Ursula Vaupel

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Ursula Vaupel (2013)

Ursula Vaupel , b. Walldorf (born June 20, 1928 in Schweidnitz , Lower Silesia Province ; † January 4, 2018 in Eschwege ) was a German high school teacher , historian , politician and author . She was married and had three children.

biography

Ursula Vaupel grew up like many people of her generation in a Nazi- oriented family and was physically handicapped from birth because her left forearm was missing. These two problems, together with far-reaching war and post-war experiences, shaped her life and were a driving force behind her research on the subject of witch hunts in her endeavors to enlightenment and humanity .

She attended elementary school in Darmstadt and Wiesbaden from 1934–1938 , grammar school in Wiesbaden from 1938–1942, and in Łódź (Litzmannstadt) from 1942–1944, and after fleeing the grammar school in Glauchau , Ilmenau and Wiesbaden until graduation in 1948.

She worked as a freelance journalist from 1948 to 1950 for Wiesbaden daily newspapers. 1950–1952 she studied German, history and psychology in Frankfurt am Main and 1953–1956 in Marburg . In 1950 she organized international youth camps in Bad Schwalbach . In 1956 she completed her studies with the 1st state examination and completed her legal clerkship in Schlüchtern (where she worked as a home helper in the boarding school) from 1957-1958 and in Gießen from 1958-1959 , where she passed her 2nd state examination. As a grammar school teacher, she worked at the Goetheschule Neu-Isenburg grammar school from 1959 to 1962 and from 1962 to 1988 in Eschwege . In addition to her profession, she graduated in 1979-1982 Political Science in Göttingen and acquired the Fakultas for teaching social studies . 1986–1988 she was the representative of severely disabled teachers in the Werra-Meißner district and a member of the district's entire staff council . She had been retired since 1988. Ursula Vaupel died in January 2018 at the age of 89.

Political and social activities

In the early 1980s she worked as a district board member in the education and science union and in educational work in the German Federation of Trade Unions . 1988–1992 she was city councilor and 1990–1992 parliamentary group leader of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen . In the early to mid-1990s, she worked for the Federation for Environment and Nature Conservation Germany eV and the Hessian Society for Ornithology and Nature Conservation . From 1993 until her death she was the spokeswoman for the cultural group in the association Women for Women - Women for Children in the Werra-Meißner district, which provides concrete help to women threatened by domestic violence. She participated in the care of asylum seekers and, since 2009, in terminal care as part of the Eschwege hospice group .

Witch trials

One focus of her historical work was the research of early women's history in Eschweg, especially about the canonical monastery of St. Cyriakus in Eschwege and about two Eschweg witch trials that were still little known. Through her publications and lectures with the support of the “Association Women for Women, Women for Children in the Werra-Meißner District”, the equal opportunities officer, the adult education center, the city archive, the church and the Protestant family education center, she was able to prepare the ground for rehabilitation of the Eschweg women killed for alleged “witchcraft” by the city of Eschwege and the Protestant church district Eschwege on October 30, 2007 as part of the “Witches' Remembrance Days” on the 350th anniversary of the execution of the Eschweg women Catharina Rudeloff and Martha Kerste.

It is thanks to Ursula Vaupel's commitment in collaboration with Ulrike Born that the “Sculpture of Violence” was set up in Eschwege on the grounds of the adult education center opposite the former synagogue and in the immediate vicinity of the historic dungeon as a reminder and warning. She was supported by the District Administrator, the Equal Opportunities Officer and the Women for Women Association. It was ceremoniously unveiled on May 27, 2008. This “Monument Against Violence” was designed by Christa K. Bayer from Witzenhausen and depicts Catharina Rudeloff, a victim of the Eschweg witch trials. Since then, Ursula Vaupel has organized an annual memorial service. This initiative attracted supraregional attention and gave impetus in cooperation with the Witch Trials working group for the rehabilitation of victims of witch hunt in other cities.

Youth autobiography

In 2016 Ursula Vaupel published her childhood memories: I was also a Hitler girl . The biography, through the portrayal of her youthful experiences, is a confrontation with the delusion of her family and a warning not to succumb to any ideologies. In this publication she was able to incorporate the memories of his youth of almost the same age, Paul Kester, who lived with his Jewish family in the same Wiesbaden apartment building until 1938 and whom she met again in 2014, 76 years after his escape from Germany.

Appreciation

On December 12, 2013, Ursula Vaupel was awarded the letter of honor of the State of Hesse at the start of a meeting of the city council of Eschwege .

Publications

  • Diet women. In: Karl Kollmann (ed.): History of the city of Eschwege. Eschwege 1993, p. 282.
  • The ancestors. (the German Empress Theophanu (960–991)). In: Karl Kollmann (ed.): History of the city of Eschwege. Eschwege 1993, p. 283 ff.
  • Marriage, lust and suffering. In: Karl Kollmann (ed.): History of the city of Eschwege. Eschwege 1993, p. 299 ff.
  • Witch trials in Eschwege in 1657. Kassel 1997, ISBN 3-925333-34-7 .
  • The glory and decline of the St. Cyriakus canonical monastery in Eschwege. In: Eschweg history sheets. 8/1997, p. 23 ff.
  • Memorial stone for Martha Kerste. In: Dagmar v. Garnier: Book of 1000 Women. The women's memorial labyrinth. Part 2, Rüsselsheim 2001, p. 176 f.
  • Catharina Rudeloff's dungeon "under the Cyriaxberg". In: Eschweg history sheets. 11/2002, p. 83 ff.
  • You want to burn the witches . Witch trials in Eschwege in 1657. (Hessian research on historical regional and folklore, Volume 34). 2nd improved edition. 1999, ISBN 3-925333-60-6 . (Contents)
  • (with Ulrike Born): In Memoriam Catharina Rudeloff Martha Kerste, Witches Trials Eschwege 1657. Eschwege 2007, ISBN 978-3-940266-96-5 .
  • My youth under National Socialism and after. Eschwege 2008.
  • Women of Eschweg history. In: Karl Kollmann (Ed.): Eschwege. An art and cultural history city guide. Eschweg History Association, 2nd edition. 2000, p. 19 ff. And 3rd edition 2009, p. 19 ff.
  • Witches' memory in Eschwege , with Hartmut Hegeler , in: Eschweger Geschichtsblätter 21, 2010, pp. 32–41
  • Witch memorial in Eschwege. In: Hartmut Hegeler: Witch monuments in Hessen. In: Yearbook of the Hessian Church History Association. Darmstadt / Kassel, Volume 61, 2010, ISBN 978-3-931849-33-7 , pp. 338-344.
  • Witch memorial in Eschwege. In: Hartmut Hegeler: Witch monuments in Hessen. Unna 2011, ISBN 978-3-940266-15-6 , pp. 20-25.
  • I was a Hitler girl too . History workshop Büdingen 2016, ISBN 978-3-939454-84-7

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituaries , accessed January 11, 2018
  2. ↑ http://www.frauen-gedenk-labyrinth.de/aktuelles.html "An outstanding project throughout Europe: The rehabilitation of two women burned as witches in Eschwege"
  3. ↑ Ursula Vaupel has published her autobiography “I was also a Hitler girl” , Wiesbadener Tagblatt , December 23, 2016
  4. ↑ http://www.werra-rundschau.de/lokales/eschwege/ursula-vaupel-ehrenbrief-ausgezeich-3270969.html
personal data
SURNAME Vaupel, Ursula
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Walldorf, Ursula (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German historian
DATE OF BIRTH June 20, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Schweidnitz , Lower Silesia Province
DATE OF DEATH 4th January 2018
Place of death Eschwege