Das Heldenmädchen von Lüneburg

Johanna Stegen (1793–1842) was a German heroine of the Antinapoleonic Wars. On 2 April 1813, German soldiers clashed with Napoleonic troops near Lüneburg in Northern Germany. In the course of the battle, the Prussian regiment risked running out of ammunition, and so Stegen rushed ammunition to them in her apron, thus contributing to the Prussian victory. She was glorified soon afterwards in a patriotic poem by Friedrich Rückert. In 1817, Stegen married Prussian corporal Wilhelm Hindersin (1792–1863) in Berlin, who after the wars had become royal printer in the war ministry. This article explores the history of Johanna Stegen and how it was remembered and rewritten over the course of the nineteenth century.