“Soll ein Weib wohl Bücher schreiben; Oder soll sie’s lassen bleiben?”: The Immediate Reception of Rahel Levin Varnhagen as a Public Figure

Abstract

This article, based primarily on materials from the Varnhagen Archive at the Jageiellonian Library in Krakow, Poland, examines the immediate reception of Rahel Levin Varnhagen’s work and persona—weighing both contemporaneous and subsequent claims concerning her public image. In discussing Varnhagen as a public figure, scholarship has emphasized that she did not publish under her own name, but rather anonymously or under a pseudonym. This article claims that not only her persona, but also her writings were very much known and discussed. This is essentially the reason why the first publication of her letters gained immediate popularity. Levin Varnhagen’s engagement in social life—be it her salon, the literary scene including her literary criticism, or politics—and her ideas influenced not only those in direct contact with her but had a profound bearing on the general public opinion in Prussia, other German states, and abroad. In particular, Levin Varnhagen’s foreign reception is well-documented in the Varnhagen archives. Rahel Levin Varnhagen’s public influence as a cult figure was widely known even before her death. She enjoyed a status similar to that of a contemporary superstar or celebrity. The timeless unfading relevance of her free thinking approach renders her to be also an active model for emancipated women as well as independent and assimilated Jewish women—a status which caused endless polemical exchange, and thus extended the ongoing discussion about her private or public role in the society.