{{short description|1911 novel by Hanns Heinz Ewers}} {{Other uses}} {{Refimprove|date=August 2012}} {{Infobox book | image = Book cover "Alraune".jpg | alt = Book cover with a picture of a chameleon on it | caption = First edition cover | author = Hanns Heinz Ewers | pub_date = {{Start date and age|1911}} | genre = Science fantasy, horror, dark fantasy, Gothic }}
'''''Alraune''''' (German for {{Transliteration|de|Mandrake}}) is a novel by German novelist Hanns Heinz Ewers published in 1911. It is also the name of the female lead character.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18464748-alraune | title=Alraune }}</ref> The book originally featured illustrations by Ilna Ewers-Wunderwald.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lwcurrey.com/pages/books/147183/hanns-heinz-ewers/alraune-die-geschichte-eines-lebenden-wessens |title=ALRAUNE. DIE GESCHICHTE EINES LEBENDEN WESSENS | Hanns Heinz Ewers | Eleventh printing |accessdate=2014-08-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105153018/http://www.lwcurrey.com/pages/books/147183/hanns-heinz-ewers/alraune-die-geschichte-eines-lebenden-wessens |archivedate=2016-01-05 }}</ref>
==Legend== The basis of the story of Alraune dates to the Middle Ages in Germany. The humanoid-shaped mandrake root or ''Mandragora officinarum'' was widely believed to be produced by the semen of hanged men under the gallows. Alchemists claimed that hanged men ejaculated after their necks were broken and that the earth absorbed their final "strengths". In some versions, it is blood instead of semen.<ref name="Anthony John Myths & Mandrakes">{{cite journal |last1=Carter |first1=Anthony John |title=Myths and Mandrakes |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine |date=March 2003 |volume=96 |issue=3 |pages=144–147 |doi=10.1258/jrsm.96.3.144 |pmid=12612119 |pmc=539425 }}</ref> The root itself was used in love philtres and potions while its fruit was supposed to facilitate pregnancy. Witches who "made love" to the mandrake root were said to produce offspring that had no feelings of real love and had no soul.{{citationneeded|date=August 2022}} thumb|alt= Book page with an illustration of a topless person in a cave|Title page of 1929 U.S. edition.
==Synopsis== The novel deviates from the myth by concentrating on the issues of artificial insemination and individuality: genetics versus environment. A scientist, Professor Jakob ten Brinken, interested in the laws of heredity, impregnates a prostitute in a laboratory with the semen of a hanged murderer. The prostitute conceives a female child who has no concept of love, whom the professor adopts. The girl, Alraune, suffers from obsessive sexuality and perverse relationships throughout her life. She learns of her unnatural origins and she avenges herself against the professor.
==Adaptations== A number of films and other works are based on or inspired by the novel ''Alraune''.
* 1918: ''Alraune'', an 80-minute Hungarian movie which is now believed to be lost * 1918: ''Alraune, die Henkerstochter, genannt die rote Hanne'', an 88-minute German movie directed by Eugen Illés * 1928: ''Alraune'', also known as ''Unholy Love'', a 125-minute black and white, silent German film directed by Henrik (Heinrich) Galeen. It stars Brigitte Helm as Alraune and Paul Wegener as the scientist Professor Jakob ten Brinken.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120713130838/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6ae0f86d BFI]</ref> It uses the novel and is regarded by critics as the definitive version of Alraune.{{citationneeded|date=January 2024}} When this film was first shown in Britain, film censors removed the details of the woman's origins, thereby making the story and motivations confusing to British audiences. * 1930: ''Alraune'', also known as ''The Daughter of Evil'', a 103-minute black and white German film directed by Richard Oswald and again starring Brigitte Helm as Alma Raune (Alraune). This was a sound remake of the 1928 film.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120713204829/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6ae22167 BFI]</ref> * 1952: ''Alraune'', or ''Unnatural: The Fruit of Evil''<ref>Craig, Rob (21 September 2013). It Came From 1957: a Critical Guide to the Year's Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. Jefferson, North Carolina. pp. 50–52. ISBN 978-1-4766-1243-0. OCLC 858861234.</ref>, a black and white German feature film directed by Arthur Maria Rabenalt. This had an all-star German cast including Hildegard Knef as Alraune and Erich von Stroheim as the scientist.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20120715045421/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6ead6453 BFI]</ref> * 1998–2004: ''Alraune'', a series of black and white German comic books illustrated by Tony Greis.<ref>[https://lambiek.net/artists/g/greis_toni.htm Toni Greis (b. 30/8/1973, Germany)] lambiek.net</ref> The comic books deviate significantly from the novel. The main character is cursed and must live as if she is Alraune until she can find a way out from under the curse.
==See also== {{portal|Novels}} *Alruna *Artificial insemination *Gynoid *Homunculus *Nature versus nurture *List of films made in Weimar Germany
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:1911 German novels Category:1911 science fiction novels Category:1911 fantasy novels Category:1910s horror novels Category:1910s Gothic novels Category:1911 German-language novels Category:German science fiction novels Category:German fantasy novels Category:German horror novels Category:German Gothic novels Category:Science fantasy novels Category:Science fiction horror novels Category:Dark fantasy novels Category:Novels about legendary creatures Category:Monsters in popular culture Category:Science fiction characters Category:German legendary creatures Category:Fictional human hybrids Category:Mythological plants Category:German novels adapted into films Category:Science fiction novels adapted into films Category:Fantasy novels adapted into films Category:Horror novels adapted into films Category:Novels adapted into comics Category:Novels by Hanns Heinz Ewers {{Alraune}} {{Authority control}} {{1910s-gothic-novel-stub}}