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Erika Hesse
© Archiv Evangelische Stiftung Alsterdorf

Erika Hesse * 1919

Beim Andreasbrunnen 9 (Hamburg-Nord, Eppendorf)

HIER WOHNTE
ERIKA HESSE
JG. 1919
EINGEWIESEN 1930
ALSTERDORFER ANSTALTEN
´VERLEGT` 16.8.1943
´HEILANSTALT`
AM STEINHOF / WIEN
ERMORDET 7.1.1944

further stumbling stones in Beim Andreasbrunnen 9:
Heinz Becher, Gertrud Becher, Wilhelm Frank, Emmy Frank, Heinz Frank

Erica Gertrud Hesse, born on January 30, 1919, in Eilsen (now Bad Eilsen), admitted on July 8, 1930, to the former Alsterdorf Asylum (now Evangelische Stiftung Alsterdorf), transported on August 16, 1943, to Vienna to the "Wagner von Jauregg-Heil- und Pflegeanstalt der Stadt Wien” (also known as the "Am Steinhof” institution), where she died on January 7, 1944.

Beim Andreasbrunnen 9

Erica Gertrud Hesse (known as Erica) was born on January 30, 1919, in Eilsen (now Bad Eilsen) in what is now the district of Schaumburg in southwestern Lower Saxony, the daughter of merchant Adolf Hesse and his wife Gertrud Klara, née Vogt. Her twin sister was stillborn.

Adolf Hesse and Klara Maria Vogt were married on June 1, 1914, in Hanover. The couple settled in Hamburg in 1927.

In addition to Erica, the family had three other children: Heinz, born on April 12, 1915, Hans-Werner, born on January 7, 1927, and Ingeborg-Lilly, born on February 21, 1928. While Heinz Hesse was probably also born in Eilsen, Hans-Werner and Ingeborg-Lilly Hesse were born in the women's clinic on Bülowstraße in the then still independent city of Altona. The Hamburg address book lists the family as living at Beim Andreasbrunnen 9 in Eppendorf since 1928.

Erica's parents noticed developmental delays when she was one year old. She did not learn to walk until she was three. During an observation stay at Eppendorf Hospital from June 19 to July 8, 1930, she was still unable to speak at the age of eleven. It was suspected that Erica's developmental delay had been caused by excessive pressure from the twin's head on Erica's head during pregnancy.

On July 8, 1930, the medical examiner for the Hamburg welfare authority admitted the girl to the Alsterdorfer Anstalten (now the Evangelische Stiftung Alsterdorf) due to temporary "harmless states of agitation and idiocy.” ("Idiocy” is a term no longer used today for a severe form of intellectual disability).

At the Alsterdorfer Anstalten, the eleven-year-old girl had to be helped with dressing and undressing. She is said to have always said the same words: "Dining room, meat, Mommy.” When she did not want to follow instructions, she threw herself on the floor. Erica communicated with her fellow patients through movements. If she was not understood, she reacted with loud screams, presumably a desperate expression of her helplessness.

In 1933, Erica Hesse still needed help getting dressed. She was now described as "easygoing and unruly.” At times, she was said to enjoy helping out in small, albeit clumsy, ways. Toward the end of the year, she enjoyed attending play school.

In 1934, Erica Hesse's face was covered with pityriasis rosea. This is an itchy, sometimes painful superficial skin infection that was treated with sulfur salicylic ointment. She learned to eat and dress and undress on her own, but otherwise had to be completely cared for.

In 1935, the now sixteen-year-old was described as a "helpless child” who could speak single sentences and remember names. Her clinginess and need for love were emphasized.

As in previous years, she is said to have eaten well and often in 1937. The patient file states that when her mother visited, she was only interested in the bags she brought with her. As soon as these were empty, Erica was "completely apathetic again.”

From 1939 onwards, she suffered repeated seizures, which were initially treated unsuccessfully with Glyboral and later with the barbiturate Luminal, the effects of which are not recorded.

In 1943, it was reported that Erica had spoken incomprehensible words, with only the words "Mama is coming, Papa is coming” being understandable.

Erica Hesse's weight, which had been over 60 kg in 1937/1938, dropped to around 50 kg in 1941 and 45 kg in 1943. Her family later repeatedly mentioned that food was rationed and that Erica did not receive any food stamps. During her weekly visits, Erica's mother always brought food in a bread box, including meat, vegetables, and bread, which Erica devoured.
On August 16, 1943, the institution's doctor and SA member Gerhard Kreyenberg noted: "Transferred to Vienna due to severe damage to the institution. Signed Kreyenberg.”

The Alsterdorf Asylum also suffered bomb damage during the heavy air raids on Hamburg in late July/early August 1943 ("Operation Gomorrah”). The director of the asylum, SA member Pastor Friedrich Lensch, took advantage of the opportunity, with the approval of the health authorities, to get rid of some of the residents who were considered "unproductive, requiring intensive care, or particularly difficult” by transporting them to other sanatoriums and nursing homes. On August 16, 1943, one of these transports took 228 women and girls from Alsterdorf and 72 girls and women from the Langenhorn sanatorium and nursing home to the "Wagner von Jauregg Sanatorium and Nursing Home of the City of Vienna” (also known as the "Am Steinhof” institution) in Vienna. Among them was Erica Hesse.

Upon her admission in Vienna, Erica was restless and ran around. She did not speak and is said to have been completely disoriented. In a letter to her father dated September 25, 1943, however, it was stated that Erica had coped well with the transport and had settled in well to her new surroundings. Her physical and mental condition was said to be unchanged. What had changed, however, was her weight, which had dropped to 33.5 kg in November 1943 and to 32 kg in January 1944.

At the beginning of January 1944, the staff noted diarrhea. Erica Hesse is said to have visibly deteriorated and to have been unresponsive. She died on the morning of January 7, 1944.
The cause of death was noted in the autopsy report as acute enteritis, supplemented by marasmus (acute intestinal inflammation and severe malnutrition).

On January 22, her parents received a letter with the following content: "Pat. [ientin], who had been in this institution since August 17, 1943, fell ill on January 2, 1944, with a high fever and severe diarrhea. Due to her inherently weak constitution, her body deteriorated rapidly and she died of heart failure on January 7, 1944. She remained calm and without complaint until her final hours. The funeral took place on the 13th of this month. Dr. Podhajsky e.h."

On the Stolperstein commemorating Erica Hesse, her first name was engraved as "Erika” in accordance with the spelling in the asylum‘s documents. However, she was registered as "Erica” on her birth certificate.

Stand: February 2026
© Ingo Wille

Quellen: Adressbuch Hamburg 1927 und 1928; Evangelische Stiftung Alsterdorf Archiv, V 203 (Akte Erika Hesse); Michael Wunder, Ingrid Genkel, Harald Jenner, Auf dieser schiefen Ebene gibt es kein Halten mehr – Die Alsterdorfer Anstalten im Nationalsozialismus, Stuttgart 2016, S. 331-364.