The Little Library of Forgotten Women Poets

Ida von Hahn-Hahn – Life and Work

The story of her life and her novel "Countess Faustine"

She was one of the most successful writers of her time—and is almost forgotten today.

In the 19th century, Ida von Hahn-Hahn led a life that defied the usual expectations for women of her social standing. She divorced early in life, traveled throughout Europe, lived for many years in a relationship of her own choosing, and made writing her profession. At times, she was among the highest-paid German-language female authors. Her novels and travel books were read, discussed, and criticized.

Yet Ida von Hahn-Hahn was by no means a consistent champion of modern ideas. Her desire for personal freedom was intertwined with an aristocratic sense of class, and her literary boldness with political conservatism. Following the upheavals of 1848 and the death of her longtime companion Adolf von Bystram, she radically transformed her life: in 1850, she converted to Catholicism and began a new phase in her life and work.

PART 1 – LIFE AND WORK
This biographical portrait traces Hahn-Hahn’s origins, her early marriage and divorce, her travels, her success as a professional writer, her relationship with Adolf von Bystram, and her later religious reorientation. The focus is on the tensions in her life: self-assertion and class consciousness, freedom and commitment, new beginnings and withdrawal.

PART 2 – “COUNTESS FAUSTINE”
Published in 1841, this novel centers on a woman who wants to shape her own life according to her own vision. Faustine seeks love, intellectual stimulation, freedom, and self-determination—and is willing to accept conflicts with societal expectations in pursuit of these goals.

Yet Hahn-Hahn does not portray a flawless heroine. Faustine’s desire for freedom can turn into selfishness and recklessness. This is precisely where the novel’s strength lies: a woman is allowed to be contradictory, to make mistakes, and to pursue her own happiness just as uncompromisingly as literature had long granted male characters.

The novel explores love and marriage, female self-determination, societal double standards, power, responsibility, and the question of where personal freedom finds its limits.

This edition contains the unabridged version of “Countess Faustine.” The historical language and spelling of the source text have not been modernized.

A rediscovery for anyone who wants to learn about forgotten female authors, strong female characters, and the surprising facets of literary history.