Life and Work
The poet Gertrud Kolmar (1894-1943) lived in the house of her parents in Falkensee-Finkenkrug from 1923 to 1939. The mansion on the then Manteuffelstraße, today Feuerbachstraße, was surrounded by a large park-like garden. In the beauty and seclusion of the place almost her entire lyrical work was created. The flowers in the garden of the father and the beginning of the house landscape with pines, sandy paths and animals found their way into their world of poetry.
Until his arrest by the National Socialists in February 1943, Gertrud Kolmar wrote short stories, plays and numerous poems.
Her literary work could be saved with the help of the family. The estate is in the German Literature Archive in Marbach and is available for research purposes.
Remember Gertrud Kolmar
Thanks to an initiative of Dr. med. Maria Schaare and Prof. Kurt Magritz, both from Falkensee-Finkenkrug, was unveiled on September 9, 1979 a memorial plaque for Gertrud Kolmar, which has meanwhile been listed as a historical monument.
In 2007, the artist Gunter Demnig laid two stumbling blocks in the sidewalk in front of the former home. They are reminiscent of the last freely chosen place of residence of the Jewish family Chodziesner.
On 1 October 2011, a new breed of rose breeder Jan D. Janßen from the Vierländerrosenhof in Hamburg in the presence of Gertrud Kolmar's niece, Sabina Wenzel from Paraty (Brazil), was given the name "Gertrud-Kolmar-Rose". While the permanent exhibition in the Museum of the City of Falkensee shows traces of the life and work of Gertrud Kolmar, the Rose Garden with the Gertrud Kolmar Rose in the back room of the museum offers the opportunity to get to know the poet's attitude to life.
Hg. From Johanna Woltmann, Göttingen, Wallstein Verlag, 2014
Biography…
1894
Gertrud Käthe Chodziesner was born on 10 December 1894 in Berlin-Mitte as the eldest daughter of the lawyer Ludwig Codziesner and his wife Elise, nee Schönfließ.
1917
At the instigation of the father of the band Gertrud Kolmar - poems published by Egon Fleischl & Co. The pseudonym Kolmar derived them even from the German place name (Kolmar) for the Polish town of Chodziesen.
1923
Family moved to the colony of Neufinkenkrug, today's Feuerbachstraße.
1938
The compulsory sale of the villa in December 1938. This resulted in the move of Gertrud Kolmar and her father on 21 January 1939 in a so-called Jewish apartment to Berlin-Schöneberg.
1943
During the so-called factory action Gertrud Kolmar was arrested on February 27, 1943 with other Jewish forced laborers and taken to a transit camp.
On March 2, 1943, Gertrud Kolmar was deported to Auschwitz on the 32nd transport to the East. Your date of death is unknown.
Sources: Johanna Woltmann "Gertrud Kolmar - Life and Work", Göttingen Wallstein Verlag, 1995
"Gertrud Kolmar - Letters" ed. By Johanna Woltmann, Göttingen, Wallstein Verlag, 2014
"... Oh, sometimes I would like to put on my coat, put my hat on and walk away, far away. And I often think of it now, that once snow falls, I can go to Finkenkrug and, in the moonlight, as I used to do, plod around in the woods; but at the same time I already know that I will not carry out this plan ... "
Letter from Gertrud Kolmar to his sister Hilde Wenzel. Berlin, December 13, 1939
(Nachlass Kolmar, Deutsches Literaturarchiv Marbach).
Front left to right:
Gertrud Käthe Chodziesner
Was deported to Auschwitz in 1943 and murdered
Hilde Wenzel, geb. Chodziesner
Emigrated to Switzerland in 1938, where she died in 1972
Sabine Wenzel
Emigrated with her mother to Switzerland and now lives in South America
Ludwig Chodziesner
Was deported to Theresienstadt in 1942 and died there in 1943
Thea Chodziesner geb. Galliner
Emigrated to Chile in 1939 and died there in 1943 at the age of 39
Wolfgang (Ben) Chodziesner
Emigrated with his mother to Chile, later living in Australia and
died there in 2018
Rear from left to right:
Peter Wenzel
Emigrated to Brazil in 1953 and died there in 1961
Margot Chodziesner
Emigrated to Australia in 1939, where she died in 1942
Georg Chodziesner
Emigrated to England in 1939. He died in 1981 in Sidney