Partner Louise Pound
Queer Places:
Kaiserstraße 2, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
Dantestraße 18, 69115 Heidelberg, Germany
Anna (Ani) Koenigsberger Pfister (July 18, 1876 - 1960) had an intimate
relationship with Louise Pound;[3][4] letters were regularly exchanged for over half a century. Krohn notes
that "since the letters that Louise wrote to Ani aren't available, the essence
of their friendship remains a mystery",[5] but
observes that their correspondence was characteristic of intimate
relationships between women of the time, which were "of great emotional
strength and complexity... intimacy, love, and erotic passion", even if the
exact nature of their friendship, "ardent on Ani's part, almost an
infatuation", meant that "that passion was not always fulfilled".
Nevertheless, Ani was Pound's "closest companion" and "most intimate and
enduring friend".[6] They
began their relationship as classmates who both loved the game of tennis
leading to their intense and emotional companionship. Both Pound and
Königsberger shared similar interests such as athletics and the outdoors.[7] The
two would spend time together; Königsberger bringing Pound on hikes and climbs
while Pound teaching Königsberger "the net game" in tennis. Pound, focusing on
her professional life in teaching and scholarship, did not continue her
intimate relationship with Königsberger, who later married a physician, Max
Phister, who practised at Hong Kong before the First World War and later
at Beidaihe on the coast in North China. Although both German, the couple were
strongly anti-Nazi.[7][8]
Anna Koenigsberger was born in Dresden, Sachsen, Germany, on July 18, 1876, the daughter of Prof. Dr. Leo Koenigsberger,
mathematician and historian of science, and Sophie Koenigsberger. Leo Koenigsberger also used the name "Ani"
for his daughter in his memoir "Mein Leben." In the
Spring 1877 the family moved to Vienna. The Koenigsberger family lived in
Universitätsstraße, just around the corner at the Votive Church, which was
still under construction at the time. In April 1884 they moved to Heidelberg
and lived at Leopoldstr. 12 (now Ebert-Anlage 14) until 1889. Then they moved
into their own villa, built by Henkenhaf and Ebert, in Kaiserstr. 2a. In July
1911, Leo Koenigsberger sold his villa to his neighbour Emanuel Leser and
bought half of the double villa built by Henkenhaf and Ebert at
Kronprinzenstr. 18 (now Datenstr. 18). Both villas are still standing.
On December 12, 1919, Ani Königsberger married
Dr. med. Maximilian (Max) Pfister. The couple initially lived in Leo
Koenigsberger's villa but in 1921 they moved to Shanghai, where Max Pfister is
Professor of Internal Medicine at the Medical School, and in the Spring 1923 to Beijing, where Pfister is Nervous doctor,
Abbot Head at Rockefeller Union College.
In 1938/39 her husband is murdered. She left China and moved to Switzerland
where she died c. 1960.
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