She was born in
Vienna to
Hofrat Franz Sales von Greiner (1730–1798) and his wife Charlotte,
née Hieronymus (1739–1815). In the 1770s Charlotte would visit
Maria Theresa and often bring her daughter Caroline with her. As a young girl, Caroline met
Haydn and was a pupil of
Mozart, who regularly performed music at the Greiners' residence. She was taught
Latin,
French,
Italian, and
English in her youth. At age 12, Pichler published her first poem. Through her husband's encouragement and her own desires she led a
salon for many years that was the center of the literary life in the Austrian capital. Her salon was frequented by
Beethoven,
Schubert (who set some of her poems),
Friedrich Schlegel,
Louise Brachmann, and
Grillparzer, among many others, from 1802 to 1824. She died in Vienna in 1843, according to some sources by
suicide. 50 years after her death she was reburied at the
Zentralfriedhof. One of her essays was abbreviated and included in an anthology of German Women writers for German language learners. ==Selected works==