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]
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]
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