[3] Kalb was more than just a socialite and was said to have been asked to pass on Goethe's ideas about the development of animals' skulls to Professor Johann Herder.

[5] In 1796, Charlotte von Kalb began a correspondence with another German Romantic writer, Jean Paul.

The primary interest was intellectual, but Jean Paul was flattered and arranged to travel to Weimar to meet her in person.

Even then, their letters were initially cool, although Jean Paul was said to be "magnetic", and he admired not only Kalb's eyes but also "her soul".

[6] During her lifetime, Kalb was judged unfavourably by other women, but she "fascinated nearly all the men she ever knew".