Kategoriarkiv: Augusta’s Friends

Cecilia’s Album: Axelina Fries (Fock) – A lock of her hair

Axeline Fries was 14 years old in May of 1844. When she sat down to write a card for Cecilia Koch’s memory album, she had already decided on her favorite poem. She knew it by heart.

Måtte nya blommor smycka,
Hvarje dag du möter än.
Intet saknas i din lycka,
Helgad utaf vänskapen.

(Literally translated as:
May new flowers adorn,
every day that greets you
Nothing lacking in your happiness
sanctified by friendship)

She made sure that her letters were perfectly lined up on the card and she underlined friendship (vänskapen).

But she wanted to give Cecilia something more and something personal.

A lock of her hair.

She gathered a few strands of her long, straight, brown hair and then, with her embroidery scissors, made the cut. She twisted the lock into two circles, like a pretzel, and tied it with a strand of red embroidery floss.

Two years later, her friend Cecilia died of measles and Axelina’s message would not bring any personal memories to those who read it. Now, 178 years later, I feel like I am finding a message in a bottle.

Who was Axelina? What did she look like? Did she marry? Did flowers adorn every day that greeted her?

Axelina Maria Magdalena Fries

Axelina was born in Malmö on September 5, 1829. Her father was Bengt Fredrik Fries (b. 1799), a professor of zoology who in 1831 became the curator of the Museum of Natural History in Stockholm. His wife, Axelina’s mother, was Anna Christina Lundberg (b. 1804).

Anna Christina Lundberg (Professor Bengt Fredrik Fries’ wife). Drawing by Maria Röhl, 1846.

 

Professor Bengt Fredrik Fries

Axelina had two younger sisters, Josefina Helena Gustafva (b. 1831) and Ida Maria Elisabet (b. 1834).

Axelina’s father died suddenly in 1839. In 1842, the family moved to Clara parish and to the house at the corner of Stora Vattugränd and Clara Östra Kyrkogata. It was the same house where Charlotta Lindström’s family lived (Charlotta, who also wrote a card for Cecilia’s album). The situations of the two families, Fries and Lindström, were similar. The fathers in both families were professors who had 3 young daughters when they suddenly died in their 30s.

Josefina and Axelina Fries in 1846. Drawings by Maria Röhl.

Axelina marries Baron Alfred Henrik Edvard Fock

“You probably already know that Axeline Fries is engaged to a Baron Fock, but they will not marry yet. He is awfully much smaller than her, it does not look very nice. When she takes his arm, he disappears right under her red coat.” (Lotten Westman’s letter to Augusta, March 6, 1848)

It was well known that Baron Alfred Henrik Edvard Fock was unusually short in stature. A friend of Alfred Fock, Fritz von Dardel, referred to him as “little Fock”.

“I had been asked to speak, but I instead persuaded little Fock to do it and he succeeded much better than I should have done.” (Fritz von Dardel describing a visit by industrialists and artists to thank Crown Prince Oscar for his support).

Alfred Fock. Drawing by Fritz von Dardel

Alfred Fock was born in 1818 in Bjurbäck, close to Jönköping. When Axelina met him, he was a lieutenant and a teacher of physics in Stockholm. He would later leave the military and become a professor of physics at the Technology Institute in Stockholm; nowadays the KTH Royal Institute of Technology. He also became a member of parliament.

Alfred Fock

Axelina and Alfred got married on February 24, 1849. They had five children:

Anna Magdalena ”Malin” (1849-1933), did not marry
Axel Fredrik (1852-1878), did not marry
Carl Alexander (1854-1938), married Huldina Beamish
Gertrud Maria (1856-1856), died in infancy
Ida Lovisa Josefina (1864-1914), married John Edvard Magnus Sager

In the winter of 1858-59, Axelina and her two sisters visited Maria Röhl again. These are the artist’s quick sketches. She focused on the faces at these sessions.

Axelina, Josefina, and Ida Fries. Sketches by Maria Röhl.

A new home at Hantverkargatan 18, Kungsholmen

In 1851, the family moved to Hantverkargatan 18 (block Fikonträdet). They lived there until the end of the year 1856.

The address seems familiar, and in the house examination records, I recognize the names of Augusta’s childhood friends from Krusenhof in Kvillinge parish: the Hjort family. This is the house Augusta visited on her trips to Stockholm in the 1850s. And this is where she lived when she was ill with tuberculosis and was treated by Dr. Pehr Henrik Malmsten, a famous doctor in Stockholm. Augusta must have run into Axelina when she visited the Hjorts and when she stayed with them.

Augusta describes her visit to the Hjorts in her diary, March 12, 1851.

“The day after our arrival, we waded through quarter-deep dirt to our friends on Kungsholmen, where we were warmly received, had a pleasant evening and reminisced about our winter evenings at Krusenhof.

Aunt and Nanna have a small sunny and nice home, in the middle of a garden that extends all the way down to the lake shore. In the summer, this little place must be a real paradise where you have flowers and light, fresh air and Lake Mälaren’s blue surface and verdant islets to rest your eyes on, as well as the most magnificent views of Riddarholmen and Söder and, over all, the steamships that from different directions rush to their common goal – Riddarholmsbron.”

Axelina’s Grandchildren

Axelina died on October 9, 1888, in Stockholm. That should probably be the end of this blog entry – one about a young, happy girl who wrote a lovely poem to her friend and gave her a lock of her hair.

But there are at least two of her grandchildren who should be mentioned. Axelina’s son, Carl Alexander, and his wife Huldina had 5 daughters: Fanny, Elsa, Mary, Carin, and Lilly.

My Memory of Axelina’s Granddaughter Mary

I actually have a memory of Axelina’s granddaughter.

I am around 5 years old and we are celebrating midsummer at Rockelstad Castle in Helgesta parish. I only remember two things: my parents dancing in a crowded place, and the old countess, who lived in the castle, giving me a large, shiny coin, maybe a 2-crown or 5-crown coin as a prize in a game organized for the kids. I curtsy politely as expected of me. It feels like a fairy tale, getting a shiny coin from an old countess who lives in a real castle.

Countess Mary von Rosen was Axelina’s granddaughter. She was born in 1886 and married Count Eric von Rosen (b.1879) in 1905. He was a pilot, an ethnographer, and the owner of Rockelstad Castle.

When I was a child, our family spent the summers at Ådö in Helgesta parish not far from Rockelstad Castle. There were lots of stories about Eric von Rosen, of his travels, parties, hunting trophies, etc. That is all I knew.

When I searched for Axelina’s granddaughters, I learned that Eric von Rosen died in 1948 and his wife in 1967. I guess she wasn’t as old as I thought she was when I was little.

Axelina’s Infamous Granddaughter Carin

Mary’s younger sister Carin married nazi-leader Hermann Göring in 1922. He was working as a commercial pilot in Stockholm after World War I and knew Eric von Rosen (also a pilot). Carin was visiting her sister Mary when she met Göring at Rockelstad. The couple moved to Germany in 1922 and became high-profile members of the nazi party. Carin died before World War II in 1931, at the age of 42, from a heart attack. Hermann Göring’s war crimes are well documented.

Notes:

Axelina’s sisters Josefina and Ida never married.
The poem Axelina copied is an anonymous poem. It was published in a book in 1857.
All drawings by Maria Röhl are available at regina.kb.se

 

 

 

Cecilia’s Album: Charlotte Ahlberg (Weidenhielm) – Also an Artist?

Last week I wrote about Amelie Ahlberg who drew a picture of Haddon Hall. I speculated that her older sister, Charlotte, might also have given Cecilia a drawing for her memory album.

IMG-7943

In Cecilia’s album, there is a pencil drawing of a house. The painting is signed Charlotte and is dated 30 January 1844. Charlotte was a very common name in the 1840s and it is of course possible that the drawing was made by some other girl named Charlotte. However, because both drawings, Amelie’s and the one signed Charlotte, are excellent, I believe this one was in fact made by Charlotte Ahlberg.

Again, Google Lens nailed it and I should probably have recognized it anyway. This is Haga Palace outside Stockholm. It is now the home of the Swedish crown princess and her family. But which rendering of Haga Palace did Charlotte copy?

I search the Swedish Royal Library for images of this palace and can hardly believe my luck. There is a digitized copy of a lithograph from 1835 and when I crop it, I am stunned. Charlotte was a great artist!

Left: Lithograph of Haga Palace, 1835.  Right: Charlotte’s drawing, 1844.

Here is the full-size lithograph print:

Full-size lithograph

Charlotte Ahlberg

Charlotte Henriette Bothilda was the oldest child of Dr. Johan Daniel Ahlberg and his wife, Louise Henriette Moll.  She was born in Stockholm on September 20, 1828. She was confirmed in St Klara parish in 1845 and inducted into the Order of the Innocence in January 1846. Being inducted into the two secret orders, the Innocence and the Amaranth, was the introduction to high society. Augusta attended her first Innocence Ball in January 1844, a year before Charlotte.

Another important step was to have one’s portrait painted. To have a drawing made by Maria Röhl was also popular, and in 1852, the three oldest daughters – Charlotte, Emelie, and Eugenie – visited Maria Röhl.

Charlotte Ahlberg. Drawing by Maria Röhl, 1852

Marriage to Erik Oskar Weidenhielm

Erik Oskar Weidenhielm (b. 1816) was a nobleman and an officer. He also had his portrait drawn by Maria Röhl.

Erik Oskar Weidenhielm. Drawing by Maria Röhl, 1842.

Charlotte and Oskar married in 1857. Oskar had an illustrious career. He became the minister of national defense (Swedish: Statsråd och chef för landtförsvarsdepartementet). They had two daughters, Agnes Charlotta Henrietta (b. 1860) and Dagmar Elisabet (b. 1868).

Finally, I found several photographs of Charlotte later in life. Her outfits are really stunning.

Photos of Charlotte Ahlberg (Weidenhielm). Source: The House of Nobility’s Portraits.

 

Cecilia’s Album: Lovisa and Eugenia Dethmar

Lovisa (or Louise) Edgren (born Dethmar) was a beloved teacher. Unfortunately, there is not a single portrait of her. When the family Edgren’s private school for girls closed in 1844, the students kept in touch with each other and with their former teacher through letters, reminiscing about this wonderful time in their lives.

Lotten Westman’s letter to Augusta, Stockholm, 18 December 1845.

“Lucky Augusta who gets letters from Mrs. Edgren! Greet her a thousand times from me. Tell her that I still worship her as warmly as when I said goodbye to her for the last time, and when I start talking about them, it is always an inexhaustible topic and at those times, I forget both time and place and it takes me back to the happy times when I was educated by them; when a smile and a friendly word by Mrs. Edgren sent me to the seventh heaven. Tell her all this, and say that if in the future, whether I get ever so happy or unhappy, I will never forget them. Oh, when I just think of them, I get overly joyous.”

Lovisa Dethmar was born in 1802 at Reckenburg, an estate close to Anholt in southwestern Germany close to the Dutch border. Her father, Friedrich Wilhelm Dethmar, born in 1773, was the pastor in Anholt and a writer. Lovisa had at least two sisters, Eugenia, born in 1806, and Adelheid Clementine Therese, born in 1809. One sister moved to England.

When Lovisa was young, she was sent to Dresden to study. She was already a great artist and good at playing the harp. During her studies, she got interested in the works of the Swedish poet Atterbom and decided to visit Sweden. It is fascinating that a pastor’s daughter, in the early 1800s, was sent away to study so far from home. Dresden was famous for its architecture and art treasures and maybe she was sent to Dresden to study art? Or did she study literature? The fact that she traveled to Sweden because of an interest in poetry shows signs of independence and determination. Maybe it was these personality traits that made her such an engaging and loved teacher.

This is how I image Lovisa Dethmar in Dresden. Kerstin and I saw the painting there during our Augusta journey through Europe. The painting ”Woman on the Balcony was painted in 1824 by Carl Gustav Carus (1789-1869)

It was in Sweden she met her future husband, Johan Fredrik Edgren. He was an educated man and also a pastor. They were married in Anholt in 1838 and then settled in Stockholm. Lovisa’s sister, Eugenia, decided to join them and the same year, the family opened their private school for girls in Stockholm.

The school closed in June of 1844 when Pastor Edgren was appointed pastor at Morup’s parish on the Swedish west coast. As the girls in the school bade farewell to each other and the Edgren family, Cecilia got many cards for her memory album. But from some correspondence between Augusta and Lotten Westman, we believe that Cecilia actually stayed with the Edgren family in Morup after the school closed in Stockholm.

IMG-7922

Lovisa Edgren wrote her greeting to Cecilia in her native German. The owner of Cecilia’s Memory Album kindly provided me with a translation of the German text to Swedish. The English translation is my own.

In Swedish: Endast det rika sinnet älskar, endast det fattiga begär.” (Schiller)
In English:None but the wealthy minds love; poor minds desire alone.”

(The quote is from Friedrich Schiller’s Liebe und Begierde:

Recht gesagt, Schlosser! Man liebt, was man hat, man begehrt, was man nicht hat;
Denn nur das reiche Gemüt liebt, nur das arme begehrt.

 

In Swedish: Dig, min Cecilia, blev ett så rikt sinne givet, även oss har det glädjat att leva tillsammans med Dig. Förhoppningsfullt var den korta tiden även för Dig ej förgäves ödslad. Detta önskar längtansfullt,

Din trogna väninna L. Edgren”

In English: You, my Cecilia, were given such a rich mind, we too have been delighted to have you with us. Hopefully, the short time was not wasted in vain even for You. This wishes longingly,

Your faithful friend L. Edgren”

IMG-7930

Lovisa Edgren’s 38-year-old sister, Eugenia Dethmar, also wrote to Cecilia.

 

In Swedish:
”Dig ledsagar genom det vilda livet ett nådigt öde;
Ett rent hjärta gav dig naturen,
O! giv det så rent tillbaka!

Giv att världen möter dig så vänligt som du möter den,
giv att hon dig gör vad du gör henne,
så kan du bara bli lycklig.

Detta önskar dig din väninna E. Dethmar.”

In English:
”A merciful destiny shepherds you through the turbulent life;
Nature gave you a pure heart,
Oh! give it back so pure!

May the world treat you as kindly as you treat it,
may it do to you what you do to it,
then you can only be happy.

This is the wish of your friend, E. Dethmar”

 

Cecilia’s Album: Aurore’s Drawing of Île Rousseau

In Cecilias’s memory album, there is a lovely drawing of a steamboat named Le Vivant, moored to a pier and with a line of people waiting to board. There is also a small island in the drawing with tall poplars and a sculpture. The island is connected by a walking bridge to the opposite side of the river. On that side, there is a prominent, 5-story building. The painting is annotated with “Genève” in the lower-left corner, “L’Île de Rousseau” under the drawing, and “Auror” in the lower right corner. I assume Auror (or Aurore) was the name of Cecilia’s friend who gave her the drawing.

IMG-7945

Île Rousseau and Hotel des Bergues

Île Rousseau is a small island in the Rhone River at the center of Geneva. It was named after Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the famous Swiss philosopher and writer. In 1834, a bridge was built across the river with a connection to the island. The bridge – Pont des Bergues – was named after the magnificent hotel at the end of the bridge, Hotel des Bergues (the large 5-story building in the drawing and nowadays the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues).

It is easy to find old paintings of Île Rousseau online but most seem to be later renderings of the island. Some paintings feature buildings on both sides of Hotel des Bergues. These would have been painted after 1850. Other paintings feature two bridges. The second bridge, Pont du Mont-Blanc, was built in 1862.

Aurore’s drawing depicts Geneva between 1834 and 1850. I initially pictured Aurore sitting on a bench in Geneva on some journey through Europe with her parents. On her lap is a loose-leaf sketchbook and she is busy sketching the tranquil view with her small graphite pencil.

More googling, and I find an almost identical image!

Hotel des Bergues and Île Rousseau (1834-1850)

Besides being a much more detailed print, the main difference between Aurore’s drawing and this print is the steamboat. This one is much larger and ornate.

I just realize that Aurore, of course, did not make her drawing en plein air but most likely made it in school, learning to draw by copying a print. I am sure that in some illustrated magazine, or some book belonging to her teacher, there is an image of the steamboat “Le Vivant” moored in Geneva. I just haven’t found it yet.

There is one more print of Hotel des Bergues and Île Rousseau. This one shows both bridges and new buildings to the right of Hotel des Bergues. This one would have been made after 1862.

Hotel des Bergues and Île Rousseau (after 1862)

————————————————————

Additional reading:

The first steamboat

The steamer in the black-and-white print above is Guillaume Tell, the first steamboat in Geneva. It was built in 1823.

Guillaume Tell, the first steamboat in Geneva.

Images of Île Rousseau as seen from Hotel des Bergues

These images are from the opposite side of the river, maybe painted from a window in Hotel des Bergues.

Île Rousseau as seen from Hotel des Bergues and painted before 1862

 

Île Rousseau as seen from Hotel des Bergues and painted after 1862 (the new bridge on the left)

Lithographs by Louis-Julien (Jean) Jacottet (1806-1880)

Lastly, I found a beautiful lithograph by Jacottet with credits also given to Adolphe Jean-Baptiste Bayot (1810-1866).  The view is from Hotel des Bergues with Île Rousseau to the left and the bridge (Pont des Bergues) to the right. Based on the dresses of the pedestrians (it looks like the women are not wearing crinolines, but rather layers of petticoats), I would guess that this lithograph was made in the late 1840s or early 1850s.

The following images are cropped (close-ups of parts of the print).

Lithograph by J. Jacollet (cropped image)
Lithograph by J. Jacollet (cropped image)

 

Cecilia’s Album: The Wishes of a Young Woman

I pick a random page out of Cecilia’s memory album.

IMG-7936

This one has a handwritten poem with the word Kärleks (Love’s) emphasized in larger letters. The page is signed with what I interpret as S. F. En. I am not sure about the S, but what else could it be? I wreck my brain; are there any friends of Cecilia and Augusta whose last name is En (it is a proper Swedish last name) or starts with En? I check the lists of confirmation friends, school friends, members of the secret orders – the Innocence and the Amaranth – that Augusta belonged to. I find nothing.

I then take another approach. I check to see if the poem might have been written by someone else and published. It takes some playing around with Google, like changing the preferred language and searching on various parts of the poem. It works and I find the source!

Literal translation:

Oh how I would want to be
        (for wishing is allowed)

The flower, lush and lovely
which sits there on the turf

How I would face the sun
and happily open my purple mouth

To imbibe power, light, and warmth
out of God’s Well of Love

The poem appeared in a book Lyriska toner (Lyrical Tones) by Wilhelmina and was published in 1843, the year before Cecilia received the handwritten page for her album. The title of the poem is En ung flickas önskningar (The Wishes of a Young Woman) and what was copied was the first of the poem’s five stanzas.

There is an introduction in the book, written by the pastor in Clara parish (1825-1831), Frans Michael Franzén. Besides being a pastor, Franzén was also a famous poet. I can see why Franzén was moved by Wilhelmina’s poems. He wrote similar poems that also ended up in girls’ memory albums. And even the bishop in Stockholm, Johan Olof Wallin, wrote poems that were likewise copied.

At the time, women writers often wrote under a pseudonym, and Wilhelmina simply published under her first name. Later, when she became a rather famous author and translator, she used her real name, Wilhelmina Stålberg.

That is when it hit me. The handwriting of the poem in Cecilia’s album looked like that of an older person. It was definitely not written by someone of Cecilia’s age, someone who had perfected their cursives, dipping the quill in the inkwell and making beautiful letters. If this was a poem that was known by pastors, could S. F. En belong to the clergy?

The answer was staring me in the face! En could mean that the last name started with E and ended with n, not starting with En. Cecilia and Augusta attended Edgren’s school, founded and operated by Pastor Johan Fredrik Edgren and his German-born wife, Lovisa Carolina Wilhelmina Dethmar. And the initials were J. F. and not S.F. Pastor J. F. Edgren had written the poem for Cecilia before she was leaving Stockholm in June of 1844.

Pastor Edgren later became important in Augusta’s life. He officiated the wedding between Augusta and Adolf Nordwall in Morup’s parsonage. I wonder if she also got a poem or if he recited any during the wedding ceremony.

IMG-7922

Pastor Edgren’s wife, Mrs. Lovisa Edgren, also wrote a greeting to Cecilia. Hers was written in her native German and was more personal. From some correspondence to Augusta, we believe that Cecilia actually stayed with the Edgren family in Morup after they closed their school in Stockholm.

IMG-7930

Mrs. Edgren’s 38-year-old sister also lived with the Edgren family. Eugenia Dethmar was born in Germany in 1806. She too gave Cecilia a page for her album – a poem and a wish, both written in German.