Annemarie von Nathusius, originally ''Anna Maria Luise von Nathusius'' (28 August 1874, in Ludom/

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

– 17 October 1926, in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

), was a German novelist who wrote boldly about issues of women’s sexuality and lived a distinctly unconventional life. In her books, she criticized the sexual ignorance and exploitative marriages imposed on young women of her class. Her most successful novel was ''Das törichte Herz der Julie von Voß''. The novel ''Malmaison'' 1922 was film adapted by Paul Ludwig Stein for the movie ''Es leuchtet meine Liebe''.

Life

The daughter of an often insolvent aristocratic

Prussian Junker The Junkers ( ; ) were members of the landed nobility in Prussia. They owned great estates that were maintained and worked by peasants with few rights. These estates often lay in the countryside outside of major cities or towns. They were an impor ...

, editor of the conservative

Kreuzzeitung The ''Kreuzzeitung'' was a national daily newspaper published between 1848 and 1939 in the Kingdom of Prussia and then during the German Empire, the Weimar Republic and into the first part of the Nazi Germany, Third Reich. The paper was a voice of ...

, Philipp von Nathusius, she was left motherless at age 9. Her grandparents were novelist

Marie Nathusius Marie Nathusius, née Scheele (March 10, 1817 in Magdeburg – December 22, 1857 in Neinstedt) was a German novelist and composer. Life Her father was the Calvinist parson Friedrich August Scheele. Marie Nathusius grew up in Calbe (Saale). ...

and the publisher Philipp von Nathusius; her great-great-grandmother the poet

Philippine Engelhard Philippine Engelhard (21 October 1756 – 28 September 1831), was a German poet. She was one of the so-called '' Universitätsmamsellen'', a group of five academically active women during the 18th-and 19th century, daughters of academics on Gött ...

. In 1896 she married the painter Thomas von Nathusius, a first cousin once removed. She lived with him mainly in Berlin, separated from him in 1900, and divorced him in 1904. When she began her writing career in about 1901, her themes derived from the predicament of women in Junker families, particularly their subordination to abusive men. In about 1902 she met Paul Ilg, an aspiring Swiss writer from an impoverished, lower-class background. Using their combined funds, they left Berlin together. Traveling as man and wife, they stayed on the Riviera, in Northern Italy, and in Munich, their financial situation gradually deteriorating and growing dire. In 1905 Nathusius, probably without Ilg, returned to Berlin. 1916 marked the start of another important relationship, this one a passionate affair with an uneducated young German, Maximilian Kirsch, who had been coerced into joining the French Foreign Legion in Africa and then managed to desert back to Germany. Nathusius wrote short stories and lyrics. First works were published in 1901. Around 1906 Nathusius was introduced to prince Christian Kraft zu Hohenlohe-Öhringen, who became her

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

. In 1910 ''Der stolze Lumpenkram'' was published to great success and some controversy. Like several of her other novels, it attacked the lifestyle of

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

aristocrats and their treatment of women. In 1925, after a trip to

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

she went to

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

for treatment of her

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

. On 15 October 1926 she traveled to Berlin where she died two days later.

Works

* ''Mann und Weib. Geschichten und Gedanken'' (Man and woman. Stories and thoughts) Richard Eckstein, Nachf. H. Krüger, Berlin (1901), * ''Freie Worte! Lieder und Skizzen'' (Free words! Songs and sketches) Richard Eckstein, Berlin ca. 1902 * ''Die Glücksucherin'' (The adventuress) Berliner Illustrierte Zeitung, 1904; Book edition: O. Janke, Berlin 1911. 1921 * ''Die Herrin auf Bronkow. Eine Gutsgeschichte'' (The lady of Bronkow. Story of an estate) Otto Janke, Berlin 1905, 1907 * ''Erika. Erzählung'' (Erica. Tale) Kürschners Bücherschatz: Roman und Novellensammlung, Nr.548. Hermann Hillger, Berlin und Leipzig 1907 * ''Heimatklänge. Erzählungen und 16 Gedichte'' (Sounds of home. Tales and 16 poems) Otto Janke, Berlin 1907 * ''Das Heidehaus'' (House on the heath) Webers moderne Bibliothek Nr.126, Otto Weber, Heilbronn a.N.,1908 * ''Um die Heimat'' (About the homeland) Deutsche Roman-Zeitung 1908, Nr.48-52; Buchausgabe.Otto Janke, Berlin 0.J.(1909) * ''Der stolze Lumpenkram'' (The proud scraps of rags) Otto Janke, Berlin 1910, 10. Aufl. 1914 * ''Thekla'' (Thekla) Deutsches Frauenbuch, Hrsg. von Hermann Beuthenmüller, Franz Moeser Nachf.o.J. Leipzig, Berlin (um 1910), S. 329-343 * ''Der Herr der Scholle'' (Lord of the earth) Seyfert, Dresden 1911 * ''Die Reise nach Baden. Erzählung'' (The trip to Baden. A tale) Die Woche, Moderne Illustr.Zeitschrift, 13. Jg., Bd. IV, (Heft 40-52), August Scherl, Berlin 1911; book edition: C. Reißner, Dresden-Blasewitz 1912 * ''Der Schatz von Sevengade.Prinzessin Leonor. 2 Erzählungen'' (The Sevengade treasure. Princess Leonore. 2 tales) Hermann Hillger, Berlin und Leipzig 1913; Kürschners Bücherschatz Nr.805 * ''Ich bin das Schwert!'' (I am the sword!) C. Reissner, Dresden 1914 * ''Das Haus mit den Rosen'' (The house with the roses) Hillger, Berlin und Leipzig 1917 * ''Das törichte Herz der Julie von Voß. Eine Hofgeschichte aus der Zopfzeit, Mit 13 Zeichnungen von Dorothea Hauer'' (The foolish heart of Julie von Voss. A court story from the time of the rococo wig, with 13 drawings by Dorothea Hauer) Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart and Berlin 1918 * ''Schloss Wusterode. Erzählung'' (Castle Wusterode. Tale) Hausfreund-Bibliothek, Bd.183, Klambt Verlag, Neurode u.a. 1919 * ''Eros. Roman'' (Eros, Novel) Deutsches Verlagshaus Bong & Co., Berlin, Leipzig, Wien, Stuttgart 1919 * ''Jugendträume'' (Dreams of Youth) Eckstein, Leipzig 1920 * ''Es leuchtet meine Liebe. Erzählungen'' (The gleam of my love. Tales) Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart und Berlin 1921 * ''Die Unerlösten. Eine Erzählung für Unmoralische'' (The unredeemed. A tale for the immoral) W. Borngräber, Berlin 1921 * ''Rheinsberg. Ein märkischer Roman'' (Rheinsberg. A novel from the Mark

randenburg Randenburg is a hamlet in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the former municipality of Reeuwijk Reeuwijk () is a former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The former municipality covers an ...

Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart und Berlin 1922 * ''Im sinkenden Licht. Roman aus den achtziger Jahren'' (In the declining light. Novel from the eighties.) Ullstein, Berlin 1922 * ''Der Befreier'' (The liberator) Schwert-Verlag, Berlin 1923 * ''Heimat. Novellen'' (Home. Novellas) Schwert-Verlag, Berlin 1923 * ''Gräfin Dorothee. Erzählung'' (Countess Dorothea. Tale) Westermanns Monatshefte,70.Jg.(Sept.1925-August 1926, Bd.140 II, H.839, S. 501-508 * ''Im Auto durch Persien'' (By car through Persia), C. Reissner, Dresden 1926 * ''Im Rosengarten der Königin'' (In the queen’s rose garden) Illustrierte Kölnische Zeitung,1926(Heft 2,1.09.-Heft 13, 25. November 1926) * ''Die Trennung. Roman'' (The separation. Novel) K.F.Köhler Verlag, Berlin 1927

Sources

* Petra Budke and Jutta Schulze, ''Schriftstellerinnen in Berlin 1871 - 1945. Ein Lexikon zu Leben und Werk. Der andere Blick. Frauenstudien in Wissenschaft und Kunst'', , Orlanda Frauenverlag, Berlin 1995 * Ruth Stummann-Bowert, ''“Es leuchtet meine Liebe”. Annemarie von Nathusius (1874-1926). Eine adlige Rebellin. Biographie und Werk'', , Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2011

External links

Biography
(in German)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nathusius, Philipp von 1874 births 1926 deaths 20th-century German novelists 20th-century German women writers German women novelists