Love is Stronger than Death: The Triadic Love of Franz Rosenzweig, Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy and Gritli Huessy

Franz Rosenzweig, the author of The Star of Redemption, was one of the most important figures in providing a sense of Jewish identity to German Jews between the World Wars. Indeed after contracting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis he became something of a Jewish saint. Hence Rosenzweig scholarship was rocked when, almost 20years ago, it became public knowledge that between 1917 and 1924 Rosenzweig had written hundred of letters – many of them love letters - to a Christian woman, Gritli Huessy. Gritli was the wife of his friend Eugen Rosenstock, who himself was Rosenzweig’s correspondent in what has frequently been hailed as the greatest Jewish-Christian Dialogue of the 20th century. Rosenstock had not only always known about these letters, but he had known and accepted that his best friend and wife were lovers. Further, Gritli and Rosenzweig both confirmed that this relationship could not have taken place were it not valorized by Rosenstock. This paper will partly tell the story, but it will also reflect upon this love story as a narrative about love being stronger than death – a central theme in the writings of both Rosenzweig and Rosenstock.