Josefa Berens-Totenohl

Who was Josefa Berens-Totenohl?

Josefa Berens-Totenohl was a German writer and painter. She was the daughter of a blacksmith. First she became a teacher, but later worked as a writer and painter and made elaborate tapestries. Her romantic peasant novels were very popular in Nazi Germany; although she never joined the Nazi Party, and the novels had no ideological overtones, their praise of peasant virtue, rootedness, and strength were acceptable to the party.