A pen pal between the centuries, a journey through time and the question of self-determination – and all of that in the region of Bad Kissingen and Würzburg in the 19th century. Aschach Castle and historic Würzburg play a central role in “Sisters through Time – Comtesse in Turnschuhen”, the first young adult novel by the Würzburg-born author Teresa Hochmuth.
The plot of the recently published novel develops around the two main characters Dottie and Frieda. While Dottie feels out of date, especially in 2022, Frieda in 1822 struggles with the social expectations placed on girls of her age and status. When the two girls come into contact through a magical coincidence, a pen pal develops over the centuries – until Dottie is suddenly drawn to 19th-century Franconia.
A journey through time to Aschach Castle and Würzburg in the 19th century
The author Teresa Hochmuth, who was born in Würzburg in 1982, says it was actually supposed to be a realistic story about a girl’s friendship today. But then the ideas bubbled up and the result was a time travel story that mostly takes place in 1822 in a fictionalized version of Schloss Aschach. Ultimately, what remained of the original idea was above all the desire to critically question typical gender roles and ideas of how girls between the ages of 12 and fourteen should be. “It’s also clearly about how a girl must be and how she can be, both today and in the 19th century,” says Hochmuth.
For her first young adult novel, the children’s book and screenwriter, who now lives in Munich, ended up back in her home country of Lower Franconia. “In fact, I wrote most of the book at my parents’ house in Rimpar,” she says. Because when choosing the central venues, they chose Aschach Castle in the Bad Bocklet district of the same name and the historic Würzburg as a side show.
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She came up with the idea for it together with her mother. “It became clear to us that I needed a specific place to be able to better imagine life as it was in 1822,” says Hochmuth. Ultimately, it was her mother who suggested the current museum in Aschach. “When I was at school, I went on an excursion to Aschach Castle,” the author recalls, “the rooms are furnished as they were in the 19th century, and there was an exhibition that showed life in the castle in this time shows”.
“Franconian summer moments” as the basis for the novel
Numerous photos, the podcast of the Castle Museum and a map of the castle would have helped her significantly in writing “Sisters through Time”. The name Schloss Aschach was not preserved in the novel, but many rooms have their real names, says Hochmuth. For example, the blue salon or the bay window play a role. Hochmuth admits that she also cheated a bit on the geographic proximity to Würzburg. “I’ve moved Aschach a little closer to Würzburg so that the horse can cover the distance in a few hours,” she says, “that probably wouldn’t be the case in reality.”
Because for a sequence of the novel, the two main characters end up in historical Würzburg. “For Dottie, who sees Würzburg with her eyes from 2022, it’s an incredibly strange feeling,” says the Munich native, “the city lies in front of her like it’s shrunk, of course you can’t see the skyscrapers at Heuchelhof yet when you look from the vineyards comes down, or the excursion boats on the Main. The leap in time becomes very clear here”.
For the depiction of Würzburg in 1822, she used old copper engravings and the articles of some historians as a guide, says Hochmuth. On the other hand, the basis for the description of the landscape and the attitude towards life in the novel is her own experiences from her childhood and youth in Franconia. “I also wrote so much in Rimpar because I needed this feeling of what summer feels like in the Franconian countryside,” she says. Swimming in ponds, climbing on plum trees and the special smell of the forest in particularly dry Franconia – “These are all Franconian summer moments,” says Hochmuth, “It’s the small details that give the whole thing such authenticity”.
“Sisters through time – Comtesse in sneakers” will also be presented as part of a reading at the Theme weekend “From A to Z” from August 20th to 21st at Aschach Castle.
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