Dagmar von Gersdorff: Alle Schönheit, aller Zauber. Lucie und Hermann von Pückler

Her marriage was a sensation: Lucie von Hardenberg, the fabulously wealthy daughter of the Prussian State Chancellor, mother of two daughters, and recently divorced, married the much younger adventurer Hermann Prince Pückler at the age of 40. At that time, he was not yet the successful writer and famous landscape architect, but rather a nobleman with an old castle and heavy debts. He was, however, charming and eloquent—people admired his flashes of wit as much as his elegant demeanor.

Much has been written about Prince Pückler and his unique parks; little, however, is known about his wife Lucie, without whose loving care his life would likely have taken a different course. Dagmar von Gersdorff, known for her successful portrayals of Goethe’s mother, Caroline von Humboldt, Julia Mann, and Goethe’s daughter-in-law Ottilie von Goethe, tells the story of this most dazzling couple of the Goethe era with verve and meticulous documentation.