Kurt Tucholsky Museum Tour

Mary Gerold was born in 1898 in Riga. She met Tucholsky in 1916 during the First World War in Alt-Autz. Tucholsky tried for month to win her favour. When Tucholsky was moved to Romania he continued to court Mary in letters. The distance didn’t dampen his passion – quite the contrary: the further he was away the deeper in love was Tucholsky. In his letters he described her as lover, companion and mother at the same time. After the war ended Tucholsky invited her to live with him in Berlin. Only a few weeks afterwards he noticed that “it seemed as if there was a ‘glasswall’ between us”. Tucholsky decided to marry his long-time friend Else Weil in 1920 instead.

However separation from Mary Gerold did not last long. A few short weeks after Tucholsky’s wedding the two came across each other again. Ever since they kept in contact and they started a long time love affair. Else Weil did not tolerate these amorous adventures for long, once she said:

“When I had to step over the ladies, to get into my bed, I filed for divorce.”

In 1924 Mary Gerold became Tucholsky’s second wife. But this marriage did not last for long either, in 1928 they separated as well. The marriage was only divorced in 1933, since Tucholsky feared for Mary’s safety in Nazi Germany. For a long time after they corresponded in letters on a regular basis, even when Tucholsky had relationships with other women.

In November 1935, shortly before his death, he wrote her a moving letter, where he declared his love for her one last time:

“Held a gold nugget in his hand and bended for change; did not understand and committed follies, did not betray, but cheated, and did not understand.”

Tucholsky blamed himself for the failed relationship and asserted that he only once truly loved. He appointed her is sole heir. After 1945 she assembled a Kurt Tucholsky Archive in Rottach-Egern in Bavaria and supervised it with great commitment as his literary executor. She collected his scattered works and published Tucholsky’s private letters besides those addressed to her. Only late in life she decided to publish those as well.