Little House
Fürstenhäusle
The Little House seen from the southeast, at the end of a paved path.
Map location and basic information Location within Germany Show map of Germany Little House, Meersburg (Baden-Württemberg) Show map of Baden-Württemberg General information Location Meersburg, Germany Coordinates 47°41′40.33″N 9°16′31.45″E / 47.6945361°N 9.2754028°E / 47.6945361; 9.2754028 Owner Baden-Württemberg
Website
www.fuerstenhaeusle.de/en/home/

The Little House, also called the Prince's House (Fürstenhäusle), is a historic house and museum located in Meersburg, Germany, overlooking Lake Constance. It was the residence of the poet Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, to whom the museum is dedicated.

The Little House was built sometime around 1600 by Jakob Fugger [de],^[1] a canon of the diocese of Constance and descendant of Jakob Fugger the Rich. In 1604, he became the Prince-Bishop of Constance,^[2] though he continued to reside at the Little House until his death in 1626.^[1][2] So did succeeding Prince-Bishops,^[1] giving the residence its name (Fürstenhäusle),^[3] until the Prince-Bishopric was secularized in 1803 and absorbed into the Electorate of Baden.^[4] After secularization, the Little House stood empty.^[5]

Over two centuries after Prince-Bishop Fugger's death, in 1797, the poet Annette von Droste-Hülshoff was born. She began to find literary success at a young age, but was weighed down with familial obligations, and frequently ill. To find solace, the poet frequently spent time in Meersburg with her sister and her husband,^[6] Joseph von Laßberg, at Meersburg Castle.^[5] From 1841 especially, Droste-Hülshoff spent most of her time in Meersburg, where,^[6] in November 1843, the Little House went to auction. Droste-Hülshoff, desiring a private residence for herself in later years, participated with little competition. Thus, the purchase came out to 400 Reichsthaler,^[5] a sum supplied by her own revenue and Laßberg's annuity.^[6] The poet was very fond of her purchase and wrote glowingly of it in letters to friends and family.^[1][4][5] However, she had never resided there by the time she died in 1848, aged 51.^[4]

Droste-Hülshoff's descendants transformed the Little House into a museum dedicated to their forebear and her works in 1923.^[1] Carl von Droste-Hülshoff [de] also added a new wing and moved the entrance.^[3]

In 1947, Heinrich von Bothmer-Schwegerhoff, another descendant of Droste-Hülshoff, and his American wife, Helen von Bothmer [de], moved into the Little House. Bothmer operated the museum until her death in 1996 and endowed a literary prize for women poets, the Droste Prize, in 1957.^[7]

Staatliche Schlösser und Gärten Baden-Württemberg [de] (SSG), the public entity that manages State properties in Baden-Württemberg, closed the Little House in late 2016 for renovations funded by proceeds from the Glücksspirale [de] lottery. The Little House was to be reopened in September with a new exhibit dedicated to Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, a collaboration between SSG and the Droste Research Center of the Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe [de].^[8]

When Annette von Droste-Hülshoff was residing at the Little House, it consisted of a state room and a kitchen on the ground floor, which housed a staircase into a common room and bedrooms for herself and a maid. Droste-Hülshoff described the state room as a "glass case" with an oriel that contained a canapé and a tile stove. Memorabilia from the poet's time are on display here. In the alcove nearby is located Droste-Hülshoff's collection of jewels.^[9] Droste-Hülshoff described the upstairs room as a "swallow's nest",^[3] decorated now with copies of Droste-Hülshoff's manuscripts, miniature portraits, and family photographs.^[9] Also on display here are first-edition copies of works by Droste-Hülshoff, Goethe, and Levin Schücking.^[10] During her ownership of the Little House, Droste-Hülshoff had it repainted.^[11]

The portion of the Little House that existed when Annette von Droste-Hülshoff purchased the house is arranged as she described it and contains an exhibit dedicated to her work.^[9][12]

The wing added by Carl von Droste-Hülshoff is now the visitor's center.^[3]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Little House, Meersburg.

• Annette von Droste-Hülshoff
• Neues Schloss (Meersburg)
• Meersburg Castle

• Official website (in English)
• "Fürstenhäusle" on Meersburg's official website (in English)