Michaela Andörfer

Sister Maria Michaela of the Blessed Trinity (born Michaela Christine Andörfer: 25 October 1928 – 26 September 2014) was a German Roman Catholic religious sister who served for many years as Superior general of the Sisters of Saint Hedwig (Hedwigschwestern).

Life Michaela Christine ("Christel") Andörfer, the third of her parents' seven recorded children, was born at Cottbus and grew up nearby Döbern, a small but long established town a short distance to the north of Germany's frontier with Czechoslovakia. The little town had carved itself a niche as a centre for the manufacture of cut-to size sheet glass used to protect the surfaces of valuable tables. The family was a traditional Catholic one. She made her simple vows in 1957. After her novitiate she attended a music conservatory, learning both music and Montessori teaching methods. She also learned many of the craft skills which she would be able to apply to teaching mentally impaired children. Her inputs to the construction of the Sancta Maria Remedial Children's Home and of the school attached to it in Wannsee were decisive.

In 1969 Andörfer was elected Superior general of the Sisters of Hedwig. It was the first change at the top since before the Second World War, and she herself retained the post until 2005. Her predecessor, Sr. Augustina Schmidt, was by this time very old, and died only two years after Sr. Michaela's appointment.

In 1986, at the request of the Senate of Berlin, Andörfer took on the care of a group of HIV-positive babies and infants. At the time this was considered more noteworthy at the time than subsequently, because of the insecurities and reactions unleashed by any public discussion of HIV/AIDS.

After relinquishing her position as Superior general of the Sisters of Saint Hedwig in 2005, Andörfer assumed a new leadership role in 2011 when she took on the role of the Sisters of Saint Hedwig's superior for the Province of Germany.

Public recognition Andörfer was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany on 9 September 1998.