Alexandra von Dyhrn
Encyclopedia
Dr. Alexandra Maria Catharina von Dyhrn (8 September 1873 – 9 April 1945), was a German
genealogist, author
and the first woman in the province of Silesia
to earn a doctorate
in History
.
and Baroness of Schoenau at her family’s estate Reesewitz
(district Oels, now Oleśnica
) in the province of Silesia. Her family (lutheranian) was one of the most prominent aristocratic families of Prussia dating back to 13th century.
The estate of Reesewitz, which has been in possession of the Dyhrn family since the 17th century, was enormous, but ruled from a quite small mansion in the middle of the property, where the family lived. Alexandra’s father, Count Conrad Johannes von Dyhrn, was a lieutenant colonel
and a hereditary member of the Prussian House of Lords
. He was a friend and a distant relative of Gustav Freytag
, who often visited the family in Reesewitz.
In 1872 Heinrich married Alexandra’s mother, a Dutch Baroness Cornelia Tilanus van der Hoop, who was a member of the famous and exceedingly wealthy Hoop (Hope) family
, originally from Scotland
. The marriage of Alexandra’s parents was therefore very beneficial in particular for the Dyhrn family.
Alexandra inherited a strong love for history and homeland from her father, and the love for arts from her mother, whose family in Netherlands
had an outstanding art collection, including works of Rembrandt, Rubens
, Vermeer, Steen
and Ruisdael.
She had two younger sisters Countesses Freda and Edith von Dyhrn, who were both born with physical disabilities and they never married.
Alexandra was a 2nd cousin of the poet Valeska von Bethusy-Huc and a grand-niece of the notorious prussian politician Conrad Adolf von Dyhrn (1803–1869).
Alexandra was determined to study at a university. In 1896 her father unexpectedly died of a heart attack, being only 52 years old. Because of such a shock her mother was in deepest depression and had serious psychological problems. Alexandra had to take care of her, as both her sisters were unable to do that, and postpone her plans for future.
Two years later (1898) Alexandra and her mother, incapable to manage and maintain such a property, sold the old family estate Reesewitz to the Prussian industrialist and family friend Count Franz Hubert von Tiele-Winckler from Moschen. Alexandra, together with her sisters and her mother Cornelia, temporary moved to Berlin
to stay at the apartement of her Aunt Princess Josephine of Vasilchikov (née Countess Dyhrn), who was a widow.
In 1899 Cornelia Countess Dyhrn bought a smaller estate in Badewitz
(district Leobschütz, now Głubczyce) in Upper Silesia
at the Silesian border with Czech Republic
, where she and her two younger daughters moved to, Alexandra on the other side bought a pleasant apartement in Breslau and began in 1900 with her studies at the Schlesische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland). Her professors war Jacob Freudenthal
, Jacob Caro
and Felix Dahn
.
After eight years she received her PhD
as a historian
and was therefore the first woman in Silesia with a doctorate from this subject. At that time she met Dr. Clara Immerwahr
-Haber, later a good friend of her, who was the first woman with a doctorate in Chemistry
in Silesia. She encouraged Alexandra for female emancipating ideas and feminism
. Her husband was dr. Fritz Haber
, who got the Nobel Prize
for Chemistry in 1918. Alexandra joined the German Association for Women’s education and University studies and was a strong defender of female rights. In 1906 she also became a member of the Johanitter-Sisterhood, voluntarily working as a nurse in Breslau. Her two sisters joined the sisterhood as well.
She worked at the University of Breslau as an assistant Professor, she was giving historical lectures in several German archives and devoted herself to genealogical researches.
In 1924 her mother Cornelia died at her Castle Badewitz; Alexandra, with no desire of living in a castle, sold the property in 1925 to the Countess Hedwig von Luettichau. The two sisters Freda and Edith moved to Alexandra’s apartement in Breslau. In the following years Alexandra dedicated herself to writing and publishing her historic genealogical works, she had many clients, but the family fortune was slipping through her fingers very fast as she –an unmarried feministic aristocrat– had to take care of her two disabled sisters and wanted to preserve a lifestyle the three of them were used to have.
Before the 2nd World War Countess Alexandra was the most prestigious and respected genealogist in Breslau, but the reputation she gained through her competence and work, did not help her a lot with her financial troubles. She and her sisters struggled through the rough time of the War in the “fortress” Breslau and in January 1945 when the civilian population of the city was told to leave, the sisters Dyhrn decided to stay (as many other Silesian patriots did) and therefore risked their lives.
In April 1945, the city was bombed by the Soviet army
and was mainly destroyed.
Alexandra Countess Dyhrn tragically died together with her sisters on 9 April 1945 when the bomb fell on their apartement at the central Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße, only a few weeks before the War ended.
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
genealogist, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and the first woman in the province of Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
to earn a doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in History
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
.
Family
Alexandra was born in 1873 as a Countess of DyhrnHouse of Dyhrn
The House of Dyhrn is a prominent German noble family originally from Saxony. The family was first mentioned in the 12th century and was settled in early age in Prussia and Silesia...
and Baroness of Schoenau at her family’s estate Reesewitz
Radzowice
Radzowice is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Dziadowa Kłoda, within Oleśnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland...
(district Oels, now Oleśnica
Olesnica
Oleśnica is a town in the Trzebnickie Hills in southwestern Poland with 36,951 inhabitants . It is situated in Lower Silesian Voivodeship...
) in the province of Silesia. Her family (lutheranian) was one of the most prominent aristocratic families of Prussia dating back to 13th century.
The estate of Reesewitz, which has been in possession of the Dyhrn family since the 17th century, was enormous, but ruled from a quite small mansion in the middle of the property, where the family lived. Alexandra’s father, Count Conrad Johannes von Dyhrn, was a lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel
Lieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and some air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
and a hereditary member of the Prussian House of Lords
Prussian House of Lords
The Prussian House of Lords was the first chamber of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1850-1918. The second chamber was the Prussian House of Representatives . The House of Lords was created on January 31, 1850 with the adoption of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Prussia...
. He was a friend and a distant relative of Gustav Freytag
Gustav Freytag
Gustav Freytag was a German novelist and playwright.-Life:Freytag was born in Kreuzburg in Silesia...
, who often visited the family in Reesewitz.
In 1872 Heinrich married Alexandra’s mother, a Dutch Baroness Cornelia Tilanus van der Hoop, who was a member of the famous and exceedingly wealthy Hoop (Hope) family
Hope & Co.
Hope & Co. is the name of a famous Dutch bank that spanned two and a half centuries. Though the founders were Scotsmen, the bank was located in Amsterdam, and at the close of the 18th century it had offices in London as well.-Early days:...
, originally from Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The marriage of Alexandra’s parents was therefore very beneficial in particular for the Dyhrn family.
Alexandra inherited a strong love for history and homeland from her father, and the love for arts from her mother, whose family in Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
had an outstanding art collection, including works of Rembrandt, Rubens
Rubens
Rubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens , the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens Rubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens (composer) Rubens is...
, Vermeer, Steen
Steen
The Dutch word Steen means "stone", and is used for "castle" or "fortress", as in the Gravensteen in Ghent, Belgium. It is also an alternative spelling of the Swedish and Danish word sten with the same meaning. Steen is a rather common Swedish surname....
and Ruisdael.
She had two younger sisters Countesses Freda and Edith von Dyhrn, who were both born with physical disabilities and they never married.
Alexandra was a 2nd cousin of the poet Valeska von Bethusy-Huc and a grand-niece of the notorious prussian politician Conrad Adolf von Dyhrn (1803–1869).
Life
After her primary education at home and at several evening schools in order to get the AbiturAbitur
Abitur is a designation used in Germany, Finland and Estonia for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling, see also for Germany Abitur after twelve years.The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife, often referred to as...
Alexandra was determined to study at a university. In 1896 her father unexpectedly died of a heart attack, being only 52 years old. Because of such a shock her mother was in deepest depression and had serious psychological problems. Alexandra had to take care of her, as both her sisters were unable to do that, and postpone her plans for future.
Two years later (1898) Alexandra and her mother, incapable to manage and maintain such a property, sold the old family estate Reesewitz to the Prussian industrialist and family friend Count Franz Hubert von Tiele-Winckler from Moschen. Alexandra, together with her sisters and her mother Cornelia, temporary moved to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
to stay at the apartement of her Aunt Princess Josephine of Vasilchikov (née Countess Dyhrn), who was a widow.
In 1899 Cornelia Countess Dyhrn bought a smaller estate in Badewitz
Bogdanowice
Bogdanowice is a village located in Poland, in Opole Voivodeship, in Głubczyce County .-Location:The village is situated about south of the centre of Głubczyce....
(district Leobschütz, now Głubczyce) in Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...
at the Silesian border with Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
, where she and her two younger daughters moved to, Alexandra on the other side bought a pleasant apartement in Breslau and began in 1900 with her studies at the Schlesische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität in Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland). Her professors war Jacob Freudenthal
Jacob Freudenthal
Jacob Freudenthal was a German philosopher.Freudenthal received his education at the universities of Breslau and Göttingen, and at the rabbinical seminary of Breslau...
, Jacob Caro
Jacob Caro
Jacob Caro was a Jewish German historian.Caro was born in Gnesen , Grand Duchy of Posen, the son of Joseph Chayyim Caro...
and Felix Dahn
Felix Dahn
Felix Ludwig Julius Dahn was a German lawyer, author and historian.-Biography:Julius Sophus Felix Dahn was born in Hamburg as the oldest son of Friedrich and Constanze Dahn who were notable actors at the city's theatre. The family had both German and French roots...
.
After eight years she received her PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
as a historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
and was therefore the first woman in Silesia with a doctorate from this subject. At that time she met Dr. Clara Immerwahr
Clara Immerwahr
Clara Immerwahr was a Jewish-German chemist and the wife of fellow chemist Fritz Haber.-Education:Immerwahr studied at the University of Breslau, attaining her degree and a Ph.D. in chemistry. She was the first woman Ph.D. at the University of Breslau.-Marriage and work:Immerwahr married Haber in...
-Haber, later a good friend of her, who was the first woman with a doctorate in Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
in Silesia. She encouraged Alexandra for female emancipating ideas and feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
. Her husband was dr. Fritz Haber
Fritz Haber
Fritz Haber was a German chemist, who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1918 for his development for synthesizing ammonia, important for fertilizers and explosives. Haber, along with Max Born, proposed the Born–Haber cycle as a method for evaluating the lattice energy of an ionic solid...
, who got the Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
for Chemistry in 1918. Alexandra joined the German Association for Women’s education and University studies and was a strong defender of female rights. In 1906 she also became a member of the Johanitter-Sisterhood, voluntarily working as a nurse in Breslau. Her two sisters joined the sisterhood as well.
She worked at the University of Breslau as an assistant Professor, she was giving historical lectures in several German archives and devoted herself to genealogical researches.
In 1924 her mother Cornelia died at her Castle Badewitz; Alexandra, with no desire of living in a castle, sold the property in 1925 to the Countess Hedwig von Luettichau. The two sisters Freda and Edith moved to Alexandra’s apartement in Breslau. In the following years Alexandra dedicated herself to writing and publishing her historic genealogical works, she had many clients, but the family fortune was slipping through her fingers very fast as she –an unmarried feministic aristocrat– had to take care of her two disabled sisters and wanted to preserve a lifestyle the three of them were used to have.
Before the 2nd World War Countess Alexandra was the most prestigious and respected genealogist in Breslau, but the reputation she gained through her competence and work, did not help her a lot with her financial troubles. She and her sisters struggled through the rough time of the War in the “fortress” Breslau and in January 1945 when the civilian population of the city was told to leave, the sisters Dyhrn decided to stay (as many other Silesian patriots did) and therefore risked their lives.
In April 1945, the city was bombed by the Soviet army
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
and was mainly destroyed.
Alexandra Countess Dyhrn tragically died together with her sisters on 9 April 1945 when the bomb fell on their apartement at the central Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße, only a few weeks before the War ended.
Work
As the member of the Association for History of Silesia Alexandra Dyhrn was frequently publishing her researches in the Schlesische Geschichtblätter.- Beitrage zur Dyhrn’schen Familiengeschichte. Breslau: SG, 1922
- Das Leben und Wir. (Roman) RadolfzellRadolfzellRadolfzell am Bodensee is a town in Germany at the western end of Lake Constance approximately 18 km northwest of Konstanz. It is the third largest town, after Constance and Singen, in the district of Konstanz, in Baden-Württemberg....
am Bodensee: Dreßler, 1935 - Der schlesische Adel im Laufe der Zeiten. Breslau: SG, 1940
- Stammtafel des Karl Eduard von HolteiKarl Eduard von HolteiKarl Eduard von Holtei was a German poet and actor.-Life and career:Karl Eduard von Holtei was born at Breslau, the son of an officer of Hussars...
. Breslau: SG, 1935
Sources, Literature
- J. Harasimowicz: Adel in Schlesien I. Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, München, 2009
- A. Lax: Archiv für Schlesische Kirchengeschichte. 1959
- Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels, GA, 1940
- A. Rüffler: Die Stadtbibliothek Breslau im Spiegel der Erinnerung. Sigmaringen, 1997
Ancestry
| Ancestry of Alexandra von Dyhrn | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great-great-grandparents | Count Johann Ernst von Dyhrn (1732–1793) ∞ 1759 Baroness Juliane Henriette von Dyhrn (1741–1792) |
Count Georg August von Nostitz (1753–1795) ∞ Baroness Jeanette von Reiswitz |
Prince Karl Joseph II. von Palm (1749–1814) ∞ Countess Marie Josepha von Toerring-Jettenbach (1746–1802) |
Baron Joseph von Gudenus (1755–1831) ∞ 1785 Countess Constantia Festetics de Tolna (1761–1815) |
Jan Tilanus (1744–1815) ∞ Gijsberta Neomagus (1754–1804) |
Jonkheer Cornelis de Vos ∞ Jeanette de Greef |
Baron Willem Gerrit van der Hoop (1729–1791) ∞ Baroness Anna Theodora van Randwijck (1739–1785) |
N van Armand ∞ NN |
| Great-grandparents | Count Ernst Conrad von Dyhrn (1769–1842) ∞ 1805 Countess Eleonore von Nostitz (1787–1853) |
Prince Karl Joseph III. von Palm (1773–1851) ∞ Baroness Caroline von Gudenus (1789–1815) |
Jonkheer Johann Lambert Tilanus (1784–1812) ∞ Maria de Vos (1780–1849) |
Baron Willem Gerrit van der Hoop (*1770) ∞ Theresia van Armand |
||||
| Grandparents | Count Heinrich Hermann von Dyhrn (1807–1852) ∞ 1831 Princess Josephine von Palm (1812–1870) |
Jonkheer Cornelis Tilanus (1807–1869) ∞ 1835 Baroness Willemina van der Hoop (1817–1877) |
||||||
| Parents | Count Konrad Johannes von Dyhrn (* 24. September 1843; † 18. June 1896) ∞ 1872 Baroness Kornelia Tilanus van der Hoop (* 7. August 1840; † 5. April 1924) |
|||||||
Alexandra von Dyhrn (* 8. September 1873; † 9. April 1945) |
||||||||