Ruth Reichmann photos by Cindy Steele
Debate, Preservation, and Vision
~ by Lee Edgren
Born in Munich, she grew up in Hitler’ s Germany and lived through World War II, frequently hungry, often afraid. After the war, she arrived in Cincinnati at 25, knowing high school English and with $ 5.00 in her pocket. She embraced her new country’ s democratic values not only with relief, but also with idealistic intensity and immense energy.
At 86, Ruth Reichmann, Ph. D., is still immersed in political debate, still working toward historic and land preservation, still seeking the realization of a“ wellness” vision formed and nurtured in a life-long connection with Bavaria. One guesses that political freedom, historic preservation, land preservation, and wellness activities form, in Ruth’ s mind, the foundation of an ideal life that can be brought to reality in Brown County, as it was in Bavaria, if only enough awareness and fervor are brought to the cause.
Shortly after she arrived in Cincinnati, she met and married fellow immigrant Eberhard Reichmann, who obtained his Ph. D. in German and soon became a member of the German Department at Indiana University. Ruth also pursued her education with an early start in pre-Med, a change in direction
54 Our Brown County • Nov./ Dec. 2014