In 1417, the poet's ancestors acquired the knight's seat. From then on, the family also called itself Droste zu Hülshoff.
The girl, who was called Annette throughout her life, was born on Hülshoff on January 10, 1797, according to her father's entry in the family chronicle. The seven-month-old was christened Anna Elisabeth Franziska Adolphina Wilhelmina Louise Maria on January 14. She was the second of four siblings. The older sister Jenny was born in 1795. Annette was followed by Werner Konstantin and Ferdinand.
Annette von Droste-Hülshoff lived at Hülshoff for 29 years until her father died in July 1826 and her brother Werner took over the castle. Annette, her mother and sister Maria Anna, called Jenny, moved to the nearby Rüschhaus, which her father had bought shortly before his death.
After Jenny married Baron Joseph von Laßberg in 1834, Annette visited her sister several times, combined with longer stays, first at the first residence of the two in Switzerland, then at Lake Constance. There, her brother-in-law had bought the Meersburg Castle.