It is late autumn 1792, and over Münster lies that peculiar restlessness that arises when the world outside has long since been set in motion, while those inside are still trying to cling to the old order. It is precisely into this atmosphere that The Jewish Princess by Ulrich Henze leads: a historical novel about Amalie von Gallitzin, the Münster of 1792 – and a rumor that is enough to suddenly turn a respected woman into an outsider.
The French Revolution seems far away. And yet its consequences can also be felt in the Prince-Bishopric of Münster. People are fleeing from France and the surrounding territories, long-held ideas are beginning to waver, and the role of the nobility and the Church is being called into question. Amidst this tense situation, a story begins whose explosive force does not come from cannons, but from words.
A rumor finds its victim
Princess Amalie von Gallitzin is not a woman who willingly conforms to the role intended for her. Educated, self-confident, and argumentative, she is the center of a circle where social reform, religion, and the ideas of the Enlightenment are debated. It is precisely this independence that makes her vulnerable.
Then a rumor begins to circulate in Münster: the Princess is said to be hiding a young Jew from the authorities. His name is Jakob Löw. He has left the poverty-stricken north of the bishopric and is traveling without official permission. His destination is France, where people of the Jewish faith have been granted legal equality as a result of the revolution. For Jakob, Paris is linked to the hope of a different life.
For Amalie's opponents, on the other hand, his supposed presence is an opportunity. The rumor meets with existing prejudices, antisemitic resentment, and the disapproval of a woman whose way of life already arouses suspicion. In this way, a mere assertion develops into a social crisis.
Two people who never meet
One of the most appealing constructs of the novel is that Amalie and Jakob never meet in person a single time. And yet, their paths in life are inextricably linked by the rumor. On one side is a privileged princess who must learn how quickly social recognition can vanish. On the other, a young man who is denied rights because of his Jewish heritage.
In an interview with the publisher, Ulrich Henze describes this narrative idea as follows: "Both are fundamentally different, yet simultaneously linked by their outsider status." This is precisely where a special tension in the novel lies. It is not an encounter that connects the two characters, but society’s imagination of an encounter that never took place.
Those who wish to delve deeper into these two contrasting paths in life will also find a story about belonging and exclusion in "The Jewish Princess" – and about the question of who determines whether a person is allowed to belong to society.
Münster between the old order and the new age
However, the novel does not live solely from its central conflict. The Münster of 1792 becomes the stage for an era in transition. French refugees arrive, revolutionary ideas reach Westphalia, and social certainties become fragile. Historical figures encounter fictional characters, and even Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, whose visit to Amalie von Gallitzin in 1792 is historically documented, enters the plot.
In doing so, the novel does not recount history as a succession of political dates. It leads into houses and salons, onto streets and squares, and into conversations that reveal what major historical changes mean for individual people. Thus, it becomes a historical novel about the Enlightenment and the French Revolution that observes its era from up close.
When words become more dangerous than facts
At the center remains the question of how a social reality can arise from a rumor. Who believes whom? Who remains silent? Who uses the situation for their own purposes? And what happens to a person when their actual actions no longer matter, but only what others say about them?
In this way, The Jewish Princess develops a tension from the historical material that points far beyond the year 1792. Antisemitism, xenophobia, emancipation, and social exclusion do not appear as abstract terms, but become visible through concrete fates. It is precisely this historical distance that makes it possible to examine the mechanisms of prejudice and ostracism more closely.
With The Jewish Princess, Dr. Ulrich Henze returns literarily to his hometown of Münster. As an art historian, his gaze is directed not only at events, but at people, images, and the contradictions of an era. In this way, the historical Münster of 1792 becomes a stage for a story about freedom, prejudice, and the courage to remain true to one's own convictions.
The book is available in German language as a printed, paperback edition (ISBN 978-3-910347-93-9) and as an EPUB (ISBN 978-3-910347-94-6) in bookstores or here in the publisher's shop.
