Tracing the life of Anna Vandenhoeck
When her husband died in 1750, Anna Vandenhoeck took over his publishing house – courageously defying the prevailing gender roles of her time. With determination and entrepreneurial skill, she laid the foundation for the success of Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, which is a renowned and internationally recognized brand of De Gruyter Brill today.
The story of Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht could have come to a quick end in 1750. Just 15 years after founding the publishing house, Abraham Vandenhoeck passed away at the age of 50, leaving no male heirs nor relatives willing or able to take over. After her husband’s death, Anna Vandenhoeck had few options: she could sell the publishing house and retire as a widow with the proceeds, or she could take on the role of publisher – something that was far from common for a woman at the time. She chose the latter and continued to shape the publishing house until 1787, considerably longer than her husband.
Göttingen and the Vandenhoecks
In 1735, Anna Vandenhoeck (née Parry), who was originally from England, and her husband left Hamburg, Germany, where they had previously run a printing business. They moved to Göttingen, Germany, where new opportunities awaited Abraham Vandenhoeck as a skilled printer and bookseller. On February 13, 1735, he signed the main contract, which granted him the privilege of publishing books.
Both Abraham and Anna Vandenhoeck were of the Reformed Protestant faith, which had an impact on both the development of the publishing house and the ecclesiastical situation in Göttingen. When the renowned and influential polymath Albrecht von Haller was appointed Professor of Medicine and Botany at the University of Göttingen, he noticed the absence of a Reformed church in the predominantly Lutheran city. Due to their shared confessional exile, the Vandenhoecks and the von Hallers quickly formed a close bond – both personally and professionally. As a result, Albrecht von Haller left many of his medical and botanical publications to the Vandenhoeck publishing house, and the families also undertook private trips together, including leisure trips that lasted several days.
The Death of Abraham Vandenhoeck
Abraham Vandenhoeck only had 15 years to manage his printing business, publishing house and bookstore: He died in the summer of 1750 at the age of 50, whereupon his 41-year-old widow Anna Vandenhoeck continued her husband’s work. It seems that the sole heiress was not unprepared: immediately after her husband’s death, she assured that books already in production would be published.
“Anna Vandenhoeck proved to be a careful and persuasive publisher.”
Beyond that, Anna Vandenhoeck proved to be a careful and persuasive publisher, who did not shy away from networking with the intellectual elite – at that time, of course, mainly male – and making use of their connections. Among her most important supporters were the von Hallers as well as the minister and university founder Gerlach Adolph Freiherr von Münchhausen. Within the publishing house, the young Carl Friedrich Günther Ruprecht, whom her husband had taken on as an apprentice at the beginning of 1748, became an essential pillar of support.
The Vandenhoeck publishing house under Anna Vandenhoeck
Anna Vandenhoeck acted as the sole liable publisher, demonstrating economic knowledge and entrepreneurial decisiveness. Even later, during Carl Friedrich Günther Ruprecht’s tenure, she continued to personally sign all author contracts until the end of her lifetime. Her time as a publisher coincided with the rise of the University of Göttingen as one of Germany’s – and perhaps even Europe’s – leading universities.
Due to the far-reaching freedom from censorship, the university had great appeal and was highly attractive for scholars and students. It was most likely Anna Vandenhoeck’s English heritage and wealthy family background that enabled her to go beyond the usual circle of high society women and to mingle with Göttingen’s academics. After all, many Göttingen professors had ties to English colleagues and students.
Anna Vandenhoeck used the resulting opportunities to attract newly appointed professors as well as her husband’s contacts, which she continued to cultivate and intensify, as authors for the publishing house. She was also always keen to offer foreign language literature as part of her publishing portfolio in order to meet the needs of the professors at the University of Göttingen.
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht’s current program includes publications in the Humanities and Cultural Studies as well as practice-oriented offerings in various fields, such as psychotherapy, coaching and congregational practice. Find out more about V&R on www.brill.com
Her commitment to this mission is evident in the reading circle she established in the early 1780s, which provided access to international newspapers and periodicals. This initiative demonstrated the publishing house’s forward-thinking approach, openness to innovation, and active role in the popularization of books and education. Over the years, Anna Vandenhoeck had built up the financial means to support such ventures.
On March 5, 1787, Anna Vandenhoeck passed away at the age of 78. She appointed Carl Friedrich Günther Ruprecht as her heir. His descendants continue to shape the publishing house to this day, and not just by adding their family name to the publishing group and brand name.
Anna Vandenhoeck in Göttingen’s collective memory
Are you interested in the rich history of De Gruyter Brill? Check out this blog post: Wer wir waren: Ein Gespräch mit Historikerin Angelika Königseder über De Gruyter in der Nachkriegszeit.
In Göttingen, the history of Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht – guided in its early years by a wise and courageous woman – remains well known. Even today, Anna Vandenhoeck is remembered beyond the publishing house’s name. The Anna-Vandenhoeck-Ring (a street) and a monument honor her contributions to Göttingen’s intellectual history.
Furthermore, the Anna Vandenhoeck Guest Lectureship for Literary Criticism, established in collaboration with the Comparative Literature Department at the University of Göttingen, aims to highlight her cultural and intellectual significance.