Emma Klingenfeld

Emma Klingenfeld (1848-1935) is born in Nuremberg as the daughter of Friedrich August Klingenfeld (1817-1880), professor of mathematics. She begins to take an interest in Nordic languages at an early age. After her father's appointment to the Technische Hochschule München, the family moves to the Bavarian capital in 1868. There she belongs to Paul Heyse's circle, where she becomes known for works by Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906) and makes a name for herself as a translator of his early works.

Travels to Norway and Denmark bring her into contact with other Nordic poetry, which she translates (Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson [1832-1910], Frederik Paludan Müller [1809-1876], Holger Drachmann [1846-1908]). But she also translates opera libretti (e.g. The Trojans by Hector Berlioz [1803-1896]) into German.

Klingenfeld's name can already be found in the Verein für Fraueninteressen in 1897, and she joins the Münchner Schriftstellerinnen-Verein in 1913. Klingenfeld reads appreciative poetry to the two founders Emma Haushofer-Merk (1854-1925) and Carry Brachvogel (1864-1942) on the occasion of their birthdays. At the commemoration of Haushofer-Merk's death in 1925 verses by Klingenfeld close the event again.

Klingenfeld's poetic oeuvre includes poems and her diaries. Apart from statements on current events (World War I, Hitler's seizure of power), there are mainly occasional poems in her estate. Numerous letters from her have also been handed down. Many writers of her time, including Helene Raff (1865-1942, Raffiana VI. Klingenfeld, Emma), Wilhelm Hertz (1835-1902, Hertziana 129 Klingenfeld, Emma), Frieda Port (1854-1926), Maximilian Schmidt (1832-1919) and Wilhelm Jensen (1837-1911, Raffiana VI. Jensen, Wilhelm) are among her correspondence partners.