Frantziska Carlsen was a collector of folklore and historical author, and resided in a home for unmarried ladies of rank in Copenhagen and Vallø, although she also spent periods in Rønnebæksholm and Gammelkøgegård, where her father owned an estate. She nurtured a Romantic interest for historical recollections from her local region and was a keen collector. Her most active period was from 1854 to 1857.
She was one of the few women of her time who independently published and analysed her own recordings of local folklore; she also submitted her work to Svend Grundtvig, who oversaw the wide-scale collection of folkore at the time.
