'Mein beschränkter Raum zwingt mich, auf das Selbstschauen zu verweisen.' Adele Schopenhauers Florenz-Reiseführer,

This article examines the emancipatory and transgressive aspects of Adele Schopenhauer’s travel guide to Florence, a case study in nineteenth-century writing of that genre. In contrast to other forms of travel writing, the subgenre of the travel guide so far has received little scholarly attention. The article focuses on the construction of national and gender identities, as well as on the motif of the gaze as a means of female empowerment, and concludes that Schopenhauer conveys a positive image of the female travelling experience as an opportunity for participation in political, social and cultural discourses.