Christa Winsloe
Encyclopedia
Christa Winsloe was a 20th century German
-Hungarian novelist, playwright
and sculptor, best known for her play Gestern und heute, filmed in 1931 as Mädchen in Uniform and the 1958 remake
.
. After her mother's early death, she was sent to the Kaiserin-Augusta-Stift, a very strict boarding school in Potsdam
. In this institution, the girls of the aristocracy were drilled to learn discipline and submission and become mothers of soldiers. After leaving school, she married Baron Ludwig Hatvany (1880-1961), a rich Hungarian
writer and landowner.
While married to Hatvany, Winsloe wrote Das Mädchen Manuela ("The Child Manuela"), a short novel based on her experiences at Kaiserin-Augusta. Soon after, her marriage broke up, but Hatvany made her a generous allowance after their divorce.
Winsloe was involved in a relationship with newspaper reporter Dorothy Thompson
, probably before World War II when Thompson was reporting from Berlin.
Winsloe then adapted her novel into the stage play Gestern und heute ("Yesterday and Today").
The original title was rejected as too insipid, so the play was renamed Ritter Nérestan ("Knight Nérestan") when it appeared in 1930 in Leipzig
. When it was brought to Berlin
, it was renamed again to Krankheit der Liebe ("Sickness of Love").
The play's success led to the 1931 production of the film Mädchen in Uniform; Winsloe was one of the screenwriters. Mädchen in Uniform was a considerable success, both financially and critically. This was due in part to its ambitiously aesthetic form and the fact that only women performed. The lesbian
aspect of the story was downplayed and depicted as an adolescent crush, even though Winsloe co-authored the script, and Leontine Sagan
, who in the play had stressed the lesbian aspect, acted as director.
The play ends differently from the film. In the play, the young student, Manuela, is destroyed because of rejection by her teacher, Fräulein Elizabeth von Bernburg, who did not dare to side with Manuela against the headmistress or oppose the brutal educational methods. Manuela commits suicide. The film is more ambiguous, with von Bernburg attempting to defend the student and herself. Christa Winsloe may be recorded as having written the first detailed play on female homosexuality in the Weimar Republic
, but without the approval demanded by modern defenders of homosexuality.
On the strength of the play's acclaim, Winsloe moved to Berlin, where there was a homosexual sub-culture. She had plenty of money (from her ex-husband's allowance), worked as an animal sculptor, and had a wide circle of friends. She was a member of the SPD
(German Socialist Party), and was openly homosexual.
She moved to France
in the late 1930s, fleeing the Nazis
. During World War II
, she joined the French Resistance
. Contrary to what is often stated, she was not executed by the Nazis; instead, on June 10, 1944, Winsloe and a woman companion were shot and killed by four Frenchmen in a forest near the country town of Cluny
. The men said that they had thought the women were Nazi spies, and were later acquitted of murder.
Only two photographs of Christa Winsloe survive: this and this.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
-Hungarian novelist, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
and sculptor, best known for her play Gestern und heute, filmed in 1931 as Mädchen in Uniform and the 1958 remake
Mädchen in Uniform (1958 film)
Mädchen in Uniform is a 1958 German drama film directed by Géza von Radványi. It was entered into the 8th Berlin International Film Festival...
.
Biography
She was born in DarmstadtDarmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
. After her mother's early death, she was sent to the Kaiserin-Augusta-Stift, a very strict boarding school in Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
. In this institution, the girls of the aristocracy were drilled to learn discipline and submission and become mothers of soldiers. After leaving school, she married Baron Ludwig Hatvany (1880-1961), a rich Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
writer and landowner.
While married to Hatvany, Winsloe wrote Das Mädchen Manuela ("The Child Manuela"), a short novel based on her experiences at Kaiserin-Augusta. Soon after, her marriage broke up, but Hatvany made her a generous allowance after their divorce.
Winsloe was involved in a relationship with newspaper reporter Dorothy Thompson
Dorothy Thompson
Dorothy Thompson was an American journalist and radio broadcaster, who in 1939 was recognized by Time magazine as the second most influential women in America next to Eleanor Roosevelt...
, probably before World War II when Thompson was reporting from Berlin.
Winsloe then adapted her novel into the stage play Gestern und heute ("Yesterday and Today").
The original title was rejected as too insipid, so the play was renamed Ritter Nérestan ("Knight Nérestan") when it appeared in 1930 in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
. When it was brought to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, it was renamed again to Krankheit der Liebe ("Sickness of Love").
The play's success led to the 1931 production of the film Mädchen in Uniform; Winsloe was one of the screenwriters. Mädchen in Uniform was a considerable success, both financially and critically. This was due in part to its ambitiously aesthetic form and the fact that only women performed. The lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
aspect of the story was downplayed and depicted as an adolescent crush, even though Winsloe co-authored the script, and Leontine Sagan
Leontine Sagan
Leontine Sagan was an Austrian actress and theatre director.Born in Budapest, Sagan trained with Max Reinhardt. The first and most widely known of her two films is Mädchen in Uniform...
, who in the play had stressed the lesbian aspect, acted as director.
The play ends differently from the film. In the play, the young student, Manuela, is destroyed because of rejection by her teacher, Fräulein Elizabeth von Bernburg, who did not dare to side with Manuela against the headmistress or oppose the brutal educational methods. Manuela commits suicide. The film is more ambiguous, with von Bernburg attempting to defend the student and herself. Christa Winsloe may be recorded as having written the first detailed play on female homosexuality in the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
, but without the approval demanded by modern defenders of homosexuality.
On the strength of the play's acclaim, Winsloe moved to Berlin, where there was a homosexual sub-culture. She had plenty of money (from her ex-husband's allowance), worked as an animal sculptor, and had a wide circle of friends. She was a member of the SPD
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
(German Socialist Party), and was openly homosexual.
She moved to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in the late 1930s, fleeing the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, she joined the French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
. Contrary to what is often stated, she was not executed by the Nazis; instead, on June 10, 1944, Winsloe and a woman companion were shot and killed by four Frenchmen in a forest near the country town of Cluny
Cluny
Cluny or Clungy is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France. It is 20 km northwest of Mâcon.The town grew up around the Benedictine Cluny Abbey, founded by Duke William I of Aquitaine in 910...
. The men said that they had thought the women were Nazi spies, and were later acquitted of murder.
Only two photographs of Christa Winsloe survive: this and this.
Publications
- Winsloe, Christa, 1999: Mädchen in Uniform (reissue), Daphne Verlag ISBN 3-89137-033-4