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{{Short description|German transgender woman (1928–2002)}}
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{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Charlotte von Mahlsdorf
| name = Charlotte von Mahlsdorf
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| imagesize = 180px
| imagesize = 180px
| caption = Berlin Gay Pride Parade, 1994
| caption = Berlin Gay Pride Parade, 1994
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1928||18|df=y}}
| birth_name = Lothar Berfelde
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1928|03|18|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Berlin]]-Mahlsdorf, Germany
| birth_place = [[Berlin]]-Mahlsdorf, Germany
| death_date = {{death date and age|2002|04|30|1928|03|18|df=y}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|2002||30|1928||18|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Berlin]], Germany
| death_place = Berlin, Germany
| known_for =
| known_for =
| occupation =
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'''Charlotte von Mahlsdorf''' (18 March 1928 – 30 April 2002) was the founder of the [[Gründerzeit]] Museum (a museum of everyday items) in [[Mahlsdorf|Berlin-Mahlsdorf]].
'''Charlotte von Mahlsdorf''' (18 March 1928 – 30 April 2002) was the [[Gründerzeit]] Museum a of [[]].

When a local mansion was due for demolition, von Mahlsdorf was allowed to live there, and its contents became the basis for her collection of everyday household items from the Gründerzeit period (c. 1870s). The museum became a popular meeting-point for East Berlin’s gay community, to the disapproval of the East German regime ([[Stasi]]).


== Early years ==
== Early years ==
Von Mahlsdorf was born '''Lothar Berfelde''', to parents Max Berfelde and Gretchen Gaupp in [[Mahlsdorf|Berlin-Mahlsdorf]], Germany. At a very young age she felt more like a girl, and expressed more interest in the clothing and articles of little girls. She helped a second-hand goods dealer clear out the apartments of deported [[Jew]]s and sometimes kept items.<ref>{{Cite news
Von Mahlsdorf was born to parents Max Berfelde and Gretchen Gaupp in [[Mahlsdorf|Berlin-Mahlsdorf]], Germany. At a very young age she and expressed more interest in the clothing and articles girls. She helped a second-hand goods dealer clear out the apartments of deported [[Jew]]s and sometimes kept items.<ref>{{Cite news
|url=http://forward.com/articles/129303/behind-the-mask/
|title=Behind The Mask
|newspaper=[[The Jewish Daily Forward]]
|author=Henrik Eger
|date=12 July 2010}}</ref>

Max Berfelde, Lothar's father, was already a member of the [[Nazi Party]] by the late 1920s and he had become a party leader in Mahlsdorf. In 1942 he forced Lothar to join the [[Hitler Youth]]. They often quarrelled, but the situation escalated in 1944 when her mother left the family during the [[Flight and expulsion of Germans (1944–1950)|evacuation]]. Max demanded that Lothar choose between parents, threatening her with a gun and leaving her in a room with an hour to choose; when he came in to kill her, she struck him with a rolling pin and killed him. In January 1945, after several weeks in a psychiatric institution, Lothar was sentenced by a court in Berlin to four years detention as an [[psychopathy|anti-social]] [[Juvenile delinquency|juvenile delinquent]]. She did not serve the full term because the jails were opened at the end of the war.


==Career==
==Career==
⚫
collection evolved into the Gründerzeit Museum. She had become engaged in the preservation of the von Mahlsdorf estate, which was threatened with demolition, and was awarded the manor house rent-free. In 1960, Von Mahlsdorf opened the museum of everyday articles from the ''Gründerzeit'' (the time of the founding of the [[German Empire]]) in the only partiallyreconstructed Mahlsdorf manor house. The museum became well known in cinematic, artistic and gay circles. From 1970 on, the [[East Berlin]] homosexual scene often had meetings and celebrations in the museum.
With the fall of the [[Nazi Germany|Third Reich]], Lothar was released. She worked as a second-hand goods dealer and dressed in a more feminine way. "Lothar" became "Lottchen". She loved older men and became a well-known figure in the city as von Mahlsdorf. She began collecting household items, thus saving historical every-day items from bombed-out houses. She was also able to take advantage of the clearance of the households of people who left for [[West Germany]].


⚫
In 1974 the [[East German]] authorities announced that they wanted to bring the museum and its exhibits under state control. In protest von Mahlsdorf began giving away the exhibits to visitors. Thanks to the committed involvement of the actress [[Annekathrin Bürger]] and the attorney Friedrich Karl Kaul possibly also thanks to her enlistment as an ''inoffizieller Mitarbeiter'' [[Stasi]] the authorities' attempt was stopped in 1976 and she was able to keep the museum.
⚫
Her collection evolved into the Gründerzeit Museum. She had become engaged in the preservation of the von Mahlsdorf estate, which was threatened with demolition, and was awarded the manor house rent-free. In 1960, Von Mahlsdorf opened the museum of everyday articles from the ''Gründerzeit'' (the time of the founding of the [[German Empire]]) in the only partially reconstructed Mahlsdorf manor house. The museum became well known in cinematic, artistic and gay circles. From 1970 on, the [[East Berlin]] homosexual scene often had meetings and celebrations in the museum.


In 1991, [[neo-Nazis]] attacked one of her celebrations in the museum. Several participants were hurt. At this time, von Mahlsdorf announced she was considering leaving Germany.{{Cn|date=July 2022}}
⚫
In 1974 the [[East Germany|East German]] authorities announced that they wanted to bring the museum and its exhibits under state control. In protest von Mahlsdorf began giving away the exhibits to visitors. Thanks to the committed involvement of the actress [[Annekathrin Bürger]] and the attorney [[Friedrich Karl Kaul]] (and possibly also thanks to her enlistment as an ''inoffizieller Mitarbeiter'' or [[Stasi]] collaborator) the authorities' attempt was stopped in 1976 and she was able to keep the museum.


In 1992, she received the [[Bundesverdienstkreuz]], 'Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.'{{Cn|date=July 2022}}
⚫
In 1991 [[neo-Nazis]] attacked one of her celebrations in the museum. Several participants were hurt. At this time von Mahlsdorf announced she was considering leaving Germany. In 1992 she received the [[Bundesverdienstkreuz]]. Her decision to leave Germany meant that she guided her last visitor through the museum in 1995 and in 1997 she moved to Porla Brunn, an old spa near [[Hasselfors]], [[Sweden]], where she opened (with moderate success) a new museum dedicated to the turn of the 19th century. The city of Berlin bought the Gründerzeit Museum, and by 1997 it had been opened again by the "Förderverein Gutshaus Mahlsdorf e. V.".


⚫
Her decision to leave Germany meant that she guided her last visitor through the museum in 1995 and in 1997 she moved to Porla Brunn, an old spa near [[Hasselfors]], [[Sweden]], where she opened (with moderate success) a new museum dedicated to the turn of the 19th century. The city of Berlin bought the Gründerzeit Museum, and by 1997 it had been opened again by the "Förderverein Gutshaus Mahlsdorf e. V.".
⚫
Von Mahlsdorf died from heart failure during a visit to Berlin on 30 April 2002.


Her life could be described as that of an outsider who survived, no matter the ruling ideology, during the Nazi period, Communist-controlled East Germany, or, once the wall fell, modern Germany, as described in the article "The Sexual and Political Chameleon of Berlin: The Ambiguities of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf's Life in ''I Am My Own Wife''.”<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dramaaroundtheglobe.com/editors-desk/the-sexual-and-political-chameleon-of-berlinthe-ambiguities-of-charlotte-von-mahlsdorfs-life-in-i-am-my-own-wife|title=The Sexual and Political Chameleon of Berlin: The Ambiguities of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf's Life in "I Am My Own Wife"|last=Eger|first=Henrik|date=5 August 2018|website=Drama Around the Globe|access-date=25 January 2019|archive-date=26 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190126061207/https://www.dramaaroundtheglobe.com/editors-desk/the-sexual-and-political-chameleon-of-berlinthe-ambiguities-of-charlotte-von-mahlsdorfs-life-in-i-am-my-own-wife|url-status=dead}}</ref>
⚫
== Legacy ==
Comments such as ''"Daß die Lesben und Schwulen keine Kinder kriegen, das ist doch ganz natürlich. Die Natur sucht sich ja auch aus, was sie gebrauchen kann, was sie sich vermehren läßt und was nicht. Und wenn wir's mal so nehmen: Wenn die Lesben und Schwulen nun auch noch Kinder kriegen würden, dann hätten wir heute noch viel mehr Arbeitslose" ("That lesbians and gays can't have children is after all quite natural. Nature too seeks out what it can use, what can reproduce and what can't. If we look at it like that, if lesbians and gays did have children, then we'd have a lot more [[Unemployment|unemployed people]] today")'' – a remark made during a lecture on 12 March 1997 in Berlin<ref>http://www.whk.de/whk1100.htm</ref> – meant that she lost friends within the gay scene as well.


⚫
Von Mahlsdorf died from heart failure during a visit to Berlin on 30 April 2002.
⚫
Regardless of these issues, some people still honour her memory, be it for her work as the founder of the Gründerzeit Museum, or for her public role as a [[Trans woman|transgender woman]] and her foregrounding of the persecution of homosexuals in both the Third Reich and East Germany. The appeal for a memorial to von Mahlsdorf, organized by the "Förderverein Gutshaus Mahlsdorf e. V." and the "Interessengemeinschaft Historische Friedhöfe Berlin" was therefore a success.


⚫
== Legacy ==
The intention of the organizers was to erect a memorial with the inscription ''"Ich bin meine eigene Frau (I am my own wife) – Charlotte von Mahlsdorf – 18. März 1928 – 30. April 2002"'' on the first anniversary of Charlotte's death. However, von Mahlsdorf's relatives demanded the inscription be changed. As questions remained about the disposition of her estate, and the "Förderverein Gutshaus Mahlsdorf e. V." was concerned that her relatives could demand the return of her furniture, they yielded to these demands.
[[File:Charlotte von Mahlsdorf Autogramm.png|thumb|Charlotte von Mahlsdorf Autogramm]]
⚫
still honour her memory, be it for her work as the founder of the Gründerzeit Museum, or for her public role as a [[Trans woman|transgender woman]] and her foregrounding of the persecution of homosexuals in both the Third Reich and East Germany. The appeal for a memorial to von Mahlsdorf, organized by the "Förderverein Gutshaus Mahlsdorf e. V." and the "Interessengemeinschaft Historische Friedhöfe Berlin" was therefore a success.


Although Charlotte von Mahlsdorf had been known almost exclusively by her "stage name" in recent years, her relatives pushed through the inscription ''"Lothar Berfelde, 1928 – 2002, genannt Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. Dem Museumsgründer zur Erinnerung" (Lothar Berfelde, 1928 – 2002, known as Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. In memory of the (male) founder of the museum).''
Although Charlotte von Mahlsdorf had been known almost exclusively by her "stage name" in recent years, her relatives pushed through the inscription ''"Lothar Berfelde, 1928 – 2002, genannt Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. Dem Museumsgründer zur Erinnerung" (Lothar Berfelde, 1928 – 2002, known as Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. In memory of the male founder of the museum).''


===Documentary film===
===Documentary film===
In 1992 German filmmaker [[Rosa von Praunheim]] made a film about von Mahlsdorf called ''[[I Am My Own Woman]]'' (Original title: ''Ich bin meine eigene Frau''). von Mahlsdorf appears in the film.
In 1992 German filmmaker [[Rosa von Praunheim]] made a film about von Mahlsdorf called ''[[I Am My Own Woman]]'' (Original title: ''Ich bin meine eigene Frau'') von Mahlsdorf in the film.


===Film===
===Film===
* ''Coming Out'' dir. [[Heiner Carow]], 1989. Cameo role as barmaid.<ref>https://www.umass.edu/defa/film/3538</ref>
* "Charlotte in Schweden" by [[John Edward Heys]]. In 1998 the filmmaker [[John Edward Heys]] made a film about Charlotte's new life in Porla Brunn, Sweden. Premier 1998 at the Panorama section of the Berlin Filmfestival [[Berlinale]].
*''Charlotte in Schweden'' by filmmaker [[Rosa von Praunheim]]. In 2002, von Praunheim made a film about Charlotte's new life in Porla Brunn, Sweden.{{Cn|date=July 2022}}
* "Charlotte" by [[John Edward Heys]] 2009. Screened at 56 [[Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen]] 2010.
*Charlotte by [[John Edward Heys]] 2009. Screened at [[Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen]] 2010.


=== Theatre plays ===
=== Theatre plays ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=July 2022}}
American playwright [[Doug Wright]] wrote the character play, ''[[I Am My Own Wife]]'' based on von Mahlsdorf's life from his own research of her biography. Since its initial run on- and off-Broadway the play has garnered every major American theatre award including the [[Pulitzer Prize for Drama]], [[Tony Award]], the [[Drama Desk Award]], [[Drama League Award]], the [[Lucille Lortel Award]], and the [[Lambda Literary Award]] for Drama.
American playwright [[Doug Wright]] wrote the character play, ''[[I Am My Own Wife]]'' based on von Mahlsdorf's life from his own research of her biography. Since its initial run on- and off-Broadway the play has garnered major American theatre including the [[Pulitzer Prize for Drama]], [[Tony Award]], the [[Drama Desk Award]], [[Drama League Award]], the [[Lucille Lortel Award]], and the [[Lambda Literary Award]] for Drama.


German author [[Peter Süß]], co-author and publisher of von Mahlsdorf's book, has made another play called "Ich bin meine eigene Frau". The play had its premiere in spring 2006 at the [[Schauspiel Leipzig]].
German author Peter Süß, co-author and publisher of von Mahlsdorf's book, has made another play called Ich bin meine eigene Frau. The play had its premiere in spring 2006 at the [[Schauspiel Leipzig]].


Larry Moss and Josef Ludwig Pfitzer made an adaptation of the Doug Wright play called ''Ich mach ja doch, was ich will (I still do what I want)'', that was shown at [[Teamtheater]] in May 2012 in Munich, Germany.
Larry Moss and Josef Ludwig Pfitzer made an adaptation of the Doug Wright play called ''Ich mach ja doch, was ich will (I still do what I want)'', that was shown at [[Teamtheater]] in May 2012 in Munich, Germany.


==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
* {{cite book | last=Mahlsdorf | first=Charlotte von |editor1-first=Peter |editor1-last=Süß| title=Ich bin meine eigene Frau | edition=1st | language=German | location=Berlin | publisher=Edition Diá | year=1992 | isbn=3-86034-109-X}}
* {{cite book | last=Mahlsdorf | first=Charlotte von |editor1-first=Peter |editor1-last=Süß title=Ich bin meine eigene Frau | edition=1st | language= | location=Berlin | publisher=Edition Diá | year=1992 | isbn=3-86034-109-X}}
** {{cite book | last=Mahlsdorf | first=Charlotte von |last2=Hollander |first2=Jean (translation) | title=I Am My Own Woman: The Outlaw Life of Charlotte Von Mahlsdorf, Berlin's Most Distinguished Transvestite | edition=translated 1st | location=San Francisco | publisher=[[Cleis Press]] | year=1995 | isbn=1573440108}}
** {{cite book | =Mahlsdorf | =Charlotte von |last2=Hollander |first2=Jean (translation) | title=I Am My Own Woman: The Outlaw Life of Charlotte Von Mahlsdorf, Berlin's Most Distinguished Transvestite | edition=translated 1st | location=San Francisco | publisher=[[Cleis Press]] | year=1995 | isbn=1573440108}}
** {{cite book | last=Mahlsdorf | first=Charlotte von |last2=Hollander |first2=Jean (translation) | title=I Am My Own Wife: The True Story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf | edition=new | location=San Francisco | publisher=[[Cleis Press]] | year=2004 | isbn=1573442003}}
** {{cite book | =Mahlsdorf | =Charlotte von |last2=Hollander |first2=Jean (translation) | title=I Am My Own Wife: The True Story of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf | edition=new | location=San Francisco | publisher=[[Cleis Press]] | year=2004 | isbn=1573442003}}
* {{cite book | last=Mahlsdorf | first=Charlotte von | title=Ab durch die Mitte | edition=1st | language=German |location=Munich | publisher=Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag (DTV)| year=1997 | isbn=3-423-20041-3}}
* {{cite book | last=Mahlsdorf | first=Charlotte von | title=Ab durch die Mitte | edition=1st | language= |location=Munich | publisher=Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag (DTV)| year=1997 | isbn=3-423-20041-3}}


== References ==
== References ==
Line 76: Line 73:


== External links ==
== External links ==
{{commons category-inline}}
*[http://dispatch.opac.ddb.de/DB=4.1/REL?PPN=119092093 Literature by and about Charlotte von Mahlsdorf]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} in the catalogue of [[Die Deutsche Bibliothek]]
*[http://dispatch.opac.ddb.de/DB=4.1/REL?PPN=119092093 Literature by and about Charlotte von Mahlsdorf] in the catalogue of [[Die Deutsche Bibliothek]]
* [http://www.gruenderzeitmuseum.de/ Gründerzeitmuseum – Official Website] {{de icon}}
* [http://www.gruenderzeitmuseum.de/ Gründerzeitmuseum – Official Website] {{ }}
* [http://www.berlinonline.de/berliner-zeitung/archiv/.bin/dump.fcgi/1997/0607/magazin/0001/index.html Article in ''Die Berliner Zeitung'' on questions about Charlotte von Mahlsdorf's biography] {{de icon}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060313160807/http://www.cleispress.com/book_page.php?book_id=62 cleispress.com: The book: ''I Am My Own Wife'' by Charlotte von Mahlsdorf (initially published as ''I Am My Own Woman'')]
*[https://web.archive.org/web//http://www../.. '' '' Charlotte von Mahlsdorf'
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060313160807/http://www.cleispress.com/book_page.php?book_id=62 cleispress.com: The book: ''I Am My Own Wife'' by Charlotte von Mahlsdorf (initially published as ''I Am My Own Woman'')]
* {{IMDb title|104475|Ich bin meine eigene Frau (film)}}
* {{IMDb title|104475|Ich bin meine eigene Frau (film)}}
* {{ibdb show|id=11252|title=I Am My Own Wife (play by Doug Wright)}}
* {{ibdb show|id=11252|title=I Am My Own Wife (play by Doug Wright)}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq8JD6OFcqU I Am My Own Wife – Inside Look] with Doug Wright and Charlotte on YouTube
* Naming a street in Berlin after Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz-GaqoaBvI Straßenbennung zu Ehren Charlotte von Mahlsdorf] on YouTube.


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:German autobiographers]]
[[Category:German autobiographers]]
[[Category:German collectors]]
[[Category:German collectors]]
[[Category:German founders]]
[[Category:German founders]]
[[Category:German women writers]]
[[Category:German women writers]]
[[Category:LGBT writers from Germany]]
[[Category:LGBT writers]]
[[Category:Museum founders]]
[[Category:Museum founders]]
[[Category:People of the Stasi]]
[[Category: ]]
[[Category:East German women]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]]
[[Category:Transgender and transsexual women]]
[[Category: women]]
[[Category:Transgender and transsexual writers]]
[[Category:Transgender writers]]
[[Category:Women autobiographers]]
[[Category: autobiographers]]
[[Category:Women collectors]]
[[Category:Women collectors]]
[[Category:Women founders]]
[[Category:Women founders]]
[[Category:Writers from Berlin]]
[[Category:Writers from Berlin]]
[[Category:20th-century philanthropists]]
[[Category:Hitler Youth members]]
[[Category:20th-century German women]]
[[Category:20th-century German LGBT people]]
[[Category:Stasi informants]]

Latest revision as of 15:23, 17 July 2024

Charlotte von Mahlsdorf
Berlin Gay Pride Parade, 1994
Born(1928-03-18)18 March 1928
Berlin-Mahlsdorf, Germany
Died30 April 2002(2002-04-30) (aged 74)
Berlin, Germany

Charlotte von Mahlsdorf (18 March 1928 – 30 April 2002) was born as Lothar Berfelde. She was a well-known Transwoman in East Germany and founded the Gründerzeit Museum in Berlin-Mahlsdorf. Later she became a LGBT-icon in Germany because of Rosa von Praunheim's biopic I Am My Own Woman (1992).[1]

When a local mansion was due for demolition, von Mahlsdorf was allowed to live there, and its contents became the basis for her collection of everyday household items from the Gründerzeit period (c. 1870s). The museum became a popular meeting-point for East Berlin’s gay community, to the disapproval of the East German regime (Stasi).

Early years

[edit]

Von Mahlsdorf was born to parents Max Berfelde and Gretchen Gaupp in Berlin-Mahlsdorf, Germany. At a very young age she began to play with gender roles and expressed more interest in the clothing and articles for girls. She helped a second-hand goods dealer clear out the apartments of deported Jews and sometimes kept items.[2]

Career

[edit]

Von Mahlsdorf's collection evolved into the Gründerzeit Museum. She had become engaged in the preservation of the von Mahlsdorf estate, which was threatened with demolition, and was awarded the manor house rent-free. In 1960, Von Mahlsdorf opened the museum of everyday articles from the Gründerzeit (the time of the founding of the German Empire) in the only partially-reconstructed Mahlsdorf manor house. The museum became well known in cinematic, artistic and gay circles. From 1970 on, the East Berlin homosexual scene often had meetings and celebrations in the museum.[citation needed]

In 1974 the East German authorities announced that they wanted to bring the museum and its exhibits under state control. In protest, von Mahlsdorf began giving away the exhibits to visitors. Thanks to the committed involvement of the actress Annekathrin Bürger and the attorney Friedrich Karl Kaul [de]—and possibly also thanks to her enlistment as an inoffizieller Mitarbeiter (an unofficial collaborator) for Stasi, the secret East German police—the authorities' attempt was stopped in 1976 and she was able to keep the museum.[citation needed]

In 1991, neo-Nazis attacked one of her celebrations in the museum. Several participants were hurt. At this time, von Mahlsdorf announced she was considering leaving Germany.[citation needed]

In 1992, she received the Bundesverdienstkreuz, 'Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.'[citation needed]

Her decision to leave Germany meant that she guided her last visitor through the museum in 1995, and in 1997 she moved to Porla Brunn, an old spa near Hasselfors, Sweden, where she opened (with moderate success) a new museum dedicated to the turn of the 19th century. The city of Berlin bought the Gründerzeit Museum, and by 1997 it had been opened again by the "Förderverein Gutshaus Mahlsdorf e. V.".[citation needed]

Her life could be described as that of an outsider who survived, no matter the ruling ideology, during the Nazi period, Communist-controlled East Germany, or, once the wall fell, modern Germany, as described in the article "The Sexual and Political Chameleon of Berlin: The Ambiguities of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf's Life in I Am My Own Wife.”[3]

Von Mahlsdorf died from heart failure during a visit to Berlin on 30 April 2002.[citation needed]

Legacy

[edit]
Charlotte von Mahlsdorf Autogramm

People still honour her memory, be it for her work as the founder of the Gründerzeit Museum, or for her public role as a transgender woman and her foregrounding of the persecution of homosexuals in both the Third Reich and East Germany. The appeal for a memorial to von Mahlsdorf, organized by the "Förderverein Gutshaus Mahlsdorf e. V." and the "Interessengemeinschaft Historische Friedhöfe Berlin" (Alliance of Historical Cemeteries in Berlin) was therefore a success.[citation needed]

The intention of the organizers was to erect a memorial with the inscription "Ich bin meine eigene Frau (I am my own woman) – Charlotte von Mahlsdorf – 18. März 1928 – 30. April 2002" on the first anniversary of Charlotte's death. Although Charlotte von Mahlsdorf had been known almost exclusively by her "stage name" in recent years, her relatives pushed through the inscription "Lothar Berfelde, 1928 – 2002, genannt Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. Dem Museumsgründer zur Erinnerung" (Lothar Berfelde, 1928 – 2002, known as Charlotte von Mahlsdorf. In memory of the [male] founder of the museum).[4]

Documentary film

[edit]

In 1992, German filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim made a film about von Mahlsdorf called I Am My Own Woman (Original title: Ich bin meine eigene Frau) with von Mahlsdorf appearing in the film.[citation needed]

Film

[edit]

Theatre plays

[edit]

American playwright Doug Wright wrote the character play, I Am My Own Wife based on von Mahlsdorf's life from his own research of her biography. Since its initial run on- and off-Broadway the play has garnered many major American theatre awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award, Drama League Award, the Lucille Lortel Award, and the Lambda Literary Award for Drama.

German author Peter Süß [de], co-author and publisher of von Mahlsdorf's book, has made another play called Ich bin meine eigene Frau. The play had its premiere in spring 2006 at the Schauspiel Leipzig.

Larry Moss and Josef Ludwig Pfitzer made an adaptation of the Doug Wright play called Ich mach ja doch, was ich will (I still do what I want), that was shown at Teamtheater in May 2012 in Munich, Germany.

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Mahlsdorf, Charlotte von (1992). Süß, Peter (ed.). Ich bin meine eigene Frau (in German) (1st ed.). Berlin: Edition Diá. ISBN 3-86034-109-X.
  • Mahlsdorf, Charlotte von (1997). Ab durch die Mitte (in German) (1st ed.). Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag (DTV). ISBN 3-423-20041-3.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Ich bin meine eigene Frsu". cinema.de. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  2. ^ Eger, Henrik (12 July 2010). "Behind The Mask". The Jewish Daily Forward.
  3. ^ Eger, Henrik (5 August 2018). "The Sexual and Political Chameleon of Berlin: The Ambiguities of Charlotte von Mahlsdorf's Life in "I Am My Own Wife"". Drama Around the Globe. Archived from the original on 26 January 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  4. ^ Baer, Brian James (2016). "Translation, Transition, Transgender". TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly. 3 (3–4): 506–523. doi:10.1215/23289252-3545191.
  5. ^ https://www.umass.edu/defa/film/3538
[edit]

Media related to Charlotte von Mahlsdorf at Wikimedia Commons

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