CATHARINA MARGARETHA LINCK , EXECUTED FOR SODOMY IN HALBERSTADT IN 1721 : BUT EVEN WERE I TO BE DONE AWAY WITH ...

... THOSE WHO ARE LIKE ME WOULD REMAIN .

IN MY FIFTEENTH YEAR I TRAVELED FROM HALLE TO CALBE .

I BOUGHT MEN'S CLOTHING .

MANY WOMEN WERE DOING THIS .

AND I BECAME A PROPER MAN .

I FOUND FRIENDS ON STROHHOF NEAR HALLE .

IN THE NAME OF JEHOVAH ALMAJO ALMEJO !

I BAPTIZE You

ANASTASIUS LAGRANTINUS ROSENSTENGEL !

JEHOVAH ALMAJO ALMEJO !

JEHOVAH ALMAJO ALMEJO !

REPENT !

HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD !

HALLELUJAH !

TWO YEARS LATER , I SET OFF ALONE .

I ENLISTED AND FOUGHT FOR YEARS AS A SIMPLE MUSKETEER .

THERE WERE MANY TIMES I WOULD WALK FOR MILES IN PURSUIT OF A PRETTY WOMAN .

I WOULD SPEND ALL OF MY PAY .

THREE OF US DESERTED , BUT WERE CAUGHT AND SENTENCED TO DEATH . I REVEALED MYSELF AS A WOMAN AND WAS SET FREE .

I LIVED LIKE THIS FOR A WHILE .

WHEN I WAS TWENTY - NINE I WENT To HALBERSTADT

AND FELL IN LOVE .

WE WERE MARRIED IN ST . PAUL'S CHURCH .

MY MOTHER - IN - LAW DIDN'T LIKE ME .

PROVE THAT YOU'RE A MAN !

WE ROAMED THE COUNTRYSIDE , TOTALLY PENNILESS ,

IN MÜNSTER WE FOUND A PLACE TO LIVE .

BUT IT DIDN'T LAST .

MY WIFE WENT HOME TO HER MOTHER .

I FOUND SHELTER IN HELMSTEDT .

AND WANTED To GET MY WIFE BACK .

DEAREST ,

WHAT IS IT ? ARE YOU ILL ?

GET HIM !

AND SO MY MOTHER - IN - LAW TOOK ME TO COURT

BUT EVEN WERE I TO BE DONE AWAY WITH , THOSE LIKE ME WOULD REMAIN .

THIS WORK IS BASED ON THE BIOGRAPHY BY ANGELA STEIDELE , IN MÄNNERKLEIDERN . DAS VERWEGENE LEBEN DER CATHARINA MARGARETHA LINCK ALIAS ANASTASIUS LAGRANTINUS ROSENSTENGEL , HINGERICHTET 1721 ( COLOGNE : BÖHLAU , 2004 ) . IN ARCHIVES AND CHURCH REGISTRIES , STEIDELE DISCOVERED PREVIOUSLY UNDISCOVERED SOURCES , WHICH ALLOWED HER TO TELL THE BREATHTAKING STORY OF CATHARINA LINCK , WHO MOST LIKELY WAS THE LAST WOMAN IN EUROPE TO BE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR HAVING SEX WITH ANOTHER WOMAN . IT WAS CALLED " IMPECCABLY RESEARCHED , " AND " A VERITABLE PAGE - TURNER " IN THE MODERN LANGUAGE REVIEW . THE BOOK WAS AWARDED THE GLEIM PRIZE FOR LITERATURE . UNFORTUNATELY , IT HAS NOT YET BEEN TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH . WITH KIND PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR .

COPYRIGHT ELKE R. STEINER 2011 . TRANSLATION COPYRIGHT 2011 BY EDNA MCCOWN . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED .