Amalie Marschner

Amalie Marschner (born November 30, 1794 in Heldrungen , † January 29, 1883 in Dresden ) was a German women's rights activist and founder of the Association for the Protection of Women in Dresden.

Memorial plaque for Amalie Marschner at the house on Georgenstrasse 3

Life

Marschner was born at Heidungen Castle as the daughter of a senior military official. As a child, a head injury was treated incorrectly, so that Marschner suffered from a nervous fever for the rest of her life. Marschner was initially brought up by a private tutor. At the age of nine, the family moved to the Königstein Fortress and Marschner received no lessons other than piano lessons until she was 13. From the age of 13 she was finally a student in the strictly managed "Selecta for higher daughters" of Pastor M. Nicolai in Dresden. She learned French and needlework; Court organist Dreisig gave her musical lessons.

After Marschner had to return home to her care and that of her sister and grandmother because of her mother's illness, she received lessons with her brothers. In the end she ran the household of her brother, a secret judicial councilor, on Neustädter Klostergasse and met Carl Maria von Weber in his house, among others . Marschner began to write novellas and articles himself under the influence of the writings of Christian Fürchtegott Gellert . The renewed illness of the mother called Marschner to the Königstein Fortress, where she remained until the death of both parents in 1834.

Marschner then went back to Dresden and earned her living, among other things, with handicrafts and piano playing. After her sister's death, she took her daughter into her home. In 1843 she founded an “Association for the Protection of Women”, which supported old women, single women and orphaned children. In 1850 the association moved into its first house on Georgenstrasse 3. It soon ran a secondary school for girls , a kindergarten and a training school. The so-called “Amalienhaus” was built in the garden of the Georgenstrasse property to care for sick sisters. By 1894, the association's holdings were expanded to include properties on the parallel Hospitalstrasse and the upper Kreuzweg.

Marschner was awarded the Sidonia Order in 1871 and withdrew from the association for health reasons. In 1874 she was made honorary president of the association and died in Dresden in 1883.

Works

Marschner wrote numerous educational and social books, including

• The Educational Influences of Life on the Poor (Hamburg 1851)
• The Association for the Protection of Women (Hamburg 1852)
• The educational profession of women in its effectiveness from then and now (Dresden 1858)

Commemoration

At the house at Georgenstrasse 3 in the Inner Neustadt there is a plaque commemorating Marschner's achievements.

literature

• The protection of women - an “asylum for lonely virgins” . In: Una Giesecke, Jayne-Ann Igel (ed.): From Maria to Mary. Women's stories from Dresden Neustadt . ddp goldenhagen, Dresden 1999, pp. 51-55.

Web links

• www.dresden-online.de