Longing and Belonging Within an Academic Family of the 19th Century: The Example of Clarissa and Leopold von Ranke

  • Andreas Dieter Boldt Maynooth University
Keywords: European identity, historiography, Salon Ranke, poetry, Irish-German relations

Abstract

This essay will examine the perceptions of longing and belonging of Clarissa von Ranke, nee Graves (1808-71) and her husband, the German historian Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886). While Leopold was greatly influenced by his firmly rooted belonging to the historically grown state of Prussia, not the nation-state of Germany created in 1871, Clarissa was an Anglo-Irish living in Berlin, since her marriage in 1843. Clarissa incorporated many aspects of her Irish cultural heritage into her daily living in Berlin, thus creating an international and diverse environment. Even if, over time, Clarissa felt more like a Prussian, she never forgot her home in Ireland. Regardless of the varying national aspects of belonging, both Leopold and Clarissa shared a common identity with a cultural European unity represented in the cosmopolitan cultural atmosphere of the Salon Ranke run by Clarissa and the writing of European national histories by Leopold.

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Author Biography

Andreas Dieter Boldt, Maynooth University
Independent historian at Maynooth University

References

Bäcker-von Ranke, G., ‘Leopold von Ranke und seine Familie: Kulturgeschichtliches Bild einer deutschen Gelehrtenfamilie im neunzehnten Jahrhundert’. (Bonn: unpublished Diss., 1955).

Bäcker-von Ranke, G. , Rankes Ehefrau Clarissa geb. Graves Perceval (Göttingen, Oldenbourg Verlag, 1967).

Boldt, Andreas, The Role of Ireland in the Life of Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886): The Historian and Historical truth (Lampeter, Edwin Mellen Press, 2007).

Boldt, Andreas (ed.), The Clarissa von Ranke Letters and the Ranke-Graves Correspondence 1843-1886 (Lampeter, Edwin Mellen Press, 2012).

Boldt, Andreas and Hecht, Ingrid, ‘Clarissa von Rankes Leben und jetzt erkannte Krankheit’, in: Elvert, Jürgen (ed.), Historische Mitteilungen der Ranke-Gesellschaft, vol. 26 (Stuttgart, 2014), pp. 187-220.

Boldt, Andreas, The Life and Work of the German Historian Leopold von Ranke (1795-1886): An Assessment of his Achievements (New York, Edwin Mellen Press, 2015).

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Ranke, Leopold, Geschichten der romanischen und germanischen Voelker von 1494 bis 1535 (1824).

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Ranke, Leopold von, A History of England, principally in the seventeenth century (Oxford, 1875).

Ranke, Leopold von, Abhandlungen und Versuche (Leipzig, 1888).

Solly, Thomas, A coronal of English verse, or a selection from English and American poets (Berlin, 1864).

Published
2017-06-02
How to Cite
Boldt, A. (2017). Longing and Belonging Within an Academic Family of the 19th Century: The Example of Clarissa and Leopold von Ranke. Between, 7(13). https://doi.org/10.13125/2039-6597/2646
Section
Longing to Belong: the Community