Charlotte Buff (11 January 1753,

Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...

– 16 January 1828,

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

) was a youthful acquaintance of the poet

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

, who fell in love with her. She rejected him and instead married Johann Christian Kestner, vice-archivist and privy councillor to the Hanoverian court. The character of Charlotte, in Goethe's novel ''

The Sorrows of Young Werther ''The Sorrows of Young Werther'' (; german: Die Leiden des jungen Werthers) is a 1774 epistolary novel by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, which appeared as a revised edition in 1787. It was one of the main novels in the '' Sturm und Drang'' period in Ge ...

'', is partly based on her.Mandelkow, Karl Robert (1962). ''Goethes Briefe''. Vol. 1: ''Briefe der Jahre 1764-1786''. Christian Wegner Verlag. pp. 590–592 Their relationship was characterized by heartiness and lack of constraint. Goethe bought the wedding rings for her and Kestner, in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. Charlotte and Kestner had four daughters and eight sons, among them

August Kestner Georg Christian August Kestner (28 November 1777, in Hanover – 5 March 1853, in Rome) was a German diplomat and art collector. Life Kestner was the son of civil servant Johann Christian Kestner and his wife Charlotte Buff. Johann Wolfgang von ...

Appearances in modern culture

*Within the 2010 German film '' Young Goethe in Love'', the character of Charlotte Buff is portrayed by

Miriam Stein Miriam Stein (born 10 May 1988) is an Austrian-Swiss television and film actress. She is best known internationally for a leading role as Charlotte in the German television drama '' Generation War'' (2013). Early life Stein was born in Vienna, ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buff, Charlotte 1753 births 1828 deaths People from Wetzlar Johann Wolfgang von Goethe The Sorrows of Young Werther