Ottilie Wildermuth | |
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.jpg) Portrait by Sophie Pilgrem, 1835 | |
| Born | 22 February 1817 |
| Died | 12 July 1877(1877-07-12) (aged 60) |
| Nationality | German |
| Occupation | Writer |
Ottilie Wildermuth (German:[ˈvɪldɐˌmuːt]; néeRooschüz; 22 February 1817 inRottenburg am Neckar – 12 July 1877 inTübingen) was a German writer, particularly notable for her children's books.
Ottilie Rooschüz was the daughter of Gottlob Christian Rooschüz (1785–1847), a Kriminalrat (and from 1819 an Oberamtsrichter) fromMarbach am Neckar, and his wife Leonore (1796–1874, née Scholl). She showed a strong thirst for knowledge early in life and wrote her own stories and poems. In summer 1833 she was allowed to spend six months studying inStuttgart. In 1843, aged 26, she married the 36-year-oldphilologist Wilhelm David Wildermuth (1807–1885). After time as a private tutor in France and England, Wilhelm Wildermuth then moved to be a professor of modern languages in the Lyzeum (now the Gymnasium) inTübingen. Ottilie formed the women of Tübingen into asalon, which she belonged to herself for 34 years until her death. From the very beginning the young couple were friends withLudwig Uhland and his wife, the poetKarl Mayer's family, Klüpfl-Schwab and later several university professors. Her varied education also allowed Ottilie to participate in her husband's work - like him, she taught English.[1] They had five children between 1844 and 1856, with three, Agnes, Adelheid, and Hermann, surviving to adulthood.
In 1847 she sent her first storyDie alte Jungfer to theMorgenblatt. Once this had been accepted for publication, she wrote more stories, short stories, novels, biographies, family books, children's history books and idyllic accounts of Protestant Swabian life, in whose circles she moved. Her stories met a public taste and she was printed in the widely read family periodicals such asDaheim andDie Gartenlaube, which made her known to other contemporary writers. In 1870, she founded the children's magazineJugendgarten, later continued by her daughters Agnes Willms and Adelheid Wildermuth. In 1871, Ottilie Wildermuth received the great gold medal for Art and Science in Württemberg. In her fiftieth year her health was strongly attacked by a nervous disorder, and in July 1877, aged 60, she died of a stroke. She is buried in the Stadtfriedhof in Tübingen, with a monument dedicated to her on the Tübinger Neckarinsel
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