Marie Petersen

Marie Luise Auguste Petersen was a German writer born in Frankfurt (Oder) on July 31, 1816, and she spent nearly all her life there. She came from a prosperous family of pharmacists and, despite chronic ill health from childhood, was known for her education and for living quietly within a cultured, musical household.

Her literary career began after a journey to the Harz Mountains in 1851, which inspired a travel letter that became Prinzessin Ilse, published anonymously in 1852. The tale was a success, and her name was added in later editions. Her second well-known work, Die Irrlichter, proved even more popular, and both books were later translated into English and French.

Petersen died in Frankfurt (Oder) on June 30, 1859, before she could fully see how widely her stories would be read. Even so, her reputation has lasted through the enduring appeal of her fairy-tale imagination and her gift for turning place and legend into vivid storytelling.