it in school, learning to draw by copying a print. I am sure that in some illustrated magazine, or some book belonging to her teacher, there is an image of the steamboat “Le Vivant” moored in Geneva. I just haven’t found it yet.

There is one more print of Hotel des Bergues and Île Rousseau. This one shows both bridges and new buildings to the right of Hotel des Bergues. This one would have been made after 1862.

Hotel des Bergues and Île Rousseau (after 1862)

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Additional reading:

The first steamboat

The steamer in the black-and-white print above is Guillaume Tell, the first steamboat in Geneva. It was built in 1823.

Images of Île Rousseau as seen from Hotel des Bergues

These images are from the opposite side of the river, maybe painted from a window in Hotel des Bergues.

Île Rousseau as seen from Hotel des Bergues and painted before 1862

Île Rousseau as seen from Hotel des Bergues and painted after 1862 (the new bridge on the left)

Lithographs by Louis-Julien (Jean) Jacottet (1806-1880)

Lastly, I found a beautiful lithograph by Jacottet with credits also given to Adolphe Jean-Baptiste Bayot (1810-1866). The view is from Hotel des Bergues with Île Rousseau to the left and the bridge (Pont des Bergues) to the right. Based on the dresses of the pedestrians (it looks like the women are not wearing crinolines, but rather layers of petticoats), I would guess that this lithograph was made in the late 1840s or early 1850s.

The following images are cropped (close-ups of parts of the print).

Lithograph by J. Jacollet (cropped image)

Cecilia’s Album: The Wishes of a Young Woman

I pick a random page out of Cecilia’s memory album.

IMG-7936

This one has a handwritten poem with the word Kärleks (Love’s) emphasized in larger letters. The page is signed with what I interpret as S. F. En. I am not sure about the S, but what else could it be? I wreck my brain; are there any friends of Cecilia and Augusta whose last name is En (it is a proper Swedish last name) or starts with En? I check the lists of confirmation friends, school friends, members of the secret orders – the Innocence and the Amaranth – that Augusta belonged to. I find nothing.

I then take another approach. I check to see if the poem might have been written by someone else and published. It takes some playing around with Google, like changing the preferred language and searching on various parts of the poem. It works and I find the source!

Literal translation:

Oh how I would want to be
(for wishing is allowed)

The flower, lush and lovely
which sits there on the turf

How I would face the sun
and happily open my purple mouth

To imbibe power, light, and warmth
out of God’s Well of Love

The poem appeared in a book Lyriska toner (Lyrical Tones) by Wilhelmina and was published in 1843, the year before Cecilia received the handwritten page for her album. The title of the poem is En ung flickas önskningar (The Wishes of a Young Woman) and what was copied was the first of the poem’s five stanzas.

There is an introduction in the book, written by the pastor in Clara parish (1825-1831), Frans Michael Franzén. Besides being a pastor, Franzén was also a famous poet. I can see why Franzén was moved by Wilhelmina’s poems. He wrote similar poems that also ended up in girls’ memory albums. And even the bishop in Stockholm, Johan Olof Wallin, wrote poems that were likewise copied.

At the time, women writers often wrote under a pseudonym, and Wilhelmina simply published under her first name. Later, when she became a rather famous author and translator, she used her real name, Wilhelmina Stålberg.

That is when it hit me. The handwriting of the poem in Cecilia’s album looked like that of an older person. It was definitely not written by someone of Cecilia’s age, someone who had perfected their cursives, dipping the quill in the inkwell and making beautiful letters. If this was a poem that was known by pastors, could S. F. En belong to the clergy?

The answer was staring me in the face! En could mean that the last name started with E and ended with n, not starting with En. Cecilia and Augusta attended Edgren’s school, founded and operated by Pastor Johan Fredrik Edgren and his German-born wife, Lovisa Carolina Wilhelmina Dethmar. And the initials were J. F. and not S.F. Pastor J. F. Edgren had written the poem for Cecilia before she was leaving Stockholm in June of 1844.

Pastor Edgren later became important in Augusta’s life. He officiated the wedding between Augusta and Adolf Nordwall in Morup’s parsonage. I wonder if she also got a poem or if he recited any during the wedding ceremony.

Cecilia’s Album: Jaquette Rütterskjöld? – My Thoughts are with You

In Cecilia’s memory album, there is an image of a few small violets or pansies. Today, on Valentine’s Day, it would make a perfect card.

Memory Page #7925

Below the image of the pansies is a handwritten message in French:

Mes pensées sont à vous
Et Vous suivront partout

(My thoughts are with you
And will follow you everywhere)

The image illustrates the poem, as the name of the flower (Pansy) is derived from the French name, Pensée, which means “thought”.

The friend who gave Cecilia this card didn’t want to sign her name but only gave a clue: J…e

The most common name in the 1840s that started with J and ended with e was Josefine. But other rather common names with French spelling were Jaquette and Julie.

A likely candidate is Jaquette Rütterskjöld. Her sister Augusta also wrote a short poem in French and gave to Cecilia. Jaquette was also Cecilia’s friend. They both attended Edgren’s school.

But of course, only Cecilia would have known who wrote the endearing text.

More about Jaquette’s family can be found at the following links:

http://Augustasjourney.augustasresa.se/2018/11/05/who-was-mrs-dimander/

http://Augustasjourney.augustasresa.se/2021/04/24/12-augusta-mariana-rutterskjold-and-her-absent-father/

Cecilia Koch’s Album

Cecilia Koch was one of Augusta’s dearest friends during her time in Stockholm. She was most likely Augusta’s classmate in Edgren’s school and they were also in the same confirmation class. After I wrote about Cecilia last fall, I received an exciting email from her brother’s great-grandson who had stumbled upon my blog entry. He had a treasure that had belonged to Cecilia that he was willing to share.

I love when I get comments or emails from relatives of those I write about. But this email also opened the door to a whole new area of research.

In Cecilia’s family archive, there is a small, red, velvet-clad, cardboard box. The lid is decorated with gilded leaf scrolls and the text “ALBUM”. The box, which has belonged to Cecilia, contains loose leaves with poems and artwork, all signed in one way or another.

Cecilia Koch’s Album (minnesalbum, minnesbok)

I was now given access to pictures of these pages and to my excitement, as I scrolled through the images, I recognized one name after the other. The pages contained greetings from Cecilia’s family members and friends and many of those were also Augusta’s friends.

Did all girls have these types of boxes or albums in the 1840s? Could these records be used to discover constellations of friends?

Last year, I wrote about Augusta’s confirmation friends. This spring, I will write about the girls who provided poems and drawing for Cecilia’s album. I have identified 15 so far. For the rest, I only have clues.

Memory Books, Poetry Books, Autograph Albums…

There are many names for these types of books or albums. And there are numerous scholarly articles and books written about them. One book that really stands out is Lev lycklig, glöm ej mig! Minnesböckernas historia (Live Happily, Forget me Not! History of the Memory Books ) by Carola Ekrem. The title implies the purpose of these albums: wishing the friend a happy life and making sure you are not forgotten.

The Swedish folklorist Bengt af Klintberg has studied Swedish memory albums and found that those written between 1810 – 1850 mostly belonged to girls in the upper social classes. These girls either studied with a governess or attended private schools for girls. They learned foreign languages (French, German, and sometimes English) at an early age and could, therefore, write poetry in those languages. They also learned how to draw or paint in watercolors – which is evident in the memory albums. And sometimes they would include a lock of their hair in the albums.

During the latter half of the 1800s, memory albums became popular among girls in all social classes.

The Little Town on the Prairie

Laura Ingalls Wilder, who wrote The Little House on the Prairie series of books, actually described what was called an Autograph Album, in the book The Little Town on the Prairie:

In Laura’s package was a beautiful small book, too. It was thin, and wider than it was tall. On its red cover, embossed in gold, where the words:

Autograph Album

The pages, of different soft colors, were blank. Carrie had another exactly like it, except that the cover of hers was blue and gold.

“I found that autograph albums are all the fashion nowadays,” said Ma. “All the most fashionable girls in Vinton have them.”

“What are they, exactly?” Laura asked.

“You ask a friend to write a verse on one of the blank pages and sign her name to it,” Ma explained. “If she has an autograph album, you do the same for her, and you keep the albums to remember each other by.”

Sources:

Ekrem, C. Lev lycklig, glöm ej mig. Minnesböckernas historia. Atlantis 2002.

https://www.expressen.se/gt/kultur/varifran-kommer-verserna/

https://www.academia.edu/24584847/_Var_trogen_i_allt_-_Den_goda_kvinnan_som_konstruktion_i_svenska_och_finlandssvenska_minnesb%C3%B6cker_1800-1980

https://kgaa.bokorder.se/sv-se/article/3551/verser-i-svenska-poesialbum-1820-1970

https://archive.org/details/littletownonprai0000wild

http://augustasjourney.augustasresa.se/2021/09/21/9-johanna-cecilia-mary-lovisa-koch-a-beloved-friend/