Maria Johanna von Aachen

Maria Johanna Katharina Erika Elisabeth von Aachen was born in Vechta, a mid-sized strongly Catholic town in the flatlands between Osnabrück and Bremen.^[7] Her father, Majors Lewin Friedrich von Ambotten, served the archbishops of Münster.^[8] He originally hailed from the Kurland region, which has since become part of Latvia.^[2]

In 1777, she married Captain Klemens August von Aachen (1756-1808),^[9] a career soldier in the Prussian Army and, like herself, a writer.^[2] The marriage resulted in the birth of at least four children. From the time of her marriage, Maria Johanna wrote poetry. However, she did not consider herself a professional poet, and most of her published poems appeared under pseudonyms, with publication arranged by others.^[2] Maria Johanna died three months short of what would have been her ninetieth birthday. She was predeceased in 1808 by her husband and also by both her sons and one of her two recorded daughters. Consequently, her work is imbued with a certain spirit of melancholy.^[2]

She became a strong supporter of the newspaper producer and anthologist Friedrich Raßmann,^[2] and was a member of the literary circle around Elisa von Ahlefeldt and Elise Rüdiger. She is frequently mentioned in the published correspondence of Annette von Droste-Hülshoff. Some believe that the character of Mrs. von Austen in Droste-Hülshoff's one-act comedy "Perdu!" is a caricature of Maria Johanna von Aachen.^[2]

Maria Johanna von Aachen died in Münster on 21 January 1845, having spent more than the final three decades of her life as a widow.^[2]