Gisela Elsner (2 May 1937 – 13 May 1992) was a German writer. She won the Prix Formentor in 1964 for her novel ''Die Riesenzwerge'' (''The Giant Dwarfs'').

Early life

Elsner was born in

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

Middle Franconia Middle Franconia (, ) is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia, Germany, in the west of Bavaria bordering the state of Baden-Württemberg. The administrative seat is Ansbach; the most populous and largest city is Nuremberg. Subdi ...

. She was born to a well-to-do family, and grew up with her sister, Heidi, and brother, Richard. Her father was a Director at

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

. She graduated from a gymnasium in Nuremberg in 1957. In 1959, she went to Vienna to study philosophy, Germanic letters and drama.

Career

Elsner then lived as a

freelance writer ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

in various places:

Lake Starnberg Lake Starnberg, or ''Starnberger See'' ) — called Lake Würm or ''Würmsee'' until 1962 — is Germany's second-largest body of fresh water, having great depth, and fifth-largest lake by area. It and its surroundings lie in three different Bava ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, in Rome from 1963 to 1964, in London from 1964 to 1970, then in Paris, Hamburg, New York, and finally in Munich. She was among the members of

Group 47 Gruppe 47 (Group 47) was a group of participants in German writers' meetings, invited by Hans Werner Richter between 1947 and 1967. The meetings served the dual goals of literary criticism as well as the promotion of young, unknown authors. In a ...

, which also included

Günter Grass Günter Wilhelm Grass (; 16 October 1927 – 13 April 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born in the Free City of Danzig (now Gda ...

and

Heinrich Böll Heinrich Theodor Böll (; ; 21 December 1917 – 16 July 1985) was a German writer. Considered one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers, Böll received the Georg Büchner Prize (1967) and the Nobel Prize for Literature (1972). Bio ...

. In her 1970 novel ''Berührungsverbot'' (''The Touch Ban'' or ''The Prohibition of Contact''), several couples try to transcend the limits of the bourgeois sexual mores of their middle-class background by engaging in group sex orgies. In Switzerland, a journal that published excerpts from the novel was banned, and in Austria it was attacked as harmful to children. Elsner described herself as a

Leninist Leninism (, ) is a political ideology developed by Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that proposes the establishment of the Dictatorship of the proletariat#Vladimir Lenin, dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary Vangu ...

. She was a long lasting member of the

German Communist Party The German Communist Party (, ) is a communist party in Germany. The DKP supports far-left positions and was an observer member of the European Left before leaving in February 2016. History The DKP considered itself a reconstitution of the C ...

. She was an ardent supporter of the government of

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, and left the German Communist Party in June 1989 due to their pro- Gorbachev tendencies. She returned to the party in October 1989 as a highly critical and "uncomfortable" member, as a display of her strong communist convictions. Her political position was in lifelong conflict with her

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

upbringing.

Personal life

Elsner married author Klaus Roehler in

Planegg Planegg is a municipality in the district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the river Würm, 13 km west of Munich (centre). Economy Koch Media has its head office in Planegg. It also hosts many biotech-companies, like ADV ...

in 1958. They had a son together,

Oskar Roehler Oskar Roehler (born 21 January 1959) is a German film director, screenwriter and journalist. He was born in Starnberg, the son of writers Gisela Elsner and Klaus Roehler. Since the mid-1980s, he has been working as a screenwriter, for, among ot ...

, who was born in

Starnberg Starnberg is a Town#Germany, town in Bavaria, Germany, some southwest of Munich. It is at the north end of Lake Starnberg, in the heart of the "Five Lakes Country", and serves as capital of the Starnberg (district), district of Starnberg. Recor ...

in 1959. They later divorced, after Elsner left her husband and lost custody of her son. She then remarried to Hans Platchek in 1976, who worked as a painter, art critic and author.

Death and legacy

Elsner's mental health began to decline due to a mix of economic problems, lack of literary success, and loss of political perspective after the

fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (, ) on 9 November in German history, 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, marked the beginning of the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain, as East Berlin transit restrictions we ...

. She became increasingly isolated. In 1992, Elster was taken to a private medical clinic in

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 ...

after collapsing on a public street. Elsner killed herself there on May 13, 1992. A dramatized film about her life, '' No Place to Go'', was made by her son

. Elsner's literary work is stored in the literary archives of the Monacensia, the literary archives of the city of Munich. A literary prize, the "Gisela-Elsner-Literaturpreis" was established in her honor in 2021.Zur Verleihung des 1. Gisela-Elsner-Literaturpreises in Nürnberg – Eine großartige Frau, Kommunistin und Kämpferin, Unsere Zeit 16 July 2021.

Early life

Career

Personal life

Death and legacy

References

Further reading