Maximiliane Ackers (Sept. 24, 1896 in

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...

– April 17, 1982 in

Glonn Glonn is a market town in the Ebersberg district in Upper Bavaria, Germany, about southeast of Munich. Geography The market town of Glonn is a health spa (''Erholungsort''), and the Glonn Valley is ringed by wooded hills, carved by the former ...

) was a lesbian German author and actress famous for writing

lesbian fiction Lesbian literature is a subgenre of literature addressing lesbian themes. It includes poetry, plays, fiction addressing lesbian characters, and non-fiction about lesbian-interest topics. Fiction that falls into this category may be of any gen ...

Biography

Ackers was an actress in theater and cabarets in Göttingen, Riga, and Berlin. In the early 1920s, Ackers began working in films, writing and starring in the silent film ''

Burning Country ''Burning Country'' (german: Brennendes Land) is a 1921 German silent adventure film directed by Heinz Herald and starring Marie Wismar, Ernst Deutsch, and Kurt Vespermann. It premiered in Berlin on 10 March 1921.Grange p. 88 Cast * Marie Wi ...

'' (''Brennendes Land''). In 1921, she was in the cast of ''Florentine Nights: the Adventures of the Count of Costa'' (''Florentinische Nächte: Die Abenteuer der Gräfin da Costa''), written by

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...

. Ackers moved to Hannover in 1927 with her partner, the artist Irma Johanna Schäfer; they moved to the small town of Glonn in 1935. Ackers died in Glonn in 1982.

''Freundinnen''

Ackers wrote ''Girlfriends: a Novel (about Women) (Freundinnen: Ein Roman (unter Frauen)),'' published in Hannover in 1923 and 1925 and in Berlin in 1927 and 1928. The novel explores lesbian desire in the setting of the artistic and theatrical society of Weimar Berlin. It also touches on issues of gender and sexuality: in response to being asked if one is "a girl or a boy," a character playing Puck responds: "I am what I am." ''Freundinnen'' appeared in several editions of between 7,000 and 10,000 copies. The National Socialists banned the book in 1934 and it appeared on the official

list of banned books This is an index of lists of banned books, which contain books that have been banned or censored by religious authority or government. By country * Book censorship in Canada * Book censorship in China * List of books banned in India * Book ce ...

in 1936, including in Alfred Rosenberg's anti-lesbian pamphlet ''Der Sumpf''. In the 1990s, the book was rediscovered by feminists and academics. ''Freundinnen'' was republished in 1995 by a German feminist publishing house. Selections from the book appeared in ''An Encyclopedia of German Writers, 1900-1933''.

Biography

''Freundinnen''

References

Further reading