Sara Grotthuis, born Sara Meyer, known as Sophie Leopoldine Wilhelmine Baroness von Grotthuis and as Sara Wulff by her first marriage, was one of the most well-known "salonnieres" of the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Berlin.
12 Facts About Sara Grotthuis
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Sara Grotthuis was born Sara Meyer in Berlin in 1763 as the eldest daughter of the Orthodox Jewish banker Aaron Moses Meyer and his wife Rosel.
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Sara Grotthuis was the cousin of Rahel Varnhagen von Ense.
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Sara Grotthuis was noted as being bright and talented in languages.
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In 1778 at the age of 15, Sara Grotthuis was married to the older Jewish businessman Liebmann Wulff.
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Sara Grotthuis's parents were in favor of the marriage, and the ceremony was performed by Moses Mendelssohn.
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The couple lived in Berlin, and Sara Grotthuis led one of the most important literary salons of the time and exchanged letters with Goethe.
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Alongside other salonnieres Henriette Herz and Rahel Varnhagen, Sara Grotthuis led one of the most influential literary salons in Berlin around 1800.
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Sara Grotthuis's guests included not only diplomats, writers, and actors but members of the Prussian nobility like Prince Louis Ferdinand.
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Sara Grotthuis's salon gained influence through her friendship with Johann Wolfgang Goethe, of whom she was a long-time admirer.
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Sara Grotthuis threw Sara's copy of Werther out a window.
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Sara Grotthuis met Goethe in 1795 at a spa in Karlsbad, far before any of the other Berlin salonnieres.