Elisabeth Langgässer
Elisabeth Langgässer was a significant German fiction writer born in 1899 in Alzey, Germany. She came from a mixed religious background, with a father of Jewish descent and a Catholic mother. After her father's death when she was ten, her family relocated to Darmstadt. Langgässer's life included personal challenges, such as having an out-of-wedlock child, Cordelia, in 1929, whom she later placed in her mother’s care. Moving to Berlin to pursue journalism, she eventually married William Hoffman in 1935 and shifted her focus to raising their three daughters.
As the anti-Jewish sentiment grew in Nazi Germany, Langgässer worked to secure safety for Cordelia, who was eventually deported to Sweden to escape the regime. Due to the restrictive publishing environment during the Nazi era, her works were not published until after World War II, gaining recognition for their poignant exploration of wartime suffering and the necessity of compassion. Her notable collection, "Der Torso" (1948), addresses the atrocities of war and calls for humanity. Langgässer's contributions to literature were recognized posthumously with the George Büchner Prize in 1950, celebrating her commitment to humanitarian themes.
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Subject Terms
Elisabeth Langgässer
Writer
- Born: February 23, 1899
- Birthplace: Alzey, Rhenish Hesse, Germany
- Died: July 25, 1950
- Place of death: Rheinzabern, Rhineland, Germany
Biography
Elisabeth Langgässer, a twentieth century fiction writer, was born in Alzey, Germany, in 1899. Her father was Edward L. Langgässer, an architect of Jewish origins and her mother, Eugenie Langgässer, was a Catholic. Langgässer’s father died when she was ten years old. After his death, her mother moved the family to Darmstadt, Germany.
In 1927, Langgässer entered into a relationship with Hermann Heller, a Jew, and they had a child out of wedlock. She gave birth to her daughter, Cordelia, in 1929. After the birth, Langgässer left Cordelia in the care of her mother and moved to Berlin. In Berlin, Langgässer began working as a journalist. At this time, she met William Hoffman and they married in 1935. Langgässer left her job as a journalist and stayed home to raise their three daughters.
In 1940, with the anti-Jewish climate rising in Germany, Langgässer attempted to arrange for her first daughter, Cordelia, to leave the country. This process proved to be difficult and included several reassignments of nationality and subjection to race legislation. Finally, Cordelia was deported to Sweden, where she remained safe until the end of World War II. During the Nazi regime, book publication in Germany was severely restricted. Langgässer’s works did not begin to appear in public until 1947. These works were well received and widely read throughout Germany and Europe.
Langgässer was best known for her short story collection titled Der Torso (1948). These stories incorporated many facets of the atrocities that occurred during World War II, depicting the source of wartime affliction and racial annihilations as the result of both the Nazi movement and the general lack of humanity. Langgässer attempted in Der Torso to make known the need for compassion and respect for all humanity. After her death in 1950, Langgässer was posthumously awarded the George Buechner Prize in honor of her humanitarian writing.