# Lally Horstmann

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**Lally Horstmann** (née **Léonie Lizzie Fanny Helene von Schwabach**; 17 March 1898 – 10 August 1954) was a German writer and salonnière. She had a privileged upbringing as member of the Berliner Jewish [bourgeoisie](/source/Bourgeoisie). During her childhood, her family was elevated to the [Prussian nobility](/source/Prussian_nobility) by [Wilhelm II](/source/Wilhelm_II). She married a German diplomat and art collector and became involved in literary and political [salons](/source/Salon_(gathering)). She authored two memoirs, *Kein Grund für Tränen* and *Unendlich viel ist uns geblieben*, which documented her life in [Nazi Germany](/source/Nazi_Germany) during [World War II](/source/World_War_II). Following her husband's death in a Soviet [Gulag](/source/Gulag) she fled to Brazil, where she died in 1954.

## Early life and family

Horstmann was born Léonie Lizzie Fanny Helene Schwabach on 17 March 1898 in [Berlin](/source/Berlin). She was the daughter of [Paul von Schwabach](/source/Paul_von_Schwabach), a banker and historian, and Eleanor Schröder, the daughter of a [Hamburg](/source/Hamburg) banker. She was the granddaughter of the banker and diplomat [Julius Leopold Schwabach](/source/Julius_Leopold_Schwabach) and a first cousin of the writer and publisher [Erik-Ernst Schwabach](/source/Erik-Ernst_Schwabach).[1] The Schwabach family was Jewish, but her father converted to Lutheranism.

Horstmann grew up in the cosmopolitan, cultivated milieu of the Jewish financial [bourgeoisie](/source/Bourgeoisie) in Berlin and on the Schwabach family's country estate in Kerzendorf, near [Ludwigsfelde](/source/Ludwigsfelde). In 1907, her father was raised to the hereditary [Prussian nobility](/source/Prussian_nobility) by Emperor [Wilhelm II](/source/Wilhelm_II), at which point the family surname took on the [nobiliary particle](/source/Nobiliary_particle) *von* (descending from).[2] Horstmann's father was a member of the [Kaiser Wilhelm Society](/source/Kaiser_Wilhelm_Society) and one of the hundred wealthiest people in the [Kingdom of Prussia](/source/Kingdom_of_Prussia). Her sister, [Vera](/source/Vera_von_der_Heydt), married [Baron Eduard von der Heydt](/source/Eduard_von_der_Heydt).[3]

## Adult life

Horstmann married the diplomat and art collector [Alfred Horstmann](/source/Alfred_Horstmann), who was of Jewish descent, in 1919.[4] The couple moved to [Oslo](/source/Oslo) in 1920, where her husband was stationed as a diplomat, and returned to Berlin the following year.[4] Back in Germany, they lived in a mansion in Berlin, where she managed the household.

Horstmann hosted literary, political, and cultural [salons](/source/Salon_(gathering)) at her country estate.[4] She authored a variety of historical and non-fiction works, including *Kein Grund für Tränen* and *Unendlich viel ist uns geblieben*, which documented life during the war.[5]

The British painter [John Augustus Edwin](/source/John_Augustus_Edwin) painted a portrait of Horstmann around 1922 or 1923. It was auctioned in London at [Sotheby's](/source/Sotheby's) in January 2007. She had previously been painted, in 1921, by the Norwegian artit [Edvard Munch](/source/Edvard_Munch). The [Berlin City Museum Foundation](/source/Berlin_City_Museum_Foundation) owns an expressionist portrait bust of Horstmann, created by the sculptor [Fritz Huf](/source/Fritz_Huf).

Her husband was considered a "half-Jew" under [Nazi Germany](/source/Nazi_Germany)'s [racial laws](/source/Racial_policy_of_Nazi_Germany), and survived [World War II](/source/World_War_II) under difficult circumstances. Following the fall of the Nazi regime, the Horstmanns faced persecution and harassment by the [Soviets](/source/Soviet_occupation_zone_in_Germany). Following her husband's death in a [Gulag](/source/Gulag) in 1947, Horstmann fled to Brazil. As a widow, she was involved with the British barrister [Anthony Marreco](/source/Anthony_Marreco), the former husband of [Lady Ursula Manners](/source/Lady_Ursula_Manners). She died in [São Paulo](/source/S%C3%A3o_Paulo) in 1954, leaving part of her fortune to Marreco.[4] Her gravesite was later destroyed due to construction on a road.

## References

1. Weimar historical-genealogical paperback of the entire Jedudean origin. Semigothaisches genealogical paperback of Ari(st)ocratic Jewish marriages. 1912 . IV. Department: Nobility . In: Genealogy . 1st year. Kyffhäuser-Verlag, Munich 1912, p. 514 (uni-duesseldorf.de)

1. A. Freiherr von Houwald: Brandenburg-Preußische Standeserhebungen und Gnadenakte für die Zeit 1873-1918. C. A. Starke, Görlitz 1939, S. 157.

1. Rudolf Martin: Yearbook of the assets and income of millionaires in the Kingdom of Prussia 1913. In: Complete series, published in several volumes. tape 1, Addendum, Berlin, Brandenburg Province, Rhine Province, Silesia, Westphalia. Rudolf Martin publishing house, Berlin 1913, p. 1–126 (d-nb.info).

1. ["Lali Horstmann - Munzinger Biographie"](https://www.munzinger.de/search/go/document.jsp?id=00000005500). *www.munzinger.de*. Retrieved 2024-04-07.

1. ["Katalog der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek"](https://portal.dnb.de/opac.htm?method=simpleSearch&query=11938552X) (in German). *portal.dnb.de*. Retrieved 2024-04-07.

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