Carl von Clausewitz’s Obituary from 1831
Posted by VanyaB1877 in Research on 14 May 2015
In my article for Journal of Military History I have mentioned Carl von Clausewitz’s official obituary as an example of how, after the first vehement reaction and angry, accusatory words, Marie von Clausewitz proliferated a more balanced public image of her husband. Here it is my full translation of it. However, there are few clarifying [...]
The Clausewitz Papers in Münster University Library
Posted by VanyaB1877 in Research on 28 April 2015
In one of my previous posts I explained how I encountered the newly released complete private correspondence between Marie and Carl von Clausewitz. Now I will introduce to you another collection of Clausewitz papers that is rather understudied. While corresponding with scholars these past weeks, one theme reoccurs. This concerns the notion that the Clausewitz [...]
Marie von Clausewitz’s Very Political Bonnet
Posted by VanyaB1877 in Research on 26 April 2015
While working on my book for the past two years, I have tried reading every bestselling biography of a famous woman. On one hand, I wanted to study the competition (wink-wink). On the other, women’s history and writing history from women’s perspective still remains a relatively new field. When immersed in reading history from the [...]
How I Came to Work With Marie and Carl von Clausewitz’s Correspondence
Posted by VanyaB1877 in Research on 23 April 2015
The last two weeks have been a time of great excitement for me. My article about the newly found correspondence between Marie and Carl von Clausewitz was published in the Journal of Military History. Since then I have been answering emails, exchanging twits and chatting over Facebook. For the past two years, I’ve immersed myself [...]
My Own Private Soave
Posted by VanyaB1877 in Travel on 10 February 2015
Dear readers, I have fallen off the face of the earth in the last eight night months but I have very good reasons for it. We moved to Italy. Then while still staying in a hotel and looking for a place to live, Oxford University Press-USA offered me a book deal. This significantly speeded up the [...]
Another book about Marie and Carl von Clausewitz
Posted by VanyaB1877 in What I am reading on 21 February 2014
Welcome back! I am guilty of long absence and sincerely apologize for that. Sometimes life comes in between us and our best intentions. My husband came back from Afghanistan, I was busy with the government shutdown in Washington in the fall, and, yes, I have been working on Marie von Brühl’s biography. This post is [...]
The Marmorpalais Mystery
Posted by VanyaB1877 in Travel on 12 August 2013
If you happened to read carefully the preface of On War that Marie von Clausewitz wrote in 1832, you would notice that she emphasized the Marmorpalais (or the Marble Palace in English) as her place of work and residence. Of course I wanted to see it, especially since this early classism building, after meticulous renovation, [...]
The Clausewitz Museum in Burg
Posted by VanyaB1877 in Travel on 1 August 2013
It will cost you only one euro. This is the humble entrance fee for Burger Clausewitz Erinnerungsstätte, as the museum in Clausewitz parents house is called officially in German. I admit that when I left Berlin to visit Burg bei Magdeburg, a town approximately 2 hours west, I had very low expectations for the [...]
The Town Where Clausewitz Was Born
Posted by VanyaB1877 in Travel on 30 July 2013
I went to Burg by Magdeburg to learn more about Carl von Clausewitz’s family and background. When Peter Paret wrote his biography Clausewitz and the State in the 1960s and 1970s, the German Democratic Republic and the Berlin Wall were still very real. So, as a source for his description, Paret mainly used Theodore Fontane’s witty but [...]
Where did Carl and Marie von Clausewitz live in Berlin?
Posted by VanyaB1877 in Travel on 22 July 2013
In 1818, Clausewitz was appointed director of the Allgemeine Kriegsschule (General War College), later called Kriegsakademie (Prussian Military Academy). He served there until 1830. Carl and Marie von Clausewitz now moved in an apartment in the same building. When historians talk about the Prussian Kriegsakademie, they usually have in mind its later location on Unter [...]
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