Gräfin zu Augusta Louise Stolberg-Stolberg

Born in Bad Bramstedt in 1753, Augusta Louise zu Stolberg-Stolberg was a German countess from the House of Stolberg. She became known above all through her spirited correspondence with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, which made her famous in literary history as "Goethes Gustchen."

She was the daughter of Count Christian Günther zu Stolberg-Stolberg and Charlotte Frederike zu Stolberg-Stolberg, and she was the sister of Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg, the poet and translator. In 1783 she married the Danish statesman Andreas Peter von Bernstorff, joining another prominent European family.

Although she is not chiefly remembered for a large body of published writing, her letters have kept her presence alive: intelligent, sociable, and closely connected to the literary culture of her time. She died in Kiel in 1835.