Britta Zangen
born 20/09/1947 in Dusseldorf
… after four years of elementary school on to a grammar school for girls with the focus on “ women's subjects “ as supposedly most useful preparation for a woman's life.
At 16 - school leaving in the conviction that I would marry at 20, have half a dozen children and further education would be unnecessary. One year in London and one in Paris to
learn the languages. Training as a fashion designer because my family owned a textile factory and believed it to be a lovely occupation for a girl. I didn't care since I was going to marry soon
anyway. Five years of work as a fashion designer.
At 26 - resigned from the family business to look for new challenges. Preparation for an exam to be admitted to a German university without the necessary high school graduation
exam. Earned my livelihood as a lecturer for English at an adult education centre and was also financially supported by my future husband.
At 28 - studies in English and French at the University of Dusseldorf to become a teacher -- although I really wanted to study law -- because a teaching job would be nicely
compatible with the duties of a housewife and mother. After a year, was offered a job as undergraduate assistant in the department for Romance studies.
At 33 - First State Examination and marriage. Another year as a research assistant. I rejected the offer to do a doctorate not only because I hadn't warmed up to French
lexicology but also still because of potential children.
At 34 - student teacher; one of three “ chairmen by seniority ” and one of the very few of 200 that enjoyed the training from the first to the last day.
At 36 - Second State Examination; that was in 1984 and there were no jobs for teachers to be had; 18 months in all kinds of temporary jobs hoping in vain for a position as a
teacher.
At 38 - head of the Educational Training Centre in Dusseldorf and later of the International Library as well.
At 43 - turned my private life upside down: divorce, and for the first time in my life strongly influenced by feminist convictions.
At 44 - turned my professional life upside down as well: resigned the full-time job for the purpose of taking a Ph.D., started a part-time job in the secretariat and
bookkeeping department of a retail business instead. At long last I was able to free myself from the acquired notions of a ‘proper’ woman's life and to give way to my longing to test the limits
of my mental faculties; I had also finally found a topic I could engage with: feminism.
At 46 - looking for feminist activity, ended up being one of 22 women who founded a women's party (left the undertaking 10 years later).
At 48 - Ph.D. (thesis written in English: A Life of Her Own: Feminism in Vera Brittain's Theory, Fiction, and Biography); lecturer for English literature at Dusseldorf
University; immediate work on a 'Habilitation' at Bonn University (highest academic qualification in Germany necessary for full professorship; dissertation (written in English): 'Our
Daughters Must Be Wives': Marriageable Young Women in the Novels of Dickens, Eliot, and Hardy); premature ending of the procedure by my withdrawal because of insurmountable differences re
feminist theory.
At 56 - fulfilled my life's dream and took singing lessons.
At 58 - my first non-scientific book published: 50 plus und endlich allein (50 Plus and Alone at Last); extensive reading and lecturing tours.
At 59 - a cabaret performance of Portrait of the Artist Kurt Weill. Much More than "The Threepenny Opera" - because I am unable not to transport new knowledge into a
text and share it.
At 60 - publication of my second non-scientific book: Wenn Eltern auseinander-gehen (When Parents Separate); several theatre and radio plays written
unsuccessfully.
At 64 - twice in TV talk shows: in “Happy without a partner?" and "Alone or Together?".
At 65 - yet another popular non-fictional book: Bedingungslos menschlich (Unconditionally Humane), 17 different people giving or receiving voluntary help share
interesting insights -- having done voluntary work in a women's shelter.
At 69 - finished! Evening of my life: keeping my old foreign languages alive with tandem partners and beginning a new one: Turkish -- the one challenge of my old age; and leaving
the women's shelter for men's prisons.
At 70 - I was wrong: the evening of my life is so interesting and so many people lament it that I have to put my thoughts onto paper once again: Alter/n ist großartig. Man
muss nur wissen wie (Age and Ageing are Fantastic: You Only Have to Know How to).
At 72 - rewarded the Medal of Merit of the FRG by the Federal President for diverse honorary offices (in courtrooms, women's shelter, prisons, and refugee aid).
At 73 - Covid 19! It's never too late for anything: started a YouTube-channel.
And out from my cozy corner: joined the Alliance Nordic Model which commits itself to the abolition of prostitution in Germany.
At 75 - my (hitherto) last coup: made a constitutional complaint with the German Federal Constitutional Court against the prostitution laws. The Court does not accept the
complaint, so on to the European Court. Stopped the YouTube-channel for lack of success.
At 77 - had enough now? No: one of the people I help their German with and the remark of my little brother that my brain is still functioning well give me the idea to broaden my
personal offer to a few non-German speakers – commissioned a corresponding new website.