ABSTRACT
Mythologized as 'The Runaway Countess' who turned away from her roots in the upper echelons of European nobility to sympathize with Socialism and the working classes, Hermynia Zur Muhlen achieved fame during and after the Weimar Republic as an accomplished translator, writer and journalist. The increasing political polarization across Europe meant that contemporary reactions to Zur Muhlen's overtly Socialist works ranged from popular and critical acclaim to outcry. In 1919 she remains content to point out the shortcomings of contemporary popular literature without explicitly suggesting a Socialist alternative. By addressing the issue of education, Zur Muhlen goes on to engage with another favourite theme of girls' literature. Zur Muhlen's text extends its social criticism to include gender inequality. Having identified a deficit in Socialist literature with regard to the reading requirements of young girls inher 1919 publication 'Junge-Madchen-Literatur', Zur Muhlen indirectly set out an agenda for her own form of adolescent girls' literature.
