Dr. Eugenie Trützschler von Falkenstein
Bad Berka,
Thüringen
* 1950
We are all citizens of one world, we are all of one blood. To hate a man because he was born in another country, because he speaks a different language, or because he takes a different view on this subject or that, is great folly. (Jan Amos Komenský)
Themen
- Ausreise/Ausbürgerung
- Staatssicherheit
Sprache
- Englisch
- Russisch
- Tschechisch
- Spanisch
Biographical information
1950 Born in Prague
1967 Emigrates to West Germany
1969 State examination as nurse
1970 Birth of daughter Nikola
1972 Finishes school with an Abitur leaving certificate
1972–1979 University studies
1976 Birth of son Jan
1979–1992 School teacher in Bavaria, specialising in German as a foreign language
1992–2011 Civil servant in the State of Thuringia
Profile
My family belonged to what was known as the 'non-labouring intelligentsia' in Czechoslovakia. My grandparents and parents were not allowed to work in their respective fields and forced to work in 'production' instead. As a result, I was granted not even the slightest of opportunities by the state, which is why I had to leave. Following a one-week holiday as a regular tourist in Munich, my mother applied for political asylum for the two of us. I worked as a nanny initially, followed by my training as a qualified nurse. After completing that course, I went back to school and completed my Abitur, moving on to become a secondary school teacher. The question of national identity represented the main focus of both my graduating thesis in political science as well as my doctoral dissertation in history. Relationships between nations continued to draw my interest after 1989, and I was able to once again travel to Prague where I became involved in German-Czech reconciliation and rapprochement. After learning that both the Czechoslovakian and the East German state security forces had kept files on me, I decided to review and reconstruct this period scientifically, as well as in my novels. In the latter, I deal with the fates of people who otherwise often appear merely as nameless, impersonal historical data.
Languages: English, Russian, Czech
Bericht
„Man hat uns unsere Identität genommen“ — Eugenie Trützschler über ihre Emigration nach Deutschland, Radiointerview von Siija Schulthets auf: Radio Praha, am 4. Juni 2013.