Partner Meta von Salis-Marschlins
Queer Places:
Haus Schücking, Von-Galen-Straße 2, 48336 Sassenberg, Germany
Theophanie "Theo" Elfriede Sabine C. Schücking (April 19, 1850 – May 23, 1903) was a German writer and journalist.
Born into a prominent literary family, she was the daughter of writer Levin Schücking and novelist Louise von Gall.
While living in Italy in the winter of 1878, Theo met Meta von Salis-Marschlins, the pioneering Swiss feminist, historian, and law graduate. Theo became Meta’s first female life partner (Lebensgefährtin).
During their relationship (1878–1883), Schücking wrote passionate letters exploring same-sex intimacy and romantic affection outside conventional heterosexual marriage standards:
"I do not want to differentiate it so strictly from friendship because I think that a great friendship between women is love... according to my nature I would say; je pense, donc je suis but j'aime, donc je suis." — Theo Schücking (Letter to Meta von Salis)
Though their romantic relationship ended around 1883, Meta von Salis later wrote remorsefully about losing Theo, describing her as an "irreplaceable friend."
Theo Schücking’s connection to Hedwig Feigenwinter-Kym—a Swiss poet and women's rights activist—is rooted in their shared place in the life and circle of Meta von Salis:
Theo was Meta’s first major female partner (1878–1883). Shortly after their separation, Meta met Hedwig Kym in 1883, who became Meta’s lifelong companion and partner.
Together, Schücking, von Salis, and Feigenwinter-Kym form a prominent focus in German and Swiss LGBTQ history. Their interconnected lives and writings—notably documented in historian Regula Schnurrenberger’s biographical work Theo Schücking (1850–1903), Meta von Salis-Marschlins (1855–1929) & Hedwig Feigenwinter-Kym (1860–1949)—illustrate how late-19th-century intellectual women formed romantic, domestic, and political partnerships outside traditional marriage models.
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