Irma von Troll-Borostyáni

Irma von Troll around 1875

Irma von Troll-Borostyáni (born March 31, 1847 in Salzburg ; † February 10, 1912 there ) was an Austrian writer , journalist and campaigner for women's rights . She is considered the first woman rights activist in Salzburg. She fought for women's suffrage, for equality between men and women in marriage, for women's and youth education and against prostitution.

Live and act

Childhood and youth

Maria von Troll was born in Salzburg in 1847 as the youngest of four children. While she had a close, lifelong relationship with her sister Wilhelmine, she came into conflict with her brothers because of their modern views and way of life. Her parents, Josephine von Appeltauer and Otto Ritter von Troll, a senior civil servant, gave their daughter an excellent education. On the one hand she was taught by the educated mother, on the other hand she acquired a lot of knowledge through disciplined self-study. She loved music and wanted to be a pianist. When the mother fell ill with a severe heart and nervous condition, the lessons at home could not be continued. High schools and universities were not open to girls at the time. The only possibility for girls in Salzburg to get a higher education was in the boarding school in the monastery Nonnberg . From 1862 to 1864 Maria von Troll attended the Benedictine convent school. However, she found it difficult to bear the tightness of monastery life. She became seriously ill and developed a nervous fever so bad that she returned home two years later. There she cut off her braid as an outward sign of her liberation and from then on wore her wavy hair short. The change of her first name from Maria to Irma can also be seen as a sign of her early rebellion against the conventions of her time.

Vienna

In 1864, the beloved sister Wilhelmine left Salzburg to take a position as a teacher in Hungary. Irma von Troll probably also moved away from Salzburg because she did not feel comfortable in the petty-bourgeois provincial town. When the father died in 1866, he left his family with no fortune and the writer had to support herself. In this situation there were only two options in terms of the traditional role model: Either marriage or employment as governess. Irma von Troll, however, chose her own path. So she went to Vienna in 1870 to pursue a concert career as a pianist. She also took acting classes and made contact with literary circles. Her literary talent developed increasingly and her first publications in various daily newspapers appeared under the pseudonym Leo Bergen, later also Veritas.

Hungary

Family circumstances forced her to give up the idea of ​​a career as a concert pianist and she went to Hungary as a music teacher . In 1874 she married the Hungarian journalist and writer Ferdinand von Borostyáni, but their marital happiness was short-lived. Soon she turned entirely to writing, whereby she was increasingly recognized by her critical attitude. More and more she developed into a steadfast campaigner against social injustice and as a courageous fighter for women's rights. In 1878 she published her first work:

• "The Mission of Our Century - A Study of Women's Issues"

The 1903 Catechism of the Women's Movement

It earned high recognition for this in socially critical circles throughout Europe. The courageous woman was faced with new strokes of fate: her three-year-old daughter died in Vienna , and she herself had suffered severe suffering from the birth. Her husband was soon living in Paris for professional reasons, and the marriage subsequently remained nothing more than a friendly exchange of letters.

Back to Salzburg

In 1882 Troll-Borostyáni returned to Salzburg to visit the grave of her recently deceased mother. Her weakened body was no match for the previous excitement. For many months she had to spend seriously ill in the house of a childhood friend and from then on she stayed in Salzburg. Relocating to her husband's residence in Budapest seemed too problematic, and her care there too difficult. In Salzburg, on the other hand, her friends could continue to look after her adequately over the years. Irma Troll-Borostyáni should never really be healthy again. Despite her illness, she continued to fight against mendacity and pretense in Salzburg, dealt critically with traditional moral concepts and gave a lecture on the necessary reform of youth education. She also actively helped founding women's associations and gave lectures. In the small town of Salzburg at the time, Irma Troll-Borostyáni caused quite a stir with her masculine demeanor and often smoking a cigar. Here she wrote the following socially critical works:

• Gender Equality (1888)
• Prostitution Before the Law - An Appeal to the German People and Their Representatives (1893)
• Woman and her clothes (1897)
• Crimes of Love (1900) and
• This is how we raise our children to be perfect men (1912).

In 1893 she co-founded the General Austrian Women's Association, which in 1908 awarded her honorary membership in recognition of her work. In addition to various writers' associations, she was also a member of the German Association for Maternity Protection and Sexual Reform.

Irma von Troll-Borostyáni was in close contact with other writers and women's rights activists of her time. She was friends with Bertha von Suttner and Auguste Fickert . She was also in contact with Helene Stöcker , Rosa Mayreder and Adelheid Popp . Based on her views, she can be assigned to the bourgeois-radical wing of the women's movement.

In Salzburg she also devoted herself to her early passion, music. In addition to the works mentioned above, Irma von Troll-Borostyáni wrote novels, short stories, stories and poems that emphasized social criticism, reflecting her love for the disenfranchised and her compassion for the disinherited and deprived. Her novel From the Depth (1892) was best known . Irma's sister Wilhelmine aptly states about these works: "She had the most delicate understanding of the feelings of the despised, the little ones, especially children" . But also the love for animals, for creation and for the great mountain world is expressed in her works.

Little is known about her journalistic work for newspapers and magazines. It has been proven that in the 1890s she regularly wrote essays for “Ethical Culture: Weekly for the Spread of Ethical Endeavors” as well as articles for “Die Gesellschaft”, “Frankfurter Zeitung”, “Die Critique”, “New Life”, “The Mother "," Neue Bahnen "and" Der Salon ".

With her numerous writings, Irma von Troll-Borostyáni has done a lot to spread the ideas of the women's movement and to realize them to some extent. In an obituary written by Rosa Mayreder for the magazine Neues Frauenleben, it is noted that the news of the writer's death was only a fleeting note in the daily newspapers. Her services to the Austrian women's movement were neither mentioned nor appreciated at that time. Rosa Mayreder closes her obituary with the words: “With her one of the most outstanding champions from the old school of the women's movement passed away. But in the history of this movement she has a lasting monument and continues to work through her works. "

She was buried in the family grave in the municipal cemetery in Salzburg. Her tombstone was marked “The brave pioneer of the women's movement”. However, the troll's grave has been re-occupied for decades. A marble plaque on the house where she was born at Griesgasse 4 reminds of her.

Your work for the women's movement

In Hungary she published her first work in 1878: “The Mission of Our Century - A Study of Women's Issues”. According to Rosa Mayreder , this work was published at a time “when these endeavors were generally regarded as an aberration and every“ desire for emancipation ”in a woman as a symptom of degeneration. You have to go through this time yourself to be able to appreciate how much stubbornness, strength of character and a sense of independence it took to stand up for the ideas of the women's movement in the bourgeois world ”. It is interesting that in her combative pamphlet she called on both women and men to stand up for social change.

“The Mission of Our Century” also includes an appeal to women. She encouraged women to fight for freedom and justice. In order to achieve these goals, women should set up associations as they already existed in England and America, as well as newspapers to spread the idea of ​​the emancipation of women. Instead of waiting for the state to set up girls' schools, women should take this into their own hands and provide scholarships for poor female students. Finally, she called for women to be able to vote politically. She closes her appeal with the pathetic words: “Fight for your rights, for your future with all arms of the spirit and with working support for your purposes. Yes you will! You will want, you will act! "

Already with this first work, the author caused a stir. The book received mostly negative reviews and so it was difficult for Irma von Troll-Borostyáni to find a publisher. For example, the book “Equality of the Sexes” was printed in the Zürcher Verlagsmagazin, as no Austrian or German publisher agreed to do so.

Even critics were convinced, however, that she had acquired tremendous knowledge through her self-study. In her works she quotes French, English and Latin literature and also translates them. She also draws on statistical data and ethnological studies in her socially critical works. For her book “Prostitution before the Law. An appeal to the German people and their representatives ”(1893) she researched on site in the Viennese prostitute milieu.

One of their critics, Ludwig Büchner, wrote in the foreword to the second edition of Troll-Borostyáni's book “The Equality of the Sexes” in 1887: “Even those who are unable to share their views will find their great reading, their critical acumen, their determined and prescribed do not have to acknowledge any conviction that shrinks from consequence; and even those who are far removed from the whole question dealt with here will follow with interest and instruction the rich ethnological and historical material which the author brings with her on the social position of women in the past and present. "

In "Gender Equality" she made five demands for a social reorganization:

1. Full social and political equality between the sexes.
2. The perfect, unconditional solvability of marriage.
3. The abolition of prostitution as a legal or tolerated institution.
4. A fundamental reform of youth education for both sexes.
5. The education of children in state institutes at the expense and under the direction of the state.

It is also clear from her work that she did not see women as helpless victims of oppression by men. In order to advance the women's rights movement, women would have to organize and work together: "You women, about their rights, about their freedom, about their happiness, you yourself have to take the initiative to shape your life into a dignified existence."

Irma von Troll-Borostyáni also dealt with questions of upbringing, especially the female one. So she writes "that the previous female upbringing not only neglects intellectual training badly and leaves the most fertile ground of intellectual talent lying fallow, but also forcibly suppresses many abilities and gives the developing individuality a one-sided, crooked direction in which one the more one-sided and crooked it is, the more genuine, truer femininity wants to be recognized. "

The upbringing at this time should prepare the girls for their future profession, marriage. Irma von Troll-Borostyáni criticized that this system is based on two errors: These are: “1. that one only strives to achieve one goal in the upbringing of girls: to marry them, to take far too little into account the eventuality of celibacy and thus not enable girls to find their way through life even on their own; 2. that through her upbringing, women are in no way prepared for the profession that is declared theirs, for marriage. "

Despite her progressive thoughts, the author advocated teaching boys and girls in separate schools: “... I believe that (with the exception of universities, of course) in Europe - for the time being - separate schools would be preferable to mixed ones, because ours previous social conditions the two sexes have by no means got used to meeting one another as comrades and competitors, on all walks of life, in all occupations and occupations, as across the ocean. "

The women's rights activist called for the right to education for every child. She also thought about the financing of her proposal. The amount of the costs should be calculated according to the income of the parents. The military budget should be transferred to the education budget, for which she saw no real chance. Therefore, the radically anti-clerical writer suggested expropriating churches and monasteries.

Regarding the employment of women, Irma von Troll-Borostyáni wrote that they were excluded from civil service, with the exception of the post and telegraph office, and that where they weren't, they received a much lower salary than their male colleagues for the same work . She also chalked up the fact that editorial offices do not accept women writers, while more and more women had to earn money as prostitutes for a living.

It is true that she states in her considerations that a working woman who earns her own income would rather have a divorce from an unhappy marriage than a woman who, as a housewife, lives penniless and completely dependent on her husband. But she went on to say that it was not worth continuing a marriage for just that reason. The writer assumes that a marriage can only be a happy one “if both spouses are on the same level in education, if they agree in their spiritual direction, outlook on life and in their views and between them that beautiful harmony established by this agreement prevails. "

She also rebelled against the prevailing dress code for women and criticized her own sex comrades in this connection: “But women are so obsessed with the repulsive unnatural nature of a wasp waist created by the bodice that they never show each other's eyes want to do without this torture tool, invented to curse the world of women and their descendants. ” Above all, the wearing of corsets under sports costumes was not understood by the enthusiastic mountaineer. For Irma von Troll-Borostyáni, the women's clothing of that time was also "a testimony to the lack of understanding of men, because they consider such monstrous wrapping of the woman's body as an indispensable attribute of the outward appearance of women".

She promised herself the solution of many social problems from the vehemently demanded equality between women and men. In this way prostitution would be redundant and marriage would no longer be a property relationship, but a covenant of love.

Pseudonyms and name variants

• Borostyáni, Irma von Troll
• Troll Borostyáni, Irma von
• Bergen, Leo
• Veritas
• Troll, Irma
• Troll, Maria

Works

Literature by Irma von Troll-Borostyáni

Novels and short stories:

• From the depths 1. Pierson, Dresden 1892.
• From the depths 2. Pierson, Dresden 1892.
• Uncle Clemens. Moos, Zurich 1897.
• What i looked at. Hartleben, Vienna 1898.
• Hunger and love. Friedrich, Leipzig 1900.
• His crowns to the merit. Dreyer, Berlin 1903.
• Mountain air and other stories from the high mountains. Ensslin, Reutlingen 1907.
• Wrong turns. Pohl, Vienna 1908.

Political Writings:

• The mission of our century. A study on the question of women. Hedge branch, Pressburg 1878.
• In the free realm. A memorandum to all thinkers and legislators on the elimination of social errors and suffering. Publishing magazine, Zurich 1884.
• Gender equality and reform of youth education. Publishing magazine, Zurich 1888.
• Prostitution before the law: an appeal to the German people and their representatives. Claussner, Leipzig 1893.
• The right of women. A social study. S. Fischer, Berlin 1894.
• The crimes of love: a socio-pathological study. Spohr, Leipzig 1896.
• The woman and her clothes. Spohr, Leipzig 1897.
• Catechism of the Women's Movement. Frauen-Rundschau, Leipzig 1903.
• The moral concept of the free thinker. Schorer, Freilassing 1903.
• The love problem in modern literature. Schwetschke, Berlin 1904.
• The school of life. Konkordia, Bühl (Baden) 1905.
• The decadence of our time. Sauerlander, Frankfurt 1906.
• This is how we raise our children to be perfect people: a parenting book. Möller, Oranienburg 1912.
• Selected smaller writings by Irma v. Troll Borostyáni. Spohr, Leipzig 1914.

Literature on Irma von Troll-Borostyáni

• Alexandra Enzenhofer: Tender and sensual strivings. On the situation of Irma von Troll-Borostyáni in the discourses on love and sexuality in the second half of the 19th century. Diploma thesis, Salzburg 1993.
• Christa Gürtler: Irma von Troll-Borostyáni. Irresistible: legacy of a freethinker. Otto Müller Verlag, Salzburg 1994, ISBN 3-7013-0895-0 .
• August Stockklausner et al .: Born in Salzburg. Life pictures from seven centuries. Verlag Salzburger Nachrichten, Salzburg 1973, ISBN 3-85304-032-2 .

Troll Borostyáni Prize

The Troll Borostyáni Prize, given once a year by the Women's Office of the City of Salzburg and the Office for Equal Opportunities, Anti-Discrimination and the Advancement of Women in the State of Salzburg, is named after her, with two people each for service on March 8, International Women's Day the compatibility of family and work in the city and state of Salzburg.

In 2012 the prize was awarded in the form of a research grant. Scientific work by Salzburg students with a focus on gender sensitivity in medicine and nursing was funded.

Others

The Irma von Troll Road in the district of Salzburg Maxglan was named after her.

For year of birth of Irma von Troll Borostyáni there are different specifications. The city of Salzburg states 1847. Other sources, such as the obituary written by Rosa Mayreder, mention the year 1849.

Likewise, the year of the marriage to Nandor (Ferdinand) Borostyáni is given on the one hand as 1874, on the other hand also as 1875.

The estate of Wilhelmina of Troll is owned by the Carolino Augusteum museum in Salzburg.

literature

• August Stockklausner et al .: Born in Salzburg. Life pictures from seven centuries . Verlag Salzburger Nachrichten, Salzburg 1973, ISBN 3-85304-032-2
• Christa Gürtler: Irma von Troll-Borostyáni. Irresistible: legacy of a freethinker. Otto Müller Verlag, Salzburg 1994, ISBN 3-7013-0895-0 .
• Rosa Mayreder: Irma von Troll-Borostyani [obituary]. - Online under In: Neues Frauenleben 24. Jg. (1912) Nr.3, 61-63 .
• City of Salzburg: Troll Borostyáni Prize .
• Elisabeth Klaus, Ulla Wischermann : Journalists. A story in biographies and texts, 1848–1990. LIT Verlag, Vienna 2013, ISBN 978-3-643-50416-6 .
• Ludwig Büchner: Introduction to the second edition of “Gender Equality”. In: Irma von Troll-Borostyáni: The equality of the sexes. Ernst Reinhardt Verlag, Munich 1888.
• Heymann, Lida Gustava (1913): Biographical information. In: Troll-Borostyáni, Irma von ([1878] 1913): The equality of the sexes and the reform of youth education. The mission of our century. A study on women's issues. Third edition, published by the Bavarian Association for Women's Suffrage. Munich: Verlag von Ernst Reinhardt, pp. II – VI.
• Troll-Borostyáni, Mrs. Irma v. . In: Sophie Pataky (Hrsg.): Lexicon of German women of the pen . Volume 2. Verlag Carl Pataky, Berlin 1898, p. 378 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Veritas . In: Sophie Pataky (Hrsg.): Lexicon of German women of the pen . Volume 2. Verlag Carl Pataky, Berlin 1898, p. 390 ( digitized version ).
• Elisabeth Friedrichs: The German-speaking women writers of the 18th and 19th centuries: a lexicon. Metzler, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-476-00456-2 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Irma von Troll-Borostyáni in the catalog of the German National Library
• Entry on Irma von Troll-Borostyáni in the Austria Forum  (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )
• Biography and photo of the city of Salzburg
• Detailed biography of the city of Salzburg
• Irma Troll-Borostyáni in the database Women in Motion 1848–1938 of the Austrian National Library
• Troll Borostyáni Prize 2008
• Troll Borostyáni Prize 2004
• Your "Appeal to Women" , written in 1878
• What I saw , Vienna, 1898, e-book from the Vienna University Library ( eBooks on Demand )
• Obituary by Rosa Mayreder
• Troll Borostyáni Prize 2012

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Klaus / Wischermann 2013: 32
2. ↑ Gürtler 1994: 9ff; 232
3. ↑ Gürtler 1994: 12ff
4. ↑ Klaus / Wischermann 2013: 33
5. ↑ Klaus / Wischermann 2013: 33
6. ^ Gürtler 1994: Appendix
7. ↑ Irma von Troll-Borostyáni . New woman life. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
8. ↑ Gürtler 1994: 22f
9. ↑ Klaus / Wischermann 2013: 33
10. ↑ Gürtler 1994: 15
11. ↑ Klaus / Wischermann 2013: 33
12. ↑ Büchner 1888: 11
13. ↑ Mayereder 1912: 62
14. ↑ Gürtler 1994: 59
15. ↑ Gürtler 1994: 62
16. ↑ Gürtler 1994: 62f
17. ↑ Gürtler 1994: 70
18. ↑ Gürtler 1994: 28
19. ↑ Gürtler 1994: 71f
20. ↑ Gürtler 1994: 109; 160
21. ↑ Gürtler 1994: 213; 215
22. ↑ Gürtler 1994: 28
23. ^ Awarding of the Troll Borostyáni Prizes, 8.3.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
24. ↑ Chronicle of the previous winners ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
25. ↑ cf. Troll-Borostyáni, Mrs. Irma v. . In: Sophie Pataky (Hrsg.): Lexicon of German women of the pen . Volume 2. Verlag Carl Pataky, Berlin 1898, p. 378 f. ( Digitized version ).
26. ↑ cf. Elisabeth Friedrichs: The German-speaking women writers of the 18th and 19th centuries: a lexicon. Metzler, Stuttgart 1981, ISBN 3-476-00456-2