Maximiliane

Maximiliane Ackers (1896 – 1982) was a German author and actress famous for writing lesbian fiction.

---

Ackers wrote Girlfriends: a Novel (about Women) (Freundinnen: Ein Roman (unter Frauen)), published in Hannover in 1923 and 1925 and in Berlin in 1927 and 1928. The novel explores lesbian desire in the setting of the artistic and theatrical society of Weimar Berlin. It also touches on issues of gender and sexuality: in response to being asked if one is "a girl or a boy," a character playing Puck responds: "I am what I am."

---

Freundinnen appeared in several editions of between 7,000 and 10,000 copies. The National Socialists banned the book in 1934 and it appeared on the official list of banned books in 1936, including in Alfred Rosenberg's anti-lesbian pamphlet Der Sumpf. In the 1990s, the book was rediscovered by feminists and academics. Freundinnen was republished in 1995 by a German feminist publishing house. Selections from the book appeared in An Encyclopedia of German Writers, 1900-1933.

Maximiliane Rall is a German footballer who plays as a defender for Bayern München and the Germany women's national team.