Emma Allestein

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Emma Allestein , actually Marie Natalie Semmel (* 1810 in Gera ; † June 1, 1873 ibid), was a German cookbook author.

Life

Cover of the best bourgeois cookbook of the 33rd edition dating from 1930
Extract from the table of contents

Marie Natalie Semmel was born in Gera, Thuringia , in 1810 as the daughter of the Gera merchant Carl Friedrich Marcus Semmel and his wife Emilie Krauschitzka. In 1851 she published in Gera in the publishing house of her brother-in-law Herrmann Kanitz under the pseudonym Emma Allestein with the work The best bourgeois cookbook, especially calculated for the house , a cookbook that hit the nerve of the times and became a best seller. According to an inventory in 1894, up to this point in time since its publication in 1851, up to 6,000 pieces per year have been sold.

Due to her pseudonym, the author herself remained unknown throughout her life. There was much speculation in public and her sister Marie Antonie Kanitz, wife of Hermann Kanitz, was believed to be the author. And in the “Lexicon of German Women of Feather” by Sophie Pataky , published in Berlin in 1898 , Antonie Kanitz is incorrectly named as the actual author. It was only long after Natalie Semmel's death, but also before this encyclopedia appeared, that the curatorium of the entry role at the City Council of Leipzig was certified in October 1881 that Natalie Semmel was the actual author of the cookbook.

"Herr Hermann Kanitz in the company H. Kanitz Verlag in Gera reports that Marie Natalie Semmel (born 1810), who died on June 1, 1873, was the author of the in 1851 under the pseudonym Emma Allestein and under the title" The best bourgeois Cookbook, especially calculated for the house by Emma Allestein "work published by his publisher."

This diverse, timeless cookbook continued to cause a sensation due to its popularity among all strata of the population, as it spoke with its numerous recipes, tables, pictures, graphics and instructions to both housewives with almost no knowledge at all and with advanced knowledge alike almost every situation in life. It has appeared in countless editions since it was first published. The last time a Cottbus publisher published excerpts from the work was in 2010 .

The pseudonym "Emma Allestein" is an anagram of the name of the author "Natalie Semmel". She remained unmarried. She is related to the family of the composer Robert Schumann through the marriage of her sister Marie Therese to the Zwickau publisher and bookseller Eduard Schumann .

Fonts

  • The best bourgeois cookbook . Otto Henning Verlag, Gera 1862.
  • The best bourgeois cookbook excellently calculated for the house. A handbook for every housewife and cook, indispensable for beginners in the culinary arts. In addition to the menu calendar for every day, product table for every month . Hermann Kanitz Verlag, Gera 1886.
  • Small cookbook for budding cooks and small businesses / Emma Allestein . Regia-Verlag, Cottbus 2010, ISBN 978-3-86929-059-1 (In Fraktur. - From: The best civil cookbook, 2nd edition).

Web links

Commons : Emma Allestein  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entry on Emma Allestein in the “Lexicon of German Women in Feather” at www.zeno.org , accessed on June 11, 2016
  2. ↑ website of the Regia publishing house , accessed on June 11, 2016
personal data
SURNAME Allestein, Emma
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Semmel, Marie Natalie (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German cookbook author
DATE OF BIRTH 1810
PLACE OF BIRTH Gera
DATE OF DEATH June 1, 1873
Place of death Gera