author
Emmy von Rhoden
1832–1885
Best known for the classic girls’ novel Der Trotzkopf, this 19th-century German writer helped shape a whole strand of young adult fiction. Her stories mixed humor, strict social worlds, and a lively interest in strong-willed young heroines.
1 Audiobook
Der Trotzkopf: Eine Pensionsgeschichte für erwachsene Mädchen
by Emmy von Rhoden
About the author
Born in Magdeburg in 1829, Emmy von Rhoden was the pen name of Emilie Auguste Karoline Henriette Friedrich-Friedrich, née Kühne. She became known as a German novelist and is remembered above all for Der Trotzkopf, published in 1885, the year of her death in Dresden.
The novel became one of the best-known examples of the Backfischroman, a popular form of fiction about adolescent girls growing up within the rules and expectations of bourgeois society. Its rebellious heroine and school setting helped make the book a lasting favorite with generations of readers.
Emmy von Rhoden’s literary life was also part of a family tradition: she was married to the writer and journalist Hermann Friedrich Friedrich, and her daughter Else Wildhagen later continued the world of Trotzkopf in sequel volumes. Even now, von Rhoden is remembered as an important early voice in German literature for young readers.