Erica Pappritz

Erica Pappritz
Picture of Erica Pappritz
Born(1893-06-25)25 June 1893
Died4 February 1972(1972-02-04) (aged 78)
Bonn, West Germany
NationalityGerman
OccupationCivil servant
Years active1919–58
Notable workBuch der Etikette
Etiquette neu

Erica Pappritz (25 June 1893 – 4 February 1972) was a German diplomat and civil servant. She co-wrote two books on social etiquette, Buch der Etikette ("The Book of Etiquette") and Etikette neu ("New Etiquette").

Personal life

Pappritz's father was a Rittmeister in the German Army.[1] Her name was often incorrectly translated as "Freifrau von" ("Dame of"), in reference to German poet Marie Luise Kaschnitz.[2]

In 1972, she died in Bonn of heart failure.[3]

Career

In 1919, Pappritz joined the Federal Foreign Office, working in the foreign trade office.[1] She supervised the Diplomatic Corps during the Nuremberg Rallies.[1] In 1943, Pappritz became a civil servant. On her 50th birthday, she was given the salary of a first-grade Legation Council member.[1] In 1944, she was transferred to Karpacz, after her office was converted into an armaments factory.[3] After the Second World War, Pappritz was made to attend a denazification board meeting along with Vollrath von Maltzan. Both said that they had rejected Nazism. Pappritz had been a member of the Nazi Party.[4]

Pappritz settled in Eichenau, Bavaria, and in 1949, she was asked to take the Bavarian State Chancellery to Bonn.[3] In 1950, she agreed the etiquette during a disagreement between Cologne and Bonn over the seating arrangements at an event to celebrate 1900 years since the founding of Cologne.[5]

In 1956, Pappritz and Karlheinz Graudenz wrote the book Buch der Etikette (The Book of Etiquette).[6][7] At the time, she was working as the Legation Counsellor and Deputy Chief of Protocol to the Foreign Office in Bonn.[8] The book had a focus on increasing civility in post-Nazi Germany, focusing on politeness and a respect for human rights.[9] The book includes sections on correct odour and on how Bonn diplomats liked to carry umbrellas.[10] At the time, the book was criticised for promoting snobbery.[8] Stockholms-Tidningen journalist Christer Jäderlund [sv] said: "One does not know whether one should laugh or cry over this etiquette bible certified by the West German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1957."[11] Pappritz made some corrections to the original book, and the third edition was published in 1957.[12]

In 1967, Pappritz and Graudenz wrote another book, Etikette neu (New Etiquette).[13] The book became available at the German Bundestag in 2007.[10]

Pappritz retired from public office in 1958,[3] after which she occasionally lectured on tourism,[3][14] advertising,[15] and social etiquette.[16]

Books

  • Graudenz, Karlheinz, Pappritz, Erica, Buch der Etikette (1956)
  • Graudenz, Karlheinz, Pappritz, Erica, Etikette neu (1967) ISBN 3-517-00026-4

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Erica Pappritz: Die Tiefe des Gemüts". Der Spiegel (in German). 20 March 1957. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Die Rückkehr der Höflichkeit". Südwestrundfunk (in German). 2005.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Gestorben: Erica Pappritz". Der Spiegel (in German). 14 February 1972. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  4. ^ Messenger, David A.; Paehler, Katrin (April 2015). A Nazi Past: Recasting German Identity in Postwar Europe. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813160580. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  5. ^ "Etikette: Aber Herr Köhler". Der Spiegel (in German). 13 July 1950. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  6. ^ "Der SPIEGEL berichtete ...". Die Zeit (in German). 6 March 1957. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  7. ^ "Pappritz, Erica". ID Ref. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  8. ^ a b Müller-Jvlarein, Josef (7 March 1957). "Symptom Pappritz". Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  9. ^ Jarausch, Konrad H (13 June 2011). "German civility? Retying social bonds after barbarism". European Review of History: Revue Européenne d'Histoire. 18 (3): 373–386. doi:10.1080/13507486.2011.579728.
  10. ^ a b "Vom Ohr bis zur Fußsohle". Der Spiegel (in German). 8 January 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  11. ^ "Der SPIEGEL berichtete ..." Der Spiegel (in German). 6 March 1957. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  12. ^ "Zeitmosaik". Die Zeit (in German). 6 June 1957. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  13. ^ Wouters, Cas (September 2004). Sex and Manners: Female Emancipation in the West 1890–2000. SAGE Publishing. ISBN 9781412933872. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  14. ^ "Berufliches: Erica Pappritz". Der Spiegel (in German). 11 February 1959. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  15. ^ "Gesellschaftliches: Erica Pappritz". Der Spiegel (in German). 15 April 1959. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  16. ^ "Erica Pappritz". Der Spiegel (in German). 17 December 1958. Retrieved 2 January 2019.