Born Catharina Margaretha Linck in 1687 in Gehofen, Thuringia, Linck decided at the age of 15 to break out of an alienated life in an orphanage and adopt a new identity: Anastasius Lagrantinus Rosenstengel.
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Alias Anastasius
Alias Anastasius
Alias Anastasius
Alias Anastasius
Alias Anastasius
Alias Anastasius
Alias Anastasius
From then on, Catharina lived a life as a man, was drafted into the military, was soon considered a womanizer thanks to a "leather instrument", deserted, was sentenced to death, managed to escape, married the young Catharina Mühlhahn and finally ended up in court again for this and was sentenced to death.
Anastasius was the last person read as a woman to be executed for fornication with another woman in Europe in 1721. The author:ing duo Matter*Verse has written a new play about this dazzling historical figure for director Fritzi Wartenberg.
In her second production, Fritzi Wartenberg continues her theatrical research on feminism and genderqueerness.
A new play by the author duo Matter*Verse about a dazzling historical figure and genderqueer historiography.
(Program in German)
Additional information
Catharina Margaretha Linck, alias Anastasius Lagrantinus Rosenstengel, was the last person recognized as a woman to be executed in Europe for fornication with another woman. Born in 1687, Linck lived between genders under constant suspicion and observation, spending time as a man in the army, later even getting married, but ultimately being executed as a woman for sodomy. The life story of Catharina Linck, which resembles a picaresque novel, was recounted by author Angela Steidele in two literary-historical books, which form the starting point for the writing of Matter*Verse. At the invitation of director Fritzi Wartenberg, who had been wanting to adapt the life of Anastasius Lagrantinus Rosenstengel for the theater for some time, the author duo has now written the theater text Alias Anastasius for Wartenberg's second production as part of the WORX program for promoting young talent.The text approaches the historical figure in a light, playful tone, bringing opponents and companions to life in flashes of light, yet also giving space to the hardship and loneliness that Anastasius Lagrantinus Rosenstengel must have felt—in a constant whirl between genders, driven by hunger and fear. By Clara Topic-Matutin
Participating artists
Von Matter*Verse (Autor/in)
Max Gindorff
Via Jikeli
Fritzi Wartenberg
Rosa Wallbrecher
Fabian Kuss
Leonard Nickel
Clara Topic-Matutin
