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Amo te solo
Briefe der Kurfürstin Elisabeth Augusta an den Herzog Clemens Franz in Bayern 1743–1770
The year 2021 marks the 300th anniversary of the birth of Elisabeth Augusta of the Palatinate (1721–1794). As the eldest granddaughter of Elector Carl Philipp, she was married to the heir to the electoral dignity, Carl Theodor, on her 21st birthday in Mannheim Castle. Her younger sister, Maria Anna, was married on the same day to Clemens Franz von Paula, Duke of Bavaria. Elisabeth Augusta and Clemens Franz had fallen in love with each other in the run-up to the marriages and maintained a close, intimate and also erotic relationship for many years. Their correspondence reflects their close relationship, their duties and limits, their boredom and hopes, their occasional weariness with court life and their understanding of their princely role. It is not an exchange of scholarly content or serious commentary on political developments, but a glimpse into the prince's everyday life, a piece of normality. Nevertheless, it is precisely this that appears all the more exciting, as the private scope of action of princely persons and the hidden language of love and passions are also revealed here.
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Die Historikerin Susan Richter […] hat die privaten Schreiben in einer sorgfältig aufbereiteten Edition soeben veröffentlicht. [...] Erläuterungen zu den jeweiligen Herrschern und Hofschranzen sowie den historischen Ereignissen, die in der Korrespondenz aufscheinen, finden sich in den Anmerkungen ebenso wie Erklärungen zum kurfürstlichen Klatsch und Tratsch , etwa der ewigen Fragen, wer mit wem. Das alles fügt sich gleich einem Mosaik zu einem Bild des damaligen höfischen Lebens.
Wolfgang Görl, "112 Briefe voller Leidenschaft", in: Süddeutsche Zeitung, 13.2.2022.
