About Maria Becker-Meisberger

Esperantist and poet

Maria Becker-Meisberger was born on 8 December 1925 in Marpingen. She was the fifth of a total of eight children. At the age of four, Maria lost her father, who died in the Maybach mining accident in 1930. She grew up a strict Catholic. Family life was also characterised by hard work, as her family was largely self-sufficient. After completing her A-levels in St Wendel, Maria worked as a German assistant in Normandy for a year and worked as a teacher until 1972.

In 1956, Maria took part in her first Esperanto course at the Homburg adult education centre. Two years later, she married her teacher Günter Becker, who was president of the World Federation of Young Esperantists. Her own identity as an Esperantist had a strong influence on her. She was a cosmopolitan person, always supported people from foreign countries and even took them into her home. In addition to her involvement in numerous Esperanto congresses, she also worked for the Esperanto magazine MONATO, where she was responsible for editing the recipes. She published the recipes she received in 1989 in the form of a cookery book in Esperanto. Together with her husband, Maria also translated the book Introduction to Esperantology, written by Pierre Janton, from French into German.

Maria was also very fond of her native language, which is why she wrote poems in Marpingen dialect. In her texts, the author mainly processed her thoughts, feelings and experiences from her childhood. But the author also thematised difficult subjects, such as the death of her own father in the poem Maybach. In 1972, Maria had to retire early due to health problems. Despite this, she continued to do voluntary work. She helped out in the parish library in Blieskastel and led the ecumenical working group for the care of guest workers. In 1979, 1982 and 1984, she was honoured for her diction in the Saarländischer Rundfunk dialect competition. In 1990, she published her own volume of poetry entitled De Himmel off Besuuch. Maria Becker-Meisberger spent the end of her life in nursing care after suffering a brain haemorrhage. She finally died on 1 May 1999.

Written by: Luisa Spindler, student of Historically Oriented Cultural Studies and intern at the Women's Office of the Saarpfalz District

_{Published: 30.04.2026; Last updated: 30.04.2026.}

Kennergligg

We hadn't broken much

fer gligglich se senn.

A sawhorse full of gliggerde

rood, grien onnn blòò,

e paaer Wälsjer, silvergròò,

onn shonn hammer geschbil,

won onn verlòòr.

The turnaround would never be long enough.

Äämòòl e Buuch,

ed anneròòl no dunggle

onn no helle Boggsegnäbb,

a bunch of cute babbedäggel,

e Mill droff gemòòld

onn mer hann un beim Schbille verdolld,

won onn verlòòr.

We hadn't broken much

Fer fer gligglich se senn.

E flat lifting shafts

E Schbrengsääl

E Glunsch.

Onn mer hadd kenne iwwer Heisje schbrenge,

sisch vom Bòrrem heewe,

faschd en de Wolge schweewe.

^{Maria Becker-Maisberger: Kennergligg. Quoted from: Braun, Edith: Portrait of the author Maria Becker-Meisberger, in: Mundartpost Saar, Vol. 2, 2002, p. 9.}