Rebecca Friedländer Explained

Rebecca Friedländer (4 October 1783 – 30 August 1850) was a German novelist and short-story writer, composed “romantic novels” under the pen name of Regina Frohberg.^[1] She was also a close friend of Rahel Varnhagen, a renowned German writer.^[2]

Biography

Rebecca Friedländer was born as Rebecca Solomon in Berlin, Germany on 4 October 1783 into a Jewish family of Jacob B Solomon and Cheile Eger.^[3] Her father, who was a jewel merchant for the court, changed the family name from Solomon to Saaling.

In 1801, at the age of eighteen, she married Moses Friedländer, a banker, who was the son of David Friedländer, a prominent leader of the Berlin Jewish community.^{[4] [5] [6]} But she got a divorce in 1805. She converted to Christianity, and changed her name as Regina Frohberg. She never remarried.

Her first novel was published in 1808. In the beginning the literary style of her novels focused on "the romantic life about salon society". In 1813 she moved to Vienna, and resided until her death.^[7]

She died in Ischl, Vienna on 30 August 1850.

Notes and References

1. Book: Blackwell, Jeannine. 1 January 1990. Bitter Healing: German Women Writers from 1700 to 1830 : an Anthology. 13 June 2022. Lincoln, Nebraska. University of Nebraska Press . 405. 978-0-803-29436-3.
2. Book: French, Lorely. 1996. German Women as Letter Writers, 1750-1850. 13 June 2022. Vancouver, British Columbia. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press . 192. 978-0-838-63664-0.
3. Book: Collins, James B. . 15 April 2008. Early Modern Europe: Issues and Interpretations. 13 June 2022. Hoboken, New Jersey. John Wiley & Sons . 290. 978-1-405-15207-5.
4. Book: Hertz, Deborah Sadie. 1 January 1998. Jewish High Society in Old Regime Berlin . 13 June 2022. New Haven, Connecticut. Yale University Press. 109. 978-0-300-03775-3.
5. Book: Cypess, Rebecca. 2018. Sara Levy's World: Gender, Judaism, and the Bach Tradition in Enlightenment Berlin. 13 June 2022. Woodbridge, Suffolk. Boydell & Brewer . 44. 978-1-580-46921-0.
6. Book: Tewarson, Heidi Thomann . 1 January 1998. Rahel Levin Varnhagen: The Life and Work of a German Jewish Intellectual. 13 June 2022. Lincoln, Nebraska. University of Nebraska Press . 100. 978-0-803-29436-3.
7. Book: Lorenz, Dagmar C. G. . 1 January 1997 . Keepers of the Motherland: German Texts by Jewish Women Writers . 13 June 2022. Lincoln, Nebraska. University of Nebraska Press . 34. 978-0-803-22917-4.