Alexandra Fröhlich (1966 or 1967 – 22 April 2025) was a German journalist and writer.
Life and career
Fröhlich was initially active as a journalist in Ukraine and founded a women's magazine in
Kyiv
Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
. In Germany she later worked as a freelance author for various women's magazines, including ''
Petra
Petra (; "Rock"), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu (Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: or , *''Raqēmō''), is an ancient city and archaeological site in southern Jordan. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit systems, P ...
'' and ''
Freundin''.
In 2012 she published her debut novel, ''Meine russische Schwiegermutter und andere Katastrophen'' ("My Russian Mother-in-law and Other Catastrophes"), with Knaur, about the stubborn mother-in-law Darja, her son Artjom, and lawyer Paula, who falls in love with Artjom. The novel sold more than 50,000 copies and reached
Der Spiegel
(, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
's bestseller list. It was also released in French in 2015 under the title ''Ma belle-mère russe et autres catastrophes''. In the 2014 sequel, ''Reisen mit Russen'', the Hamburg lawyer Paula travels to Kyiv to reconcile with her Russian husband, Artjom, only to find that he has disappeared, prompting her to search for him with her mother-in-law. Both works are
semi-autobiographical
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...
, drawing on Fröhlich's failed marriage to a Russian.
These were followed by the crime novel ''Gestorben wird immer'' (2016) about 91-year-old Agnes Weisgut, who wants to come clean as the head of the
stonemasonry
Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using rock (geology), stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with Mortar (masonry), mortar ...
business Weisgut & Söhne in Hamburg, and ''Dreck am Stecken'' (2019) about the diary of the deceased grandfather Heinrich, which reveals numerous secrets.
Fröhlich had three sons. She last lived on a
houseboat
A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily for regular dwelling. Most houseboats are not motorized, as they are usually moored or kept stationary, fixed at a Berth (moorings), berth, and often tethered to ...
at Holzhafenufer in the
Moorfleet
Moorfleet () is a quarter of Hamburg, Germany, in the borough of Bergedorf. It is located in the west of the borough.
Geography
Moorfleet is a part of the Marschlande and is located at the Dove Elbe river. The quarter is not highly populated and ...
quarter of
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, where she was found dead by a gunshot wound on 22 April 2025. She was 58, Investigators suspected foul play, and an investigation has commenced. The suspect was then arrested by the police and taken into custody for the murder of Fröhlich.
Works
* ''Meine russische Schwiegermutter und andere Katastrophen''. Knaur, Munich 2012, ISBN 3-426-51256-4.
* ''Reisen mit Russen''. Knaur, Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-426-51468-9.
* ''Gestorben wird immer''. Penguin, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-328-10001-0.
* ''Dreck am Stecken''. Penguin, Munich 2019, ISBN 978-3-328-10231-1.
References
External links
*
Alexandra Fröhlichat Verlag Droemer-Knaur
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frohlich, Alexandra
1960s births
Year of birth uncertain
2025 deaths
German journalists
German fiction writers
Murder in Hamburg
21st-century German writers
21st-century German women writers
Writers from Hamburg