A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Krüdener, Julianna, Baroness of Valeria
KRÜDENER, JULIANNA, BARONESS OF VALERIA,
Was born in Riga, about 1776. Her father, Baron Vietinghoff one of the richest landed proprietors in Courland, gave her a careful education. When a young girl, her parents took her to Paris, where her father's house was the resort of men of talents; and her wit, beauty, and cheerfulness, were much admired. In her fourteenth year, she was married to Baron Krüdener, a Livonian, about thirty-six years old. She accompanied her husband to Copenhagen and Venice, where he was Russian minister. In these places, and in St. Petersburg, Madame Krüdener, placed by rank and wealth in the first circles, was one of their most brilliant ornaments. She was surrounded by admirers of her talents and beauty; but she was not happy. She became the mother of two children; but her natural liveliness of temperament, and the allurements of the world, led her into levities which finally caused a divorce from her husband. In 1791 she returned to her father's house, in Riga, where she was considered one of the most amiable and accomplished ladies, with a feeling heart and lively imagination. But Riga did not satisfy her, and she lived alternately at Paris and St. Petersburg. Her love of amusements involved her, in both places, in many difficulties. In the midst of these, she wrote a novel, of which she had formed the plan at an earlier period—"Valerie on Lettres de Gustave de Linar à Emeste de G."—in which she delineated certain scenes of her own life.
The disasters of Prussia arrived; and Madame Krüdener, being then about the person of the Queen of Prussia, and participating in her affliction, turned her mind from the pleasures of the world to the subject of religion, though, perhaps, little change may have been produced in the essentials of her character. Ambition, a lively sensibility, and love of excitement, seem to have remained the great springs of her actions. She was now attracted by the principles of the Moravians. She went again to Paris, where she found many disciples, chiefly among those who, having been accustomed to it on excitements from early youth, and having become sickened with those of fashionable life, turn with pleasure to those of devotion. On the commencement of the war of the northern powers against Napoleon, Madame Krüdener went to Geneva. She began to believe herself called to preach the gospel to the poor, and therefore visited the prison at Heidelbeiig, and preached to the criminals condemned to death. In 1814, she returned to Paris, where she became acquainted with Alexander, the Emperor of Russia, who had already shown a disposition to religious contemplations, and upon whom her conversation had great influence. In Paris she had prayer-meetings, attended by distinguished personages, where she was seen in the back-ground of a suite of rooms, in the dress of a priestess kneeling in prayer. It is very generally believed that her conversations with Alexander were mainly instrumental in suggesting the idea of the holy alliance: it is certain that in her later sermons she held it up almost as a new covenant. In 1815 she went to Bâle, where a small community of devout mystics was already collected. Here a young clergyman of Geneva followed her, and preached in the prayer-meetings which the baroness held every evening. Women and girls went in numbers to these meetings, and gave liberally to the poor, often to a degree much beyond what they could afford. These meetings had a very bad moral effect. Cases were reported which excited great scandal, and a preacher named Făsch finally denounced the priestess. The magistracy of Bâle obliged her to leave the city. She experienced the same treatment at Lörrach, Aaran, and other places; yet, according to the common course of things, the number of her followers increased, particularly among young females. At the same time, she carried on an extensive correspondence, and money was sent to her from great distances. In 1816, with her daughter, she went to reside not far from Bâle, in Baden. Here she assembled many poor people, great numbers of whom were vagabonds, whom she provided with food and lodgings without labour. These were very ready to profit by the kindness of the benevolent lady, who preached against the cold-heartedness of the rich as the source of all evil. The public peace was so much disturbed by these proceedings, that her place of residence was surrounded by soldiers, in 1817, and her disciples carried away to Lörrach. She wrote, in consequence, a remarkable letter to the minister at Carlsruhe, in which she spoke of the "desert of civilization" through which she was obliged to wander, and reminded him of the law of God, requiring the authorities to take care of the poor. She now travelled about, preaching in the open air, often surrounded by thousands of people, and giving bountifully to the poor. Wherever she arrived, she was under the surveillance of the police. In Leipsic, police officers were even placed at her door, so that nobody could be admitted to see her. At length the police transported her to the Russian frontier, where she received orders not to go to Moscow or to St. Petersburg. In 1824, she went with her daughter and her son-in-law to the Crimea, and died there the same year, December 13th., at Karafubasar. She appears to have been an amiable enthusiast, pouring out pious effusions, mingled with arrogant prophecies; and is one of the many instances where ardent zeal and good intention (for it is probable that she considered herself to be doing right) are by no means sufficient to render one capable of effecting a great reformation.