Hans Christian Andersen and his sister, Karen Marie Rosenvinge
One of the most famous Danes of all time is the writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875). His international fame is based on his fairy tales, but in reality he was a much more versatile writer as he also published novels and some plays in addition to writing about himself, his life and his friends. him in his diaries now published. He himself must have felt the need to stress the fact of his versatility, as he is quoted as having said that the parents of his main readers, that is, the children, would also find something valuable in his stories. Perhaps he felt a little disappointment gnawing at his pride because his fame was based on children’s stories and not his works for adults even though they were considered quite outstanding?
What also ate at his system was the thought of his half-sister, or “his mother’s daughter,” as he calls his sister, Karen Marie Danielsdatter Rosenvinge (1799-1846). They might have been able to brighten each other’s lives if they had been friends, but no, he couldn’t bring anything so natural about her heart and his pride. In her opinion, she was a disgrace to him and the seemingly mild-mannered writer, even writing devotional fairy tales for children, was never happy to see or hear from her.
Could the reason for this be that she, being the oldest by six years, had bullied him in childhood? Well, most of her childhood, she, who was one of three illegitimate children of a man who was never married to her mother, was fostered and only lived with the family for a short period of time. The mother of both children, Karen Marie and Hans Christian, was also born an illegitimate child and was reputed to be a good person whom she loved, so why couldn’t her son accept his sister who started out in the same position? social than they? mother? It is safe to say that he never accepted this sister and that he seems to have suspected that she was living an immoral and therefore shameful life.
In the article “HC Andersens halvsøster, Karen Marie Rosenvinge, og hendes slægt” (: “Hans Christian Andersen’s half-sister, Karen Marie Rosenvinge and her family” by Bent Østergaard and Kenneth V. Jørgensen it is stated once and for all That’s why there’s nothing about her in the police files from that time. Or to put it another way: Karen Marie was not a prostitute and therefore a disgrace to her family, she was a hard-working laundress like her mother. Most likely, the they were sent to work as a maid at the tender age of 9-10 and although she was very upset when she couldn’t get her brother’s address when he left home as a child to try his luck in Copenhagen, she didn’t stalk him. when he became famous and therefore richer than anyone in his family.
All he did was ask her to come see him a few times when he didn’t know how to get a job or money. That is, her fiancé or perhaps her husband, Peter Kaufmann, was the one the famous writer agreed to see, not her sister. She only came once and Hans Christian Andersen noticed that she looked quite young and quite well dressed.
When Karen Marie was found dead in her rooms in 1846, she was buried in Assistens Kirkegården (: The Assistens Cemetery). This beautiful and interesting cemetery would also become the last resting place of her brother when he died in 1875, but it is not known how her graves are placed relative to each other. Many people still visit her grave, but since the location of hers has been forgotten, no one goes there. If she knew where she is, she would have visited her, since I find that she has been wronged.
