Christen, Ada

POET, DRAMATIST, ACTOR (AUSTRIA)
BORN 6 Mar 1839, Wien - DIED 23 May 1901, Wien: Gut Einsamhof, Inzersdorf
BIRTH NAME Friederik, Christine Rosalia
GRAVE LOCATION Wien: Evangelischer Friedhof Matzleinsdorf, 10. Triesterstraße 1 (Gruppe 08, 14+15)

Daughter of a merchant. Her father was imprisoned after the revolution of 1848 and died soon afterwards. The family fortune was lost. She worked as a flower seller and a shoemaker and from her fifteenth year she appeared in German spoken plays in Hungary.

In 1864 she married land owner Siegmund von Neupauer, but he died in 1868 and she had lost their only child soon after its birth in 1866. She was poor again and worked in Vienna as an animation girl in night clubs. But she also wrote articles and poetry for magazines. Her "Lieder einer Verlorener" ("Songs of a Lost One", 1868) made her a name and Ferdinand von Saar supported her in her career. She wrote plays as well and used the pseudonym Ada Christen for her writings.

In 1873 she married cavalry captain and military author Adalmar von Breden and obtained financial security. It was a happy marriage and she was surrounded by literary people, among them Ludwig Anzengruber. Some of her work influenced the early naturalists.

Related persons
• knew Anzengruber, Ludwig
• was supported by Saar, Ferdinand von

Images

The grave of Ada Christen at the Evangelischer Friedhof Matzleinsdorf, Vienna.
Picture by Androom (24 Aug 2005)

 

Sources
Ada Christen - Kurzbiographie


Christen, Adolf

Published: 02 Jul 2006
Last update: 16 Jan 2022