Elisabeth von Staegemann

Johanna Elisabeth von Staegemann (née Fischer; 11 April 1761, in Königsberg – 11 July 1835, in Berlin), was a German writer, painter, salonist and noble. She held one of the most famous salons of contemporary Germany in Königsberg and Berlin. The daughter of the Prussian businessman, Kommerzienrat Johann Jakob Fischer (died 1786) and Regina nee Hartung (1734–1805) grew up in Königsberg, Prussia. In her liberal society, open to the arts and science, she gained a reputation as a young woman. She was known to Johann Friedrich Reichardt, Immanuel Kant and Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel, among others. The writer and diplomat Friedrich Gentz and the poet Friedrich August Staegemann were among her admirers. In 1780 she married Justizrat Graun, son of the composer Carl Heinrich Graun. When her husband was called to Berlin in 1787, Elisabeth stayed with her two children and her mother alone in Königsberg for eight years. Towards the end of the 1780s, she established a salon-like social gathering and followed her husband to Berlin in 1795, but filed for divorce at the end of the year. A year later she married her aforementioned admirer Friedrich August Staegemann in Königsberg. In 1806 she returmed to Berlin again. Due to the Prussian defeat in the battle of Jena and Auerstedt, the Staegemanns went back to East Prussia with the royal family. Here, she continued the operation of a salon. Their children became playmates for the princes and princesses. Friendly ties were also established with Prince Janusz Radziwiłł and his wife Luise von Prussia. After a three-year stay in Königsberg, the family returned to Berlin circa 1810. She intensified the operation of her salon there. As wife of the state councilor, Staegemann soon played a leading role in Berlin's cultural life, especially since her friend Rahel Varnhagen's salon was dissolved in 1806, leaving a social vacuum. In the late 1820s, Staegemann stopped participating in the salon due to illness. Her (now married) daughter Hedwig von Olfers took her place as hostess.