As she had broken off her engagement with a young aristocrat to be with Marx, their relationship was socially controversial owing to the differences between their religious and class origins, but Marx befriended her father Ludwig von Westphalen (a liberal aristocrat) and later dedicated his doctoral thesis to him.
Karena ia memutus hubungan pertunangannya dengan seorang arsitokrat muda demi Marx, hubungan mereka bersifat kontroversial karena perbedaan antara asal muasal agama dan kelas mereka, namun Marx berteman dengan ayahnya Ludwig von Westphalen (seorang aristokrat liberal) dan kemudian mencurahkan tesis doktoralnya kepadanya.