Maximiliane Ackers

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Maximiliane Ackers (Sept. 24, 1896 in Saarbrücken – April 17, 1982 in Glonn) was a lesbian German author and actress famous for writing lesbian fiction.

Biography[edit]

Ackers was an actress in theater and cabarets in Göttingen, Riga, and Berlin.[1] In the early 1920s, Ackers began working in films, writing and starring in the silent film Burning Country (Brennendes Land).[2][3] 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.[2][4]

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.[1]

Freundinnen[edit]

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.[5][6][7][8][9] The novel explores lesbian desire in the setting of the artistic and theatrical society of Weimar Berlin.[10][1] 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."[9]

Freundinnen appeared in several editions of between 7,000 and 10,000 copies.[6][9] The National Socialists banned the book in 1934 and it appeared on the official list of banned books in 1936, and was mentioned in Alfred Rosenberg's anti-lesbian pamphlet Der Sumpf.[11][1][9] In the 1990s, the book was rediscovered by feminists and academics. Freundinnen was republished in 1995 by a German feminist publishing house.[12] Selections from the book appeared in An Encyclopedia of German Writers, 1900-1933.[13]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Spinnboden: Schon Gewusst?". www.spinnboden.de (in German). Archived from the original on 2020-01-28. Retrieved 2020-06-13. Source: Lackinger, Renate (2010): Verlorene Freundinnen - Leben und Werk von Maximiliane Ackers.
  2. ^ a b "Maximiliane Ackers". Film Portal. Archived from the original on 2020-06-13. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  3. ^ "Brennendes Land". IMDb. Archived from the original on September 27, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  4. ^ "Florentinische Nächte". IMDb. Archived from the original on September 27, 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
  5. ^ Catling, Jo, ed. (2000-03-23). A History of Women's Writing in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 286. ISBN 978-0-521-65628-3.
  6. ^ a b Ackers, Maximiliane. Freundinnen Ein Roman [unter Frauen] (in German). Date [1923]
  7. ^ "Maximiliane Ackers in Bibliotheksverbund Bayern". opacplus.bib-bvb.de (in German). Archived from the original on 2020-06-13. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  8. ^ "Maximiliane Ackers – Freundinnen - Roman unter Frauen". ngiyaw-ebooks.org (in German). Archived from the original on 2020-06-13. Retrieved 2020-06-13. Paul Steegemann Verlag, Hannover, 3. bis 4. Tsd. 1924 (Paul Steegemann Publisher, Hannover, 3 to 4 thousand copies, 1924)
  9. ^ a b c d Panhuis, Erwin In het. "Vor 100 Jahren wurde der queere Steegemann-Verlag gegründet". queer.de (in German). Archived from the original on 2020-06-13. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  10. ^ Dawson, Leanne (2018). Edinburgh German Yearbook 10: Queering German Culture. Edinburgh: Boydell & Brewer. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-57113-965-8. Archived from the original on 2020-09-27. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
  11. ^ "Liste der verbannten Bücher: Freundinnen". Berlin (in German). 2018-07-12. Archived from the original on 2020-02-20. Retrieved 2020-06-12.
  12. ^ Ackers, Maximiliane (1995). Freundinnen: ein Roman unter Frauen (in German). Feministischer Buchverlag. ISBN 978-3-922229-22-3. Archived from the original on 2020-09-27. Retrieved 2020-06-17.
  13. ^ Keith-Smith, Brian (1997). An encyclopedia of German women writers, 1900-1933: biographies and bibliographies with exemplary readings. Lewiston, N.Y.: E. Mellen Press. ISBN 978-0-7734-8582-2. OCLC 1108889426.

Further reading[edit]

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