Edda - Feminism, theology, and German studies

 Since my childhood days, Edda has been present in my grandmother's community. I was able to build a stronger connection with her last year when we spent a few hours driving to Germany together.

For this text, we talked about the lack of curiosity for the other person, about prejudices when a person speaks "differently". Overcoming xenophobia, protesting against the political right and being able to save the world environmentally are strongly held wishes of Edda.

In her childhood in Transylvanian Kronstadt, there was a feeling of loneliness, and she also remembers her family's large garden and long walks. Skiing, swimming and a mountain panorama also remind her of her hometown, which is much more beautiful today than it was under the dictatorial rule of Ceaușescu. It was always clear to the young woman that she wanted to leave Romania. "Everyone left back then," describes Edda. The socialist-communist line that was advocated in her school days created a climate full of fear for the children. What surprises me is that under Romanian communism, women counted as much as men as workers and in leadership positions.

Edda was enthusiastic about her six-year philological studies of German and Romanian, "you can feel that you are alive," she says.

Among Edda's favorite authors at this time were Rainer Maria Rilke, Hermann Hesse and Thomas Mann. As an adult woman, Edda became a convinced women's rights activist. We still need feminism today because there is still so much to be done, she says. We have been disadvantaged for thousands of years. Where was equality in her own marriage, Edda reflects: they had both studied and she earned more than her husband, yet she stayed at home with the children. She had worked as a secondary school teacher for two years, then stopped working as a mother for five years before completing her additional training by distance learning for three years while caring for her two small children. "Give me the wisdom from afterwards," she says, quoting a Romanian proverb.

Due to the early loss of her mother, Edda was always moved by questions of faith, which is probably why she studied for her A-levels in church, married a pastor and completed her training as a religious education teacher. Christian values such as forgiveness, daring to make new beginnings and acceptance always helped her in her marriage.

At the age of 75, Edda reflects on the first night in her own home, thinking of a blood-red moon, red Crimean champagne and her daughter playing the piano. Edda has taken countless trips with her partner, which she can relive; the Tharr desert in India with its incredible starry sky was particularly special for her. The woman is religiously moved by the beauty of the world; photos she has taken herself without correction hang in her home. She also taught her husband how to observe nature.

Finally, Edda gives us the following advice on behalf of her son, who works as an artist: I don't have to find art beautiful or understand it, art can shake us up and send us on a journey, it is no guarantee of well-being, but it can be very interesting.