Priestess of Morphine: The Lost Writings of Marie-Madeleine in the Time of Nazis

by Marie Madeleine, Eric A. Bye (Translator), Ronald K. Siegel (Editor)

Marie-Madeleine was a German Jew, lesbian poet and novelist whose eroticism and love for morphine was revealed in many of her shocking, sensational, and bestselling books of the early twentieth century. Born Gertrud Günther, and starting at age 15 she wrote over 46 books until 1932 when Nazis condemned her work as degenerate. In 1943 she entered a sanatorium for morphine addiction where she died a mysterious death while under the care of Nazis doctors.
Priestess of The Lost Writings of Marie-Madeleine contains many of this fascinating woman's works, translated for the first time into English, and also contains Stephen J. Gertz's Foreword explaining why Marie-Madeleine has become a rediscovered heroine of lesbian and drug literature. Fascinating images from Marie-Madeleine's lost literature and career supplement this volume.
Editor Ronald K. Siegel is known for his classics in drug literature, including Life in Pursuit of Artificial Paradise and The Voices of Paranoia.

Genres: Poetry, Queer, LGBT, History, Biography, Short Stories, Nonfiction

360 pages, Paperback

First published December 15, 2015

About the author

Baroness Gertrud von Puttkamer (Gertrud Freifrau von Puttkamer in German; born Gertrud Günther, 4 April 1881 – 27 or 30 September 1944), also known by her nom de plume Marie-Madeleine, was a German writer of lesbian-themed erotic literature and homoerotic poetry. Her first book, Auf Kypros, sold over one million copies during her lifetime.

Gertrud Günther was born on 4 April 1881 in Eydtkuhnen, East Prussia in the Kingdom of Prussia to Jewish parents. Her father was Karl Günther, a merchant, and her mother was Emmy Siemssen, a housewife. She grew up within Eydtkuhnen's middle class Jewish community. In 1900, at the age of nineteen, she married Baron Heinrich Georg Ludwig von Puttkamer, a member of the Pomeranian nobility who was 35 years her senior. Upon her marriage, Baroness von Puttkamer moved into a villa with her husband in Grunewald, Germany and frequently traveled to Vienna, Paris, Nice, and Monte Carlo where she socialized with Hollywood actors, European royalty and nobility, artists, and writers and began using morphine recreationally. Her husband's death in 1914 led to her morphine addiction.

In 1900, von Puttkamer published her first book of poetry under the pen-name Marie-Madeleine, titled Auf Kypros, which was a collection of lesbian-themed erotic verses. Auf Kypros became a best-seller throughout the German Empire, particularly in high society circles. Auf Kypros went on to sell over one million copies and was printed in 52 different editions. At the time, her work was seen as contrary to societal standards on morality and was even considered pornographic.
Throughout the next fourteen years, von Puttkamer published 28 more books, including poetry, short stories, plays and novels. By 1910, her writings were not only centered on lesbian erotic love but also on the use of morphine. By the end of her life, von Puttkamer had written over 46 works.

During the Third Reich, von Puttkamer's identity was discovered by the Nazis. In 1932, her writings were condemned as degenerate and ordered to be burned. In 1943, she was committed to a sanatorium in Katzenelnbogen under the pretense of treating her morphine addiction. She died on 27 or 30 September 1944 while under the care of Nazi doctors.

Reviews

[Peyton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marie-Madeleine's poetry is incredible. She covers some of the best and most classic poetry topics: travel, nostalgia, eroticism (directed at both men and women) and existential dread. It's easy to understand why she was a cult sensation - the 'German Sappho' - and it's heartbreaking to think of how much of her and others' work were destroyed by the Nazis. I'll be looking into reading more of her poetry. Kudos to the translator!

Unfortunately, the formatting and editor's notes in this book are distracting and poor quality and the editor goes off on a lot of tangents. Priestess of Morphine is worth the read if you focus on the poems and short stories and skim the rest.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Updated: 2018 - forgot to update and say received my book and absolutely love it.

Fasinating, addictive book about the history of opium and of Gertrud Günther, (Marie-Madeleine) teaming with beautiful colour pictures of MM's art work, prose and poetry.

I desperately wanted to read more than I managed, but due to the format available as an digital ARC, and awful migraine attacks from attempting to persist reading it on my iPad, I had to give up. However I intend to purchase a copy for myself to continue reading this stunning piece of work.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 5.0 of 5

Whoa ... where did this come from?! 'Discovering' a book like this is one of the joys of reading to review. Marie Madeleine was not likely to be on my radar, but I found her work to be significant.
Baroness Gertrud Freifrau von Puttkamer (born Gertrud Günther) was a German writer of lesbian-themed erotica. She published under the name 'Marie Madeleine'. It is interesting that so few of us know anything about her today given that her first book, Auf Kypros (On Cyprus), sold over a million copies in her lifetime. She published nearly thirty books of plays, short stories, poetry, and novels.

Those who know me or have read my reviews for awhile now probably know that I do not care for poetry. Only one book of poetry has ever appealed to me (Galway Kinnell's The Book of Nightmares) ... until now. Many of the poems here had a great deal of power and imagery. I particularly liked "Hate"

(...
Sex-hate! -- an odd vibration of
nerves, Remembrance from ancient times,
When lust and cruelty were In tender embrace
entwined.
...
I've loved your love always
But your hate is hotter in my heart.")
and the incredibly brief "After!" (so short I can't quote a portion of it). And "The Hangman" ... wow, so powerful.

The stories are equally impressive. The erotica might make a modern reader blush. But Marie Madeleine's love isn't just for human flesh (which was mostly lesbian Eros), but for morphine as well. She was quite addicted, which apparently was not uncommon in the 1910's-1920's Europe. There is a wonderful historical note by Ronald K. Siegel titled "Morphine - The Origins."

A warning to the reader who might be anxious to dig into Marie Madeleine's work ... there are nearly 60 pages of introductions and notes before we get to sample the forbidden fruits of Madeleine's work. But don't be put off by this ... the notes are helpful and fascinating in their own right.

The book is liberally illustrated with a variety of artwork from the period, often noting how the themes and subjects of Marie Madeleine's work were similarly found in other works of art from the period.

My only complaint is that we don't have all of the Baronesses works here. In some cases we have only reviews of some of the books.

So... if Marie Madeleine was so well-known to have sold a million copies of her work, back when a million was extremely uncommon, why is it we don't know of her today? The answer is simple... Nazi Germany.

Marie was born to Jewish parents. She wrote lesbian erotica. She was addicted to morphine. The Nazi's denounced her work as depraved and burned all the copies of her books that they could gather. It didn't take too long for them to discover her true identity - that of Baroness Günther - and have her arrested ... though officially the Nazi doctors were treating her for her morphine addiction. She died while under their care.

Editor Ronald K. Siegel clearly has a bit of a love affair with his subject (the woman and her work) and I think rightfully so. This work needs to be kept alive and studied by a new generation.

I wasn't sure how much I would like this book, especially once I saw how much poetry was here, but, to quote Marie-Madeleine:

I love you not. And yet, ah me! —
Shall I surrender to your plea
So fiercely urged!
(from the poem "Bohême")
Looking for a good book? Priestess of Morphine by Marie-Madeleine and edited by Ronald K. Siegel has historical and literary significance and deserves to find a modern audience.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully produced, richly illustrated oversized book of poetry and prose that ranges from the excellent to the deeply purple. The fiction selections are interesting, but not sure what the point of including two multi-page summaries of novels instead of the texts themselves was.

[Katie Perttunen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marie-Madeleine was radical. Her poetry, erotic and lesbian in the time and place of Nazi Germany put her at great risk, and her writings were burned. She passed away in a Nazi sanitorium. I highly recommend this book if you are interested in poetry, World War 2, or queer writers- or all of the above.

Beautifully translated and illustrated into English- don't let her work be lost to the depravity of the Nazi regime!