Elise Blenker

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Elise Blenker (* 1824 in Köthen , Duchy of Anhalt-Köthen , German Confederation ; † May 15, 1908 in Mount Vernon (New York) , USA ) was the wife of Ludwig Blenker , the German officer and revolutionary in 1848/1849. She was actively involved in various actions of the German Revolution in the Palatinate and Baden .

Life

Elise Blenker with a filled chest in front of Eberstein Castle , lithograph 1849

Elise Blenker, née Aue, was the daughter of a Protestant pastor. In 1843 she married the former Bavarian officer Ludwig Blenker in Worms, then Hesse , who worked there as a wine merchant. She accompanied her husband as an "armed Amazon" and partly in uniform in the uprising in the Palatinate and in the Grand Duchy of Baden . During this time she met other revolutionaries like Kathinka Zitz-Halein , Emma Herwegh , Amalie Struve and Mathilde Franziska Anneke . On the night of May 20-21, she and her husband took part in the unsuccessful attack on Landau Fortress in the Palatinate and played a key role in the plundering of Eberstein Castle near Gernsbach , the country seat of the Grand Ducal family of Baden.

After the failure of the Badisch-Palatinate uprising, Elise and Ludwig Blenker went to Switzerland. In 1850 they fled further to the USA after Ludwig Blenker was sentenced to death in Germany. With the support of the father of Elise they built in Rockland County in the State of New York a new life with a dairy farm on. The couple had four children. From 1861 Ludwig took part in the Civil War on the part of the northern states and recorded some important successes as a troop commander. In 1863 he fell from his horse while on duty, left active duty and died a few months later. His monthly pension of US $ 50 was insufficient to cover the costs of the funeral, so Elise had to seek support from comrades and friends.

Elise Blenker died on May 15, 1908 at her daughter's home in Mount Vernon, New York.

literature

  • Gerlinde Hummel-Haasis: Sisters, break your chains. Testimonies to the history of women in the revolution of 1848/49 . Munich 1982.
  • Klaus Gaßner and Diana Finkele: The uprising of the Baden democrats. Stories from the revolution of 1848/1849 . Regional culture publishing house, Baden-Baden 1999, ISBN 3-929366-97-5 .
  • Ulrike Schäfer: "Elise Blenker, An Amazon from Worms", in: Veronik Heimkreitner, Ulrike Schäfer (ed.): Wormserinnen , Worms Verlag, Worms 2016, ISBN 978-3-944380-56-8 , pp. 41-48.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary, The New York Times, May 17, 1908 issue
  2. ↑ Washington is enthusiastic about the German in FAZ of October 30, 2013, page 30
personal data
SURNAME Blenker, Elise
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German revolutionary
DATE OF BIRTH 1824
PLACE OF BIRTH Koethen , Duchy of Anhalt-Koethen , German Confederation
DATE OF DEATH May 15, 1908
Place of death Mount Vernon (New York) , USA