Witzleben, Margarethe von

Initiator of the hearing impaired movement

Born: 22.03.1853 in Dresden

died: 01.02.1917 in Halle (Saale)

Witzleben was the daughter of the manor owner Hermann von Witzleben and his wife Anna, née von Nostitz und Jänkendorf, and grew up at her parents' castle Kitzscher near Borna (near Leipzig). At the age of twelve, Witzleben was diagnosed with incurable hearing loss. After a few years in Dresden, Witzleben moved with her family to Wiesbaden in the spring of 1879. Here, together with Princess Elisabeth von Schaumburg-Lippe, she took part in the founding of the Young Women's Association.

While caring for her deaf aunt in the hospice in Platter Straße, Witzleben wrote the pamphlet "Hephata. A word to the hard of hearing and deaf from a fellow sufferer". Witzleben took the term "Hephata" from the Bible story (Mark 7:34), according to which Jesus healed a man who was deaf and mute with the words "Hephata" ("Open up"). When her aunt died in 1885, she left her a fortune, which enabled Witzleben to engage in various charitable activities; among other things, she founded a widows' association.

In 1887, Witzleben went to Frankenhausen with her friend Elisabeth von Bistram to run a convalescent home for female workers in Berlin. In 1894, they both moved to Berlin, where von Bistram ran a home for girls; in the summer, Witzleben spent time in Wiesbaden.

After the death of her mother in 1899, Witzleben left Wiesbaden for good to live in Berlin. In 1901, she organized a special service for the hearing impaired in the Berlin City Mission Church - the birth of the "Hephata e.V." association for the hearing impaired. In 1914, six German associations and 20 congregations joined together to form the Hephata Association.

The Margarethe-von-Witzleben Medal, the highest award of the German Hearing Impaired Association (DSB), is named after Witzleben.