Irmgard Blankenstein came from a family of doctors. As a child, she lived in Berlin-Charlottenburg, then later by Lake Constance. She spent several years as a young girl at a boarding school on the Isle of Wight in the South of England. On returning, she attended a school in Munich where she fell in love with her teacher, Franz Burger, who was twice her age. The couple married in 1916. Two years later, their daughter Marzella was born, followed in 1920 by Melitta. After the birth of her second child, Irmgard Burger suffered from paranoia. In 1922 she was admitted to the sanatorium and nursing home Eglfing-Haar, where the doctors diagnosed her with schizophrenia. After several stays in hospital, she was able to return to her family at Destouchesstraße 14. Cared for by their housekeeper Anna, Irmgard Burger lived in a room of her own, drew a great deal and talked to herself. When Franz Burger died in 1933, Anna also looked after Marzella and Melitta. After her marriage, she took Irmgard Burger in to live with her. When Anna was bombed out, she had to take Irmgard Burger to her parents. Because they were unable to care for their sick daughter, Irmgard Burger was admitted to the psychiatric department of the Schwabing hospital on August 14, 1943. She was sent to Eglfing-Haar on December 30, 1943 against the will of her parents. Melitta Burger visited her there for the last time in early 1944. Irmgard Burger died on December 7, 1944. The weight table preserved in her medical file shows that she was systematically starved to death as part of the system of “decentralized euthanasia”. At the end, Irmgard Burger weighed just 30.5 kilos for her body height of 1.60 metres. Melitta Burger did not find out how her mother died until January 2015. With great energy and enthusiasm she organized the placing of a memorial sign for Irmgard Burger. She was no longer able to attend the unveiling on January 18, 2019. Melitta Burger died just a few days previously, on January 5, 2019, at the age of 98. (text Sibylle von Tiedemann,editor C. Fritsche, translation C. Hales)
