Kamma Rahbek

Kamma Rahbek
Born(1775-10-19)19 October 1775
Copenhagen, Denmark
Died21 January 1829(1829-01-21) (aged 53)
Copenhagen, Denmark
Known forSalons
SpouseKnud Lyne Rahbek

Karen Margrethe "Kamma" Rahbek, née Heger (19 October 1775 – 21 January 1829) was a Danish writer, salonist and lady of letters.[1]

Biography

Karen Margrethe Rahbek was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. She was the daughter of the official Hans Heger (1747–1819) and Anne Louise Drewsen (1751–1799). She grew up in a wealthy home in Nørregade. She received a broad based education and could speak several languages including German, French, Spanish, Latin, Greek and Italian.

In 1798, she married the writer Knud Lyne Rahbek (1760–1830). Her husband was a writer, poet, literary historian and magazine editor.[2]

Her salon at Bakkehuset became a cultural centre and the gathering place for the writers of the Danish Golden age and was considered the salon of the middle class in contrast to the more aristocratic Friederike Brun and Charlotte Schimmelmann.[3]

Among her guests were Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger, who was married to her sister Christiane Oehlenschläger (1782-1841). Other notable visitors included Jens Baggesen, Sophie Ørsted, Poul Martin Møller, N. F. S. Grundtvig, B. S. Ingemann, H. C. Andersen, Peter Oluf Brøndsted and Johan Ludvig Heiberg. Rahbek befriended the writers of the Romantic style, while her spouse preferred the moralists.[4][5][6]

Kamma Rahbek was also a diligent writer. Several of her letters and memories have been published. She died in 1829 at Frederiksberg and was buried in Frederiksberg Ældre Kirkegård.[7]

Silhouette of Kamma Rahbek

See also

References

  1. ^ "Kamma Rahbek". Bakkehussamlingen. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  2. ^ "Knud Lyne Rahbek (1760–1830)". Kalliope. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  3. ^ Dyveke Helsted. "Kamma Rahbek". Kunstindeks Danmark & Weilbach Kunstnerleksikon. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  4. ^ Lise Busk-Jensen. "Kamma Rahbek". Den Store Danske, Gyldendal. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  5. ^ "Christiane Oehlenschläger". Bakkehussamlingen. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  6. ^ "Kamma and Knud Lyne Rahbek". Bakkehussamlingen. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  7. ^ Anne Scott Sørensen. "Kamma Rahbek (1775-1829)". Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  8. ^ Nevit, KammaRahbek svg: Liftarn / (10 April 2013). "A red heart symbol with a woman (Kamma Rahbek) negative space" – via Wikimedia Commons.

Other sources

  • Knud Lyne Rahbek: Erindringer af mit liv (Copenhagen: Jens Hostrup Schultz) 5 volumes published between 1824-29
  • Kirsten Dreyer (ed.) Kamma Rahbeks brevveksling med Chr. Molbech, 1–3 (Museum Tusculanums Forlag) 1994. ISBN 978-87-7289-245-0
  • Maria Helleberg: Vilde kvinder, milde kvinder : 12 kvindeliv fra guldalderen (Lindhardt og Ringhof) 2003. ISBN 978-87-638-0344-1
  • Anne E. Jensen: Kamma Rahbek 1775–1828. I anledning af 200 års dagen den 19. oktober 1975 (Bakkehusmuseet by Historisk-Topografisk Selskab for Frederiksberg) 1975
  • Hans Kyrre, Knud Lyne Rahbek og Kamma Rahbek og Livet paa Bakkehuset (H. Hagerups Forlag) 1929.
  • Anne Scott Sørensen, "Blomsterpoesi – om Kamma Rahbek og Bakkehuset" in Nordisk salonkultur – et studie i nordiske skønånder og salonmiljøer 1780–1850, Anne Scott Sørensen (ed.) (Odense Universitetsforlag) 1998. ISBN 87-7838-345-5.
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