Anna Maria Christmann

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Anna Maria Christmann , also known as Türken-Annemarie (born February 7, 1697 in Dürnau ; † March 2, 1761 in Stuttgart ), was a Württemberg woman who disguised as a soldier in two major battles of the Venetian-Austrian Turkish War in the 18th century participated.

Origin and youth

The extraordinary life story of Anna Maria Christmann was published in 1833 by Johann Evangelist Fürst in the Allgemeine deutscher Bürger- und Bauernzeitung , which he himself edited . The text of the article corresponded almost literally to an addendum to the baptism entry of Anna Maria's father Thomas Christmann in the baptismal register of Gingen an der Fils ; this “Nota” was added about 80 years later by a pastor named Adolf Friedrich Schemer .

Article about Anna Maria Christmann in the Allgemeine deutscher Bürger- und Bauernzeitung , 1833 (excerpt)

According to the source, Anna Maria Christmann's father came from the Timisoara region in today's Banat . He is described as an (originally Christian-Orthodox) Raitze who was captured by the Ottoman Empire . For twenty years he lived “with the Turks” and converted to Islam during this time . After he was captured again, he became the servant of an Austrian lieutenant colonel named von Crailsheim . He took him with him to Gingen an der Fils, where at that time the military headquarters of the free imperial city of Ulm was located. The officer had his servant taught Christianity again and then had him publicly baptized in Gingen in 1695. The "regained Christian" was given the name Thomas Christmann . He was therefore not one of the many real booty Turks of that time, as is shown in other publications about Anna Maria Christmann, for example in the book "Akstinats fascinating facts" or in 2003 in the article "Carl Osman and the Turkish Mariandl" in the weekly newspaper Die Zeit .

After his baptism, Thomas Christmann married a woman who worked as a maid in Dürnau Castle and settled with her in Dürnau. After the birth of their daughter Anna Maria, her destitute parents both died early. At first the young woman begged, then disguised as a man she found work for a miller, but was only able to earn a living in this way with great difficulty.

Soldier in the Turkish War

The Battle of Belgrade (1717)
on an oil painting by the painter
Jan van Huchtenburgh (1720)

When soldiers for the newly founded ducal body regiment "Alt-Württemberg" of Duke Eberhard Ludwig von Württemberg were wanted in Stuttgart in May 1715 , Anna Maria Christmann again disguised herself as a man and was recruited under the name of her father as Thomas Christmann . Her regiment was sent to Hungary to reinforce the troops of the Austrian field marshal Prince Eugene of Savoy in the fight against the Ottoman army . There Anna Maria Christmann took part as a musketeer in August 1716, first in the Battle of Peterwardein and a year later in the summer of 1717 in the decisive Battle of Belgrade in 1717 , where she also suffered several injuries . The following little anecdote was passed down about the brave fighter:

“In this war she captured a precious saber from a Turkish officer, which Captain D. traded for 100 guilders; but when she asked for the money, he gave her a hundred strokes of the stick. "

- General German citizen and farmers newspaper, 1833

After this incident Anna Maria Christmann deserted together with another soldier. However, she was captured soon after and sentenced to death by hanging . Only then did she reveal herself as a woman and ask for her life. After her pardon, she was honorably discharged from the military .

Life as a civilian

When Duke Eberhard Ludwig found out about their assignment a few years later, he granted Anna Maria Christmann with a patent dated March 20, 1723 the right to settle anywhere in Württemberg. She also received a lifelong pension in cash and in kind. All that is known about her further life and place of residence is that she last lived as a postman in Stuttgart. Anna Maria Christmann remained single all her life. She liked to tell in detail about her adventures as a soldier and was therefore called "the Turks Annemarie". In the history of the city of Stuttgart she is the first female postman known by name.

At the beginning of March 1761 she died in Stuttgart at the age of 64.

Commemoration

Anna Maria Christmann was included in the German biography as the “personality of the German-speaking cultural area” . The memory of her is also preserved by listing her dates of birth and death in the commemorative calendar of the Stuttgart City Archives . Various authors, such as Dorothea Keuler in her book “Provokante Weibsbilder” published in 2011, included Christmann's life story in their works.

literature

  • Th. Schön: A brave daughter of the Alb . In: Leaves of the Swabian Alb Association . XXI. Vol. 1909, No. 9, Col. 297-300.
  • The Turks Annemarei . Stuttgarter Neues Tagblatt , October 18, 1933.
  • Helmut Schmolz: A “female musquetier” in Prince Eugene's army . In: Swabia and Franconia . Supplement to Heilbronner Voice , February 12, 1972, No. 2, p. IV.
  • Helmut Engisch: A virgin in the Turkish war: How Anna Maria Christmann helped save the West as a Württemberg grenadier and then became a postman in Stuttgart . In: Helmut Engisch: A monk flies over Swabia. Theiss, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-8062-1270-8 , pp. 149-162.
  • Gerhard Raff: The Christmann from the Post: Anna Maria Christmann . In: Raff's rarities: Swabian stories . DVA, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-421-05162-3 , pp. 171ff.
  • Anna Maria Christmann: soldier in the Turkish war . In: Dorothea Keuler: Provocative images of women: Historical scandals from Baden and Württemberg . Silberburg, Tübingen 2011, ISBN 978-3-8425-1134-7 , pp. 71-84.
  • Manfred Wolfhard: Anna Maria Christmann: A girl bites through. In: Manfred Wolfhard: Dürnauer fates. Live, love and suffer in the 17th and 18th centuries. Dignus, Gammelshausen 2014. Reading sample

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Anna Maria Christmann in the database of the Baden-Württemberg State Bibliography , leo-bw.de, accessed on September 19, 2016.
  2. ↑ a b c d Pustet: General German citizens and farmers newspaper. Pustet, 1833, pp. 614 and 615 (each below). ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  3. ^ Pastor Adolf Friedrich Schemer (pastor in Gingen 1777–1781): "Nota" on the baptism entry of Thomas Christmann, baptismal register Gingen / Fils, church book 1943, vol.
  4. ^ Pastor Johann Georg Hensler (pastor in Gingen 1690–1735): baptism entry Thomas Christmann, 1695, baptismal register Gingen / Fils, church book 1943, vol. 1.
  5. ↑ Simon Akstinat: Akstinat's Fascinating Facts. Schlütersche, 2006, ISBN 978-3-89994-066-4 , p. 224 ( limited preview in the Google book search)
  6. ↑ Hartmut Heller: Carl Osman und das Türkenmariandl , Die Zeit , September 4, 2003, zeit.de, accessed on September 19, 2016.
  7. ↑ a b c Anna Maria Christmann on the Alt-Württemberg website , altwuerttemberg.de, accessed on September 19, 2016.
  8. ↑ Dr. Paul Sauer: History of the City of Stuttgart: From the beginning of the 18th century to the conclusion of the constitutional treaty for the Kingdom of Württemberg in 1819 . W. Kohlhammer, 1995, ISBN 978-3-17-013571-0 , p. 150.
  9. ^ Anna Maria Christmann in Deutsche Biographie , deutsche-biographie.de, accessed on September 29, 2016.
  10. ↑ Link to the “Memorial Day Calendar” database of the Stuttgart City Archives, stadtarchiv.stuttgart.findbuch.net, accessed on September 19, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Christmann, Anna Maria
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Turks Annemarie; Turks Annemarei
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German soldier in the Turkish Wars
DATE OF BIRTH February 7, 1697
PLACE OF BIRTH Dürnau , district of Göppingen
DATE OF DEATH March 2, 1761
Place of death Stuttgart