Gertrud von Hassel

Gertrud von Hassel was a German teacher and painter from Dar es Salaam in German East Africa, now Tanzania.

Biography

Early life Gertrud was the daughter of German officer Theodor von Hassel (1868–1935) and his wife Emma née Jebsen. Theodor was a captain in the Schutztruppe of German East Africa and, after retiring from military service in 1913, owned a coffee plantation in the Usambara Mountains in northeast Tanganyika. Her maternal grandfather was Michael Jebsen, a shipowner and politician.

In 1910, Gertrud became an older sister when her brother Friedrich was born. In 1913, her younger brother Kai-Uwe was born, who would go on to become Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein and President of the Bundestag.

Gertrud first attended school at a missionary school in Hohenfriedeberg, where she began drawing. In 1919, the von Hassel family was expelled from German East Africa after the former German colony was handed over to a British mandate by the League of Nations following the conclusion of the First World War. The family moved to Germany and settled in Glücksburg.

Education After her family moved to Germany, Gertrud passed her university entrance exams in Flensburg.