# Alraune > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Alraune > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Alraune.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alraune > Source revision: 1346228668 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{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](/source/Hanns_Heinz_Ewers) | pub_date = {{Start date and age|1911}} | genre = [Science fantasy](/source/Science_fantasy), [horror](/source/horror_fiction), [dark fantasy](/source/dark_fantasy), [Gothic](/source/Gothic_fiction) }} '''''Alraune''''' ([German](/source/German_language) for {{Transliteration|de|[Mandrake](/source/Mandrake)}}) is a novel by German novelist [Hanns Heinz Ewers](/source/Hanns_Heinz_Ewers) published in 1911. It is also the name of the female lead character.{{cite web | url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18464748-alraune | title=Alraune }} The book originally featured illustrations by Ilna Ewers-Wunderwald.{{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 }} ==Legend== The basis of the story of Alraune dates to the [Middle Ages](/source/Middle_Ages) in Germany. The [humanoid](/source/humanoid)-shaped [mandrake](/source/Mandrake_(mythology)) root or ''[Mandragora officinarum](/source/Mandragora_officinarum)'' was widely believed to be produced by the semen of [hanged](/source/hanged) men under the [gallows](/source/gallows). [Alchemists](/source/Alchemy) claimed that hanged men [ejaculated](/source/ejaculation) after their [neck](/source/neck)s were broken and that the earth absorbed their final "strengths". In some versions, it is blood instead of semen.{{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 }} The [root](/source/root) itself was used in love philtres and [potion](/source/potion)s while its fruit was supposed to facilitate pregnancy. [Witch](/source/Witch)es who "made love" to the mandrake root were said to produce [offspring](/source/offspring) that had no [feeling](/source/feeling)s of real love and had no [soul](/source/Soul_(spirit)).{{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](/source/artificial_insemination) and individuality: [genetics](/source/genetics) versus [environment](/source/Nature_versus_nurture). A scientist, Professor Jakob ten Brinken, interested in the laws of [heredity](/source/heredity), impregnates a prostitute in a [laboratory](/source/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 [relationship](/source/intimate_relationship)s 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](/source/Alraune_(1918_film))'', an 80-minute Hungarian movie which is now believed to be [lost](/source/lost_films) * 1918: ''[Alraune, die Henkerstochter, genannt die rote Hanne](/source/Alraune%2C_die_Henkerstochter%2C_genannt_die_rote_Hanne)'', an 88-minute German movie directed by [Eugen Illés](/source/Eugen_Ill%C3%A9s) * 1928: ''[Alraune](/source/Alraune_(1928_film))'', also known as ''Unholy Love'', a 125-minute black and white, silent German film directed by [Henrik (Heinrich) Galeen](/source/Henrik_Galeen). It stars [Brigitte Helm](/source/Brigitte_Helm) as Alraune and [Paul Wegener](/source/Paul_Wegener) as the scientist Professor Jakob ten Brinken.[https://web.archive.org/web/20120713130838/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6ae0f86d BFI] 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](/source/British_Board_of_Film_Classification) removed the details of the woman's origins, thereby making the story and motivations confusing to British audiences. * 1930: ''[Alraune](/source/Alraune_(1930_film))'', also known as ''The Daughter of Evil'', a 103-minute black and white German film directed by [Richard Oswald](/source/Richard_Oswald) and again starring Brigitte Helm as Alma Raune (Alraune). This was a sound remake of the 1928 film.[https://web.archive.org/web/20120713204829/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6ae22167 BFI] * 1952: ''[Alraune](/source/Alraune_(1952_film))'', or ''Unnatural: The Fruit of Evil''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., a black and white German feature film directed by [Arthur Maria Rabenalt](/source/Arthur_Maria_Rabenalt). This had an all-star German cast including [Hildegard Knef](/source/Hildegard_Knef) as Alraune and [Erich von Stroheim](/source/Erich_von_Stroheim) as the scientist.[https://web.archive.org/web/20120715045421/http://explore.bfi.org.uk/4ce2b6ead6453 BFI] * 1998–2004: ''Alraune'', a series of black and white German comic books illustrated by [Tony Greis](/source/Tony_Greis).[https://lambiek.net/artists/g/greis_toni.htm Toni Greis (b. 30/8/1973, Germany)] lambiek.net 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](/source/Alruna) *[Artificial insemination](/source/Artificial_insemination) *[Gynoid](/source/Gynoid) *[Homunculus](/source/Homunculus) *[Nature versus nurture](/source/Nature_versus_nurture) *[List of films made in Weimar Germany](/source/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}} --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alraune](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alraune) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alraune?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.