1885 - 1948

Born in Flensburg (DE).

In 1913 Emmy Hennings settled in Munich, where she became an intimate of the expressionist poets, playwrights, and novelists who populared Munich's seedy Bohemian quarter and frequented the Café Simplizissimus singing popular cabaret songs and reciting her own poems as well as those written by friends. One of Hennings, lovers in Munich was Hugo Ball, whom she would later marry. In November 1914 Hennings joined Ball in Berlin, where she sang in a variety of restaurants and worked as an artist's model. To escape the increasing nationalism Ball and Hennings left Berlin for Zurich in May 1915. They arrived completely destitute and lived on the assistance of Hennings' literary friends until they found work with a vaudeville troupe. In 1916 the decided to start their own cabaret and on February 5, 1916 they opened the Cabarer Voltaire. At the Cabaret, Hennings was one of the star attractions. Her wide repertoire included popular songs from Denmark, Paris, and Berlin, Chinese ballads, folk songs and her own poems and poetry written by other dadaists. Hennings' charisma as a performer and her previous cabaret experience contributed to the success of the venture.

- Amanda L. Hockensmith