Ruth Margarete Roellig
Ruth Margarete Roellig (14 December 1878 – 31 July 1969) was a German writer.
Life
Roellig was born in Schwiebus. Her parents were Anna and Otto Roehlig. In 1887 her parents went to Berlin. After school in Berlin, Roellig began to write works. Her first book was Geflüster im Dunkel in 1913. Roellig became newspaper contributing editor in Berlin. Roellig wrote in 1920s several books over her travels to Finland, Bonn and Paris. In Berlin Roellig became famous as writer over lesbian themes. She wrote several articles in German lesbian magazine Frauenliebe. In 1928, Roellig published a city guide Berlins lesbische Frauen for lesbian people (with a prologue by Magnus Hirschfeld)[1] In 1930 a second edition was published. Roellig wrote in 1930 an article in sexual education book Das lasterhafte Weib.
After the Machtergreifung of Nazism the LGBT culture in Berlin was under pressure. Roellig who supported Nazism in 1930s wrote in 1937 her last book Soldaten, Tod und Tänzerin with antisemitic content. In 1943, her home in Berlin-Schöneberg was destroyed by an airstrike. Roellig traveled to her house in Silesia. After World War II Roellig left Silesia and went with her friend Erika to her sister Käthe. She wrote no book more after war. Roellig died on 31 July 1969 in Berlin-Schöneberg.
Works by Roellig
- Geflüster im Dunkel (1913)
- Liane (1919)
- Traumfahrt: Eine Geschichte aus Finnland (1920)
- Lutetia Parisorum (1920)
- Die fremde Frau (1920)
- Die heiligen Annunziaten (1925)
- Berlins lesbische Frauen (1928)
- Ich klage an! (1931)
- Die Kette im Schloss (1931)
- Der Andere (1935)
- Soldaten, Tod und Tänzerin (1937)
- Lesbierinnen und Transvestiten. In: Das lasterhafte Weib. published by Agnes Countess Esterhazy (1930)
Literature over Roellig
- Sarah Colvin: Roellig, Ruth Margarete. In: Who's who in gay and lesbian history: from antiquity to World War II. published by Robert Aldrich and Garry Wotherspoon. Routledge Verlag 2000. page 445
- Claudia Schoppmann: Die innigsten Sympathien für den Führer. Ruth Margarete Roellig