Bertha Pappenheim , born with Vienna (Austria) the February 27th 1856 and died with Neu-Isenburg the May 28th 1936, is regarded as the founder of social work in Germany. Also known like militant Feminist, it founded the League of the Jewish women and fought actively against the Prostitution.

Anna O. is the pseudonym by which it is known in the account of its Psychanalyse by Sigmund Freud and Joseph Breuer. This report has the appearance of a reference, in particular like revealing of the benefits of the oral expression, although Bertha Pappenheim itself scorned it and found ineffective to look after its evils.

Biography

Bertha went to the Catholic school, no externat judaïque not existing with Vienna at that time. In spite of the orthodoxy of her father, it had a liberal education. According to Breuer, it was “completely not nun”, had a powerful intellect with great poetic and imaginative gifts. She spoke English, French and Italian, as well as Hebrew and the Yiddish.

Whereas Breuer said that it carried out a monotonous existence as “a higher young woman”, this is in contradiction with the image of an young woman full with life in behavior of horsemanship. Like the women of its medium, it rode a horse, embroidered, played piano (until late in its life) and went to the theater. She appreciated Shakespeare particularly.

After its exit of the sanatorium Bellevue Hospital, it remained during a few months among members of its family in Germany and followed courses of nurse to Karlsruhe. Of return to Vienna in 1883, it relapsed and made three long stays with the Inzerdorf sanatorium. In 1888, it was restored and moved with her mother with Francfort-sur-le-Main, where its career in the social domain started.

It founded a Orphelinat for Jewish young girls with Francfort-sur-le-Main and directed it during twelve years. After the death of his/her mother in 1905, it lived with the orphanage. In 1904, it founded the Ligue of the Jewish women, then in 1907 an institution of teaching affiliated to this organization. It directed an international campaign against the Prostitution, described like a “white slavery” or Traite white, implying Jewish young women of Eastern Europe and the Middle East. She traversed Eastern Europe and the Middle-East, while undergoing hard and sometimes dangerous tests when it was a question of inspecting the brothels. She also made visits in Palestine, London, Paris and New York to draw the attention to her countryside.

Its work, although not stripped of controversies, was regarded as a signal for others. Its devotion was legendary and she is regarded as the founder of social work in Germany.

She wrote much: fairy tales, Jewish prayers and a play describing of the female characters exploited by men. It held a broad correspondence, whose majority were destroyed during the war, including exchanges with the philosopher Martin Buber.

Without any doubt, Bertha was charismatic and full with life, released of psychological problems. She lived alone and Maria never. She had a good sense of humor, liked the good expensive one and had a pretty collection of glasses, porcelains and tapestries.

Bertha went back to Vienna in 1935, where she died of a cancer on May 28th 1936, oppressed by the presentiment of the tragedy which she had predicted for the European Jews. Its tomb is located at the old man Jewish cemetery of Frankfurt (Rat-Beil-Strasse). Its death was commemorated by an special edition of 40 pages of the newspaper which it had founded.

In 1954, Bertha Pappenheim was honoured like a pionnière with social work with the emission with a stamp by the Federal Republic of Germany.

What Bertha Pappenheim thought in connection with “Anna O.” is not known, because it would have destroyed all the documents having milked with its childhood or its disease lasting its youth. Edinger, its biographer gilded, revealed that then she did not discuss her disease with her close relations, she was always severely critical in connection with the psychoanalysis.

Certain indications on its attitude were glanées by one of its doctors to the Bellevue Sanatorium, which foot-note its “judgments scorning against the inefficiency of science taking into consideration its suffering”. In the following years, she exclaimed: “As a long time as I will live, never the psychoanalysis will not penetrate my establishments. ”

Family background

The paternal grandfather of Bertha Pappenheim, Wolf Pappenheim, a descendant of Rabbi Nathan, came from the town of Pappenheim in Bavaria; family name of it is derived. Later, he inherited the fortune of his wife (born Calman) and settled in the ghetto of Pressbourg. He had two wire, $kalman and Siegmund, the father of Bertha.

Siegmund Pressbourg is established in Vienna and became an opulent merchant of grains. Orthodoxe Jew practitioner, it contributed to the funds for the construction of the synagog of Schiffshul. After the death of his/her mother in 1879, it was indicated as tutor of the future woman of Freud, Martha Bernays, which had friendly bonds with Bertha.

Recha Goldschmidt, the mother of Bertha, was born in Francfort-sur-le-Main. His/her father, Benedikt Solomon Goldschmidt, a merchant of food products, Maria initially with Were bleated Braunschweig, and after his death with his sister Sprinze (Sabina). The family was influential and maintained the relations with many known Jewish families, such as Homberger, Warburg and Rothschild. Among its ancestors are Heinrich Heine and the diarist Glückel von Hameln.

The marriage of Pappenheim in 1848 was arranged according to the habits of the time. The family lived in the Jewish district of Leipoldstadt before settling in 1880 in Lichtensteinstrasse (near to the place where Freud lived). Recha Pappenheim never appreciated food in Vienna far from its family. It was claimed that this relation would have been unhappy and that Siegmund Pappenheim would have attended the brothels, but no proof supports these speculations.

Breuer described Recha Pappenheim like “very serious”; Jones, less respectfully, like “a species of dragon”. It lost two girls; Flora died three years before the birth of Bertha, and Henriette died of meningitis tubercular patient when Bertha was eight years old.

The brother of Bertha, Wilhelm, exerted the right to Vienna. One describes it like a “accomplished gentleman” having the most complete bookstore in Europe on the Socialisme. The brother and the sister were scrambled, Bertha affirming that it tyrannized it without mercy lasting his childhood.

Psychoanalyze

Anna O. is the first case of Hystérie exposed in 1895 in the Études on hysteria of Sigmund Freud and Joseph Breuer.

Freud did not follow it itself; it was of 1880 with 1882 a patient of Breuer. This one told its cure with his/her colleague and friendly Freud, which conceptualized then what would become the Psychanalyse. Anna O. qualifiat meetings of “brushing of chimney”. She invented the term talking cure .

Anna O. suffered from:

• nervous breakdown;
• epilepsy;
• Insomnia;
• Aphasia;
• lability of mood;
• Hydrophobia;
• partial blindness;
• Paralysis of the right-hand man;
• lapse of memory of its native tongue (German);
• hallucinations of snakes.

When Breuer hypnotized it, she acknowledged that one day, she had seen her “servant” giving water to the dog in glasses which in fact were intended for the evening meal. Thus, instead of him to express its feeling of dislike, it had interiorized this feeling, which it charged under hypnosis. When it awoke, Anna O. is not hydrophobic any more.

Commemoration

In 1954, the Federal republic of Germany produced a stamp with its effigy.

Texts

• Its texts on German wikisource

Note

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