RTL Today – 150th Birthday of Irene Merrisch: “A Woman of Innovation”

On the cover of the book “Aline Mayrisch-De-Saint-Hubert 1874-1947” by Germaine Goetzinger, you see a woman with her hair tied up in a bun, a hat and a tunic coat, looking directly into the camera. This woman is Aline Mayrisch, a name familiar to many Luxembourgers, not least because of the Aline Mayrisch Lycée in Geesseknäppchen. However, as the book’s 504 pages show, there is much more to this extraordinary person.

“It is not enough to say that Irene Meilisch was an active woman,” Goesinger said, stressing the profound impact of her work. “She was a woman who pioneered new ideas, participated actively, took the initiative.” According to the author, Luxembourg women benefited greatly, especially in the field of education.

Give all women equal access to education

During Aline Mayrisch’s lifetime (1874-1947), girls from wealthy families would often attend “colleges of higher education” (Höhere Töchterschule) such as Sainte Sophie, but would not have the opportunity to go on to university. “For Aline Mayrisch, who herself wanted to study but could not, it was very important for girls to have the opportunity to go to university and thus to pursue a liberal arts career,” emphasizes author Germaine Goetzinger.

To meet this need, Aline Mayrisch used her resources and connections to establish a high school for girls in 1909. She was initially given three years to prove the need for such an institution, but she achieved this goal in just two years, leading to state takeover of the school, which is now the Robert Schumann Gymnasium.

Aline Mayrisch’s influence was not limited to education. She played a key role in creating career paths for women as “Infirmières visiteuses” (now known as social workers) and established a maternity hospital where women could give birth in the best conditions regardless of their marital status. Unfortunately, this maternity hospital no longer exists.

Arlene and her husband, Emil Meilisch, who later became Arbed’s managing director, were very active in charity work. At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Emil and his friends founded the Luxembourg Red Cross. “In their villa in Dudelange… the Red Cross offices are now located in the former Arbed Casino, where there was a war hospital for wounded German and French soldiers, which was a rarity at the time,” Goetzinger said.

Letters of thanks from people treated at the Dudelange hospital can still be found in the Mersch archives. Irene later served as president of the Luxembourg Red Cross, further cementing her legacy of service and charity.

Literature is a passion

Books were a passion of Aline Mayrisch. “She sought out contacts with writers and invited them over,” Goetzinger explains. These literary gatherings initially took place at Mayrisch’s home in Dudelange in Kräizbierg and later moved to her new residence at Colpach Castle.

Irene Meilisch dabbled in writing herself, though she never finished the two novels she started, and she also worked in translation, including translating the works of the German mystic Meister Eckhart from medieval High German into French.

Today, traces of the Meirisch family’s legacy can still be seen in various places. Their former home in Dudelange was converted into the Kräizbierg Foundation, which provides treatment and guidance for people with disabilities. After World War I, the Korpach Castle where the Meirisch family lived was donated to the Red Cross, but now stands empty.

Germaine Goetzinger’s book will be published in German in 2022, and the French version will be available in bookstores from the end of September.

Watch the full report in Luxembourgish.