Bertha Keyser

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The missionary and social worker Keyser.

Bertha Keyser (born June 24, 1868 in Maroldsweisach ; † December 21, 1964 in Hamburg ) devoted herself to caring for the poor in St. Pauli in Hamburg. She became known as the "Angel of St. Pauli".

life and work

Early years and education

Bertha Keyser was born on June 24, 1868 in Maroldsweisach in Lower Franconia. After attending school, she began an apprenticeship as a baker. Soon she was drawn to faraway places at a young age: she lived as a nanny in England, later as a travel companion in America, then as a maid of a countess in Paris. She later summed up this time: “The rich, full life with my Duc did not suit me. And to everyone's horror, I went to the poor and later became a prison guard in a Paris women's prison. ”After that, she worked as an educator in a home for “ fallen girls ” .

Work in St. Pauli

In 1913 she came to Hamburg for the Strand Mission . In 1914 she founded a missionary organization with donations at Alten Steinweg 25 and in 1927 the Fels des Heils shelter for women at Winkelstraße 17 . In the 1920s she ran three field kitchens that served 600 meals a day to the needy and she looked after the homeless ("God's sparrows", as she called those stranded in the big city when she asked the rich for money for her protégés) , whom she gave a roof over their heads in her house Fels des Heils in Rothesoodstrasse (since the neighborhood complained about the heavy activity in the accommodations, Bertha Keyser had to keep looking for new locations). Her work included feeding the poor, street services, visiting prisons and sick people, and looking after prostitutes. Through her help for the homeless and the stumbled, she became known as the "Angel of St. Pauli". After the end of the war, at the age of 77, she started all over again, collected money again and maintained a small shop apartment in Bäckerbreitergang No. 6–7, where every day around a hundred hungry people with food and, if necessary, clothes provided. Here she lived and worked until her death.

Gravestone in the women's garden

death

On December 21, 1964, she died in the middle of work at the age of 96. 500 mourners followed their last way to Ohlsdorf: The angel of St. Pauli was well known and highly honored in the Hanseatic city . Friends collected money for their simple little tombstone with the words "You too go to the vineyard" , which is no longer on their grave site, but has been re-erected in the women's garden at the Ohlsdorf cemetery .

Honors

  • In 1983 the Bertha-Keyser-Weg in the Hamburg district of St. Pauli was named after her.
  • Photo taken in the women's garden in the old part of the Ohlsdorf cemetery near Cordes-Allee by the water tower. There was an exhibition in her honor there in 2007
  • A portrait in the crypt of St. Michaelis Church is reminiscent of Bertha Keyser

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ quoted from Barbara Leisner: Der Engel von St. Pauli
  2. ^ Association Garden of Women e. V .: Bertha Keyser, sister of the street mission , accessed on January 3, 2011
personal data
SURNAME Keyser, Bertha
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Angel of St. Pauli
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German founder of a missionary organization
DATE OF BIRTH June 24, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH Maroldsweisach
DATE OF DEATH December 21, 1964
Place of death Hamburg