Friederike Brion (1752 – 1813)

Friederike Brion was born as the third child of a village pastor in Alsace. In 1760 the family moved to Sesenheim (40 km northeast of Straßburg) where Friederike grew up. Sesenheim and Friederike Brion became a noted part of history when the writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, then a student, visited the village, met Friederike and fell passionately in love with her at first sight. Though intense the romance lasted only a few months. The couple had met in the fall of 1770. In the spring of 1771 the restless Goethe said goodbye for the last time. Friederike remained single and lived with her family for the remainder of her life. A number of Goethe’s poems were inspired by the love affair, noteably Willkommen und Abschied, and he mentioned the romance in his biographical Dichtung und Wahrheit. Franz Lehar's operetta, Friederike, tells the story of the love between Goethe and Friederike Brion.