Josephine Rensch

Josephine Rensch (born October 18, 1881 in Follebu ; † December 26, 1973 in Lillehammer ) was Norwegian and partner of Albert Langen .

Josephine Rensch in Paris, August 1902

Meaning and misinterpretation

There were only a few photographic images of Josephine Rensch in the literature until September 2014 (the publication of the newly discovered testimonies ). Josephine Rensch was mentioned occasionally (e.g. in Helga Abret and in the edition of Grete Gulbransson's diaries by Ulrike Lang); but - and apparently unknowingly - only shown twice in an exhibition catalog. In these two photographs Josephine is referred to once (Figure 14) as "his [Albert Langens] wife Dagny, née Björnsson [sic!]" And once (Figure 15) as "his [Albert Langens] wife". “The importance of Albert Langen as a publisher is dealt with thoroughly in the literature. However, anyone who is interested in Albert Langen as a person will sooner or later meet Josephine Rensch [his partner until death], about whom literature hardly (and if so incorrectly) expresses itself. "

Parents, childhood and youth (1881–1900)

Josephine Rensch was born on October 18, 1881 in Follebu, Gausdal municipality / Norway. In the series of five children (Hilda, Karl, Josephine, Anna and Kristian) she was the third born after Hilda and Karl. The parents Johan (1832–1912) and Johanna (1844–1930) ran a small farm in Follebu. Around 1898/99 Josephine was employed in the household on Aulestad, the property of the Norwegian poet, Nobel laureate for literature and politician Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson . Presumably she followed her older sister Hilda, who emigrated to America in 1898 at the age of 20. In the autumn of 1900 at the earliest, Josephine would have moved from Aulestad to Paris to the household of the family of the Munich publisher Albert Langen . Albert Langen had lived in exile in Paris at 187 rue de la Pompe since the end of 1898 in order to evade arrest for insulting majesty. As editor of Simplicissimus, he was also responsible for the so-called Palestine number (No. 31, 3rd year), in which the pompous trip to the Orient by Kaiser Wilhelm II was satirically treated.

Life companion Albert Langens (1903–1909)

During this time in Paris Albert and Josephine apparently fell in love. At the same time, Albert Langen split from his wife Dagny Bjørnson- Langen, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's youngest daughter, whom he married on March 10, 1896 (a few days before the first issue of Simplicissimus was published ) and with whom he had two sons. In the spring of 1903 Albert Langen returned to Munich (after having obtained a pardon). Josephine followed him. It is engraved on June 11, 1903 in a finger ring that Albert gave to Josephine. Josephine now traveled a lot: America, Berlin, Dresden, Bournemouth / England, Norway. In 1904 she undertook a long trip to New York on the "König Albert" (August 28 - December 22). Albert probably followed her here. In December 1904 she confessed to Albert Langen in a letter to her family. In the spring of 1906 Albert Langen acquired two houses in Munich's Mandlstrasse (numbers 3a and 3, today number 8) and had them prepared for Josephine and himself. On August 1, 1906, Mandlstrasse 3a is the couple's official address. Albert and Josephine ran an open house and traveled extensively together. Intensive friendship existed in particular with Olaf Gulbransson and his second wife Grete Gulbransson (née Jehly ). On the basis of an otitis media, which Albert Langen suffered during the pursuit of the airship Zeppelin I on April 1, 1909 in an open automobile, he fell fatally ill and died early in the morning of April 30, 1909 in Dr. Heldrichs Carolinum, Mandlstraße 2. On May 4th Albert Langen was buried in the Melatenfriedhof in Cologne (the grave no longer exists today). Presumably Josephine was among the mourners, but not his wife Dagny. In the second Testament (first he set on October 2, 1906), the Albert Langen his notary dictated two days before his death in the machine, he made Josephine in much of his estate to Vermächtnisnehmerin (heirs were his two sons).

After the death of Albert Langen (1909–1973)

For a while after Albert's death, Josephine stayed at Mandlstrasse 3a. Dagny did not recognize the will and made property claims. In January 1910, Dagny was granted severance pay. The house in Mandlstrasse was sold to the factory owner Theodor Heuss on March 23, 1910. In August 1912 Josephine went back to Norway forever. In 1913 she traveled to America on the steamer "Großer Kurfürst" and visited her older sister Hilda, who lived in Minneapolis. Hilda and her three children (Stuart, Olive and Harriet) accompanied Josephine home to Norway. Harriet stayed with her aunt Josephine in Norway. In 1922 Josephine acquired the “Elvebakken” spot in Follebu and built a small house on it (which still exists today and in which her posthumous testimonies are stored). Josephine remained connected to Langen-Verlag in an advisory capacity for years. Josephine Rensch died in Lillehammer on the morning of December 26, 1973. Her grave, which she shares with her younger sister Anna (1884–1963), still exists today in the small cemetery at Follebu kirke .

literature

• Helga Abret: Albert Langen. A European publisher. Langen Müller, Munich 1993.
• Helga Abret, Aldo Keel: The libel affair of the "Simplicissimus" publisher Albert Langen. Letters and documents on exile and pardon 1898–1903. Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main / Bern / New York 1985, ISBN 3-8204-8877-4 .
• The green bird of the ether. Grete Gulbransson: Diaries Volume I: 1904 to 1912 , ed. u. come over. v. Ulrike Lang. Stroemfeld, Frankfurt am Main 1998, ISBN 3-87877-690-X .
• BA Bjørnson-Langen: Aulestad Tur - Retur. German translation by Hedwig Suhr and Valborg Abele, Langen'scher Familienverband eV, 1985.
• Detlef Seydel: Damn it! Dear Josephine, I love you. Albert Langen and Josephine Rensch - newly found testimonies. Allitera Verlag (edition monacensia), Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-86906-653-0 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Exhibition catalog Schwabing - Art and Life , Münchner Stadtmuseum (Bauer 1998), pp. 26–27.
2. ↑ Damn it! Dear Josephine, I love you. Albert Langen and Josephine Rensch - newly found testimonials, p. 12.