Alice Rühle-Gerstel (24 March 1894 – 24 June 1943) was a writer, feminist, and psychologist.

Biography

Alice Gerstel was born into a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family. She attended a girls' boarding school in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, then the

lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Basic science and some introduction to ...

and the German-language teacher-training college in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. She was a nurse in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. From 1917 to 1921 she studied literature and philosophy in Prague and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. In 1921, she completed a doctorate on

Friedrich Schlegel Karl Wilhelm Friedrich (after 1814: von) Schlegel ( ; ; 10 March 1772 – 12 January 1829) was a German literary critic, philosopher, and Indologist. With his older brother, August Wilhelm Schlegel, he was one of the main figures of Jena Roma ...

. In the same year she married

Otto Rühle Karl Heinrich Otto Rühle (; 23 October 1874 – 24 June 1943) was a German Marxist active in opposition to both the First World War, First and Second World Wars as well as a Council communism, council communist theorist. Early years Otto was ...

, a Left-communist student of

Alfred Adler Alfred Adler ( ; ; 7 February 1870 – 28 May 1937) was an Austrian medical doctor, psychotherapist, and founder of the school of individual psychology. His emphasis on the importance of feelings of belonging, relationships within the family, a ...

, and together with Grete Fantl founded the ''Marxist Individual-psychological Study Association of Dresden''. In 1924, she co-founded the publisher "Am Ufer ändern - Dresden-Buchholz-Friedewald" and produced monthly articles defending socialist education. Alice Rühle-Gerstel struck up a great friendship with

Milena Jesenská Milena Jesenská (; 10 August 1896 – 17 May 1944) was a Czech Republic, Czech journalist, writer, editor and translator. She is noted for her correspondence with the author Franz Kafka and was one of the first to translate his work from the ...

. As a socialist, she was no longer safe at the beginning of Nazi rule in Germany, so in 1932 she returned to her native city of Prague. From 1933 she worked on the children's supplement of the ''

Prager Tagblatt The ''Prager Tagblatt'' was a German language newspaper published in Prague from 1876 to 1939. Considered to be the most influential Liberal democracy, liberal-democratic German newspaper in Bohemia, it stopped publication after the German occup ...

''. Her search for identity here is described in the autobiographical novel "Der Umbruch oder die Freiheit und Hanna". But she left Prague after a few years and in 1936, followed her husband to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, who had family there. In Mexico, she worked as a translator in a government office and as a trade journalist. Despite friendships with

Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

Frida Kahlo Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by Culture of Mexico, the country' ...

and

Diego Rivera Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957) was a Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the Mexican muralism, mural movement in Mexican art, Mexican and international art. Between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted mural ...

in Mexico, she never felt comfortable there, and ended up committing suicide on the day of the death of her husband in June 1943.

Main works

* ''Freud und Adler. Elementare Einführung in Psychoanalyse und Individualpsychologie''. Dresden 1924 * ''Der Weg zum Wir. Versuch einer Verbindung von Marxismus und Individualpsychologie''. Dresden 1927, Nachdruck München 1980 * ''Das Frauenproblem der Gegenwart – Eine psychologische Bilanz''. Leipzig 1932, Nachdruck unter dem Titel ''Die Frau und der Kapitalismus''. Frankfurt/Main 1973 (darin das Zitat: "Die ganze Welt, wie sie heute ist, ist Männerwelt") * ''Der Umbruch oder Hanna und die Freiheit'', 1984 (posthumous).

Other texts (selection)

* ''Das proletarische Kind''. Rezension des Buches von Otto Rühle. In: ''Die Frau im Staat'', München, 4. Jg./05.1922/Heft V/S. 3 * ''Der Hexenwahn''. In: ''Frauenstimme. Beilage für die Frauen proletarischer Freidenker''. In: ''Atheist. Illustrierte Wochenschrift für Volksaufklärung'', Nürnberg / Leipzig, 22. Jg (2. Jg.)/Februar 1925/Nr. 2/S. 7–8 * ''Über die Eifersucht als weibliche Sicherung''. In: ''Internationale Zeitschrift für Individualpsychologie'', Wien, 3. Jg./Dezember 1925/Heft 6/S. 314–320 * ''Über Prostitution''. In: ''Schriftenreihe des Freidenkerverlages'', Leipzig, 1. Jg./ca. 1927/Heft 5/S. 82–84 * ''Der autonome Mensch''. In: ''Schriftenreihe des Freidenkerverlages'', Leipzig, 1. Jg./ca. 1927/Heft 8/S. 132–136 * ''Beruf und Gesellschaft. Referat auf der Tagung der Entschiedenen Schulreformer und Leitsätze''. 29. September bis 2. Oktober 1928 in Dresden. In: ''Beruf, Mensch, Schule. Tagungsbuch der Entschiedenen Schulreformer'', Hrsg.

Paul Oestreich Paul Hermann August Oestreich (30 March 1878 – 28 February 1959) was a German educator and pedagogue. Early life Oestreich was born in Kolberg, within the German Empire's Prussian Province of Pomerania. He studied mathematics, philosophy ...

und Erich Viehweg, Frankfurt am Main 1929, S. 21–31; 181–183 * ''Die neue Frauenfrage''. In: ''

Die literarische Welt Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life. Die may also refer to: Games * Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers Manufacturing * Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...

'', Berlin: 5. Jg./1929/Nr. 11/S. 1–2 * Hartwig, Mela: ''Das Weib ist ein Nichts''. Rezension. In: ''Die Literarische Welt'', Berlin: 5. Jg./1929/Nr. 38/S. 5 * ''An die unpolitischen Frauen''. Beitrag zum Sammelartikel: ''Deutschland, wie sie es sich wünschen''. In: ''Die literarische Welt'', Berlin: 6. Jg./1930/Nr. 13/S. 6 * ''Die entthronte

Libido In psychology, libido (; ) is psychic drive or energy, usually conceived of as sexual in nature, but sometimes conceived of as including other forms of desire. The term ''libido'' was originally developed by Sigmund Freud, the pioneering origin ...

. Bemerkungen zu Freuds "Das Unbehagen in der Kultur"''. In: ''Internationale Zeitschrift für Individualpsychologie'', Wien: 8. Jg./Dezember 1930/Heft 6/S. 558–566 * ''Untergang der Ehe''. In: ''Die literarische Welt'', Berlin: 6. Jg./1930/Nr. 24/S. 1–2 * ''Frauen und Liebesgeschichten. Ein kleiner Bericht''. In: ''Die literarische Welt'', Berlin: 7. Jg./1931/Nr. 12/S. 9–10 * ''Lebensregeln für Menschen von heute. Was man mit Enttäuschungen und Unglück anfangen soll''. In: Die literarische Welt, Berlin: 7. Jg./1931/Nr. 38/S. 3–4 * ''Überall Frauen''. In: ''Prager Tagblatt'', Prag/57. Jg./9. August 1932/Nr. 187/S. 4 * ''Abschaffung des Geschlechtsverkehrs''. Rezension des Buches ''Neugeburt der Ehe'' von

Hans Sterneder Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi ...

. In: ''Prager Tagblatt'', Prag/57. Jg./31. Dezember 1932/Nr. 308/S. 3 * ''Beitrag zur Rundfrage: Bilanz der Frauenbewegung''. In: ''Die literarische Welt'', Berlin: 8. Jg./1932/Nr. 10/S. 3–4 * ''Mann und Frau von heute. I. Die Frau wird losgesprochen''. In: ''Die literarische Welt'', Berlin: 8. Jg./1932/Nr. 41/42/S. 7 (Kopie FSA/BS) * ''Die literarische Welt der Frau. Zurück zur guten alten Zeit?''. In: ''Die literarische Welt'', Berlin: 9. Jg./1933/Nr. 4/S. 5–6 * ''Erinnerungen an meine Zukunft''. In: ''Prager Tagblatt'', 60. Jg./15. Dezember 1935/Nr. 292/Jubiläumsnummer – Beilage Nr. 6/S. 3 (Kopie FSA/BS) * Unter dem Pseudonym "Lizzi Kritzel": ''Ein Nachmittag bei hungernden Kindern (im Erzgebirge)''. In: ''Prager Tagblatt'', 61. Jg./29. März 1936/Nr. 76/S. 4–5 * ''In welchem Alter wird die Frau alt?'' In: ''Prager Tagblatt'', o. J., S. 29. Institut für Zeitgeschichte München – Archiv, Sign. EO 227/5 * ''Kein Gedicht für Trotzki. Tagebuchaufzeichnungen aus Mexico''. Neue Kritik, Frankfurt am Main 1979,

References

Bibliography

* Nachlass Alice Rühle-Gerstel, Institut für Zeitgeschichte, München (Bestand: ED 227) * Norbert Abels: ''A. R.-G.''. In: Hans Erler u. a. (Hrsg.): ''"Meinetwegen ist die Welt erschaffen". Das intellektuelle Vermächtnis des deutschsprachigen Judentums. 58 Portraits''. Campus, Frankfurt 1997 , S. 203–212 * Jutta Friederich: ''Alice Rühle-Gerstel (1894–1943 - Eine in Vergessenheit geratene Individualpsychologin.'' Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2012, * Gerald Mackenthun: ''Alice Rühle-Gerstels individueller Weg zwischen Marxismus und Individualpsychologie''. In: A. Lévy, G. Mackenthun (Hrsg.): ''Gestalten um Alfred Adler – Pioniere der Individualpsychologie''. Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2002, S. 215–238 * Jana Mikota
''Die proletarische Bibliothek. Alice Rühle-Gerstels und Otto Rühles Beitrag zu einer Lesesozialisation der proletarischen Mädchen und Jungen in den 1920er Jahren''.
(PDF; 439 kB) In: medaon.de, Magazin für jüdisches Leben in Forschung und Bildung

External links

*
Frauenwiki
(zusätzlich umfangreiche Sekundärliteratur und Zitate)
Zum 65. Todestag
(PDF; 267 kB) {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruhle-Gerstel, Alice 1894 births 1943 suicides Writers from Prague 20th-century German novelists Charles University alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Czechoslovak writers Czechoslovak women writers German feminists German women journalists German journalists German women psychologists Jewish German writers Jewish feminists Exilliteratur writers Adlerian psychology German women in World War I Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany German emigrants to Mexico Suicides in Mexico German women novelists 20th-century German women writers 20th-century German psychologists 20th-century journalists 1943 deaths