Emmy Hennings

Emmy Hennings
Born	Emma Maria Cordsen (1885-01-17)17 January 1885 Flensburg, German Empire
Died	10 August 1948(1948-08-10) (aged 63) Sorengo, Switzerland
Nationality	German

Emmy Hennings (born Emma Maria Cordsen, 17 January 1885 – 10 August 1948) was a German poet and performing artist, and co-founder of the Dadaist Cabaret Voltaire with her second husband Hugo Ball.

Known as the "star of the show," Hennings has been the subject of numerous creative works, including a best-selling novel, a graphic novel, short films and various works of visual art. Family member Julian Schütt has commented on her eclipse and re-emergence as a central artistic figure of the early twentieth century: "Suddenly my great-grandmother is on YouTube – although for a long time she was only considered an ecstatic groupie"

Life and work

Hennings was born on 17 January 1885 in Flensburg, German Empire, describing herself later as "a seaman's child".

After her first marriage ended in 1906, Hennings became an itinerant performer, traveling over much of the European continent. She was a performer at the Cabaret Simplizissimus in Munich, when she met Ball in 1913. At the time, Hennings was already a published poet, whose works had appeared in the left-wing publications Pan and Die Aktion. In 1913 she also published a short poetry collection titled Ether Poems (Äthergedichte in German). Later, Hennings was a contributor to the magazine Revolution, founded by Ball and Hans Leybold.

Hennings and Ball moved to Zürich in 1915, where they took part in the founding of the Cabaret Voltaire, which marked the beginning of the Dada movement.

Before they launched the Cabaret Voltaire, the two struggled to make a living in Zürich during the early days of WW1. They toured, performing mostly in hotels around Switzerland. Hennings sang, did puppetry, and danced to music composed by Ball. She also recited her own poetry. In 1916 Ball and Hennings created Arabella, their own ensemble troupe, where Hennings performed under the name Dagny.

On 5 February 1916, Hennings and Hugo founded the Cabaret Voltaire at Spiegelgasse 1, 8001 Zürich. Hennings was a regular performer at the Cabaret Voltaire. Her performances included a role in the German premiere of Das Leben des Menschen (The Life of a Man) by playwright Leonid Andreev, in which she appeared with Ball. Hennings also performed in Krippenspiel, a piece written by Ball.

Hennings married Ball on 21 February 1920. They had no children together. However, Hennings had a daughter, Annemarie, from a previous relationship, who took fondly to Ball. Hennings, who outlived Ball by two decades, lived in Magliaso, Switzerland from 1942 to 1948. She died on 10 August 1948 at a clinic in Sorengo, Switzerland.

Dada star

In The Magic Bishop: Hugo Ball, Dada Poet, author Erdmute Wenzel White writes that Hennings “was admired by expressionists as the incarnation of the cabaret artist of her time ... The shining star of the Voltaire, according to the Züricher Post (Zürich Post), her role in Dada has not been adequately acknowledged.” (p. 11).

White also cites a poem by Johannes Becher, which he uses as evidence that Emmy served as a muse for other artists of the time:
"It was in Munich, at the Café Stefanie,
Where I recited for you, Emmy, poems
That I dared tell only you,"

Pop culture

The novel, "What was Beautiful and Good" tells the story of Emmy Hennings as she navigates the early days of World War 1. Driven to find purpose amidst the chaos, the novel transports readers to a turbulent era where art becomes a beacon of hope, defying the darkness of war and igniting a global artistic revolution named "Dada".

Sources

• Flight Out of Time: A Dada Diary, by Hugo Ball
• Emmy Ball-Hennings: Leben im Vielleicht by Bärbel Reetz. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 2001
• Emmy Ball-Hennings: Wege und Umwege zum Paradies: Biographie by René Gass. Zürich: Pendo, 1998
• The Magic Bishop: Hugo Ball, Dada Poet by Erdmute Wenzel White

External links

• Publications by and about Emmy Hennings in the catalogue Helveticat of the Swiss National Library
• "Literary estate of Emmy Hennings". HelveticArchives. Swiss National Library.
• Works by Emmy Hennings at Project Gutenberg
• Works by Emmy Hennings at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• The-artists-org short bio,links Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
• Dancer poem with translation
• Salisbury Theatre University short bio Archived 2005-11-01 at the Wayback Machine
• Links to some poems
• Facsimile of Hennings' poem collection, Die letzte Freude (in German)