Vogel, Henriette

(GERMANY)
BORN 9 May 1780, Berlin - DIED 21 Nov 1811, Berlin-Wannsee: shore of the Kleiner Wannsee
BIRTH NAME Keber, Adolphine Sophie Henriette
CAUSE OF DEATH shot by friend as part of joint suicide
GRAVE LOCATION Berlin: Heinrich Kleist Grabstätte, Bismarckstrasse 3, Zehlendorf (Wannsee, southern shore)

Henriette Keber was the daughter of the merchant Carl Adolph Keber (1746-1815) and his wife Caroline-Marie Tugendreich born Saft (1749-1803). In 1799 Henriette married the land rent master Friedrich Ludwig Vogel (1773-1843). They had four children, but only their daughter Ida Pauline (1802-1892) survived. She was a fine housewife but also a fine pianist and singer and very able to entertain people.

She probably met Heinrich von Kleist in 1809 through his friend Adam Müller. They shared a passion for music and soon became friends. Adam Müller, who had been in love with Henriette previously, claimed her relationship with Kleist was only spiritual, but in the fall of 1811 they became more intimate. She wrote Kleist a 'love litany' and after her death it became clear that she had been incurably ill with uterine cancer.

On November 20, 1811 she wrote a letter to her husband in which she stated that she could bear life no longer and that Kleist would kill her and then shoot himself. On November 21 Kleist indeed shot her and then himself near Lake Wannsee not far from Potsdam. They were buried at the place where they killed themselves.

Related persons
• was a friend of Kleist, Heinrich von

Images

The grave of Heinrich von Kleist near the Wannsee, Berlin.
Picture by Androom (29 May 2015)

 

The grave of Heinrich von Kleist near the Wannsee, Berlin.
Picture by Androom (29 May 2015)

 

Sources
Henriette Vogel – Wikipedia


Vogel, Hugo

Published: 10 Dec 2023
Last update: 18 Dec 2023