The widow of the late national goalkeeper Robert Enke receives the Erich Kästner Prize. With her work, she takes the illness depression out of the taboo zone, it is said to justify.
Dresden – Teresa Enke, the widow of the deceased national goalkeeper Robert Enke, has been awarded the Erich Kästner Prize. “Enke is committed to combating the stigmatization of depression and gives many of those affected the courage to reveal themselves and seek help,” said Carsten Dietmann, chairman of the Dresden Press Club, at the award ceremony in Dresden.
With her work, she takes the disease out of the taboo zone. The fact that there is now a greater understanding of mental illnesses in society is also thanks to the 45-year-old.
Enke founded the Robert Enke Foundation in 2010 together with the German Football Association (DFB), after her husband committed suicide in November 2009 in a depression. Dietmann praised her as a strong personality who, despite several blows of fate, gives other people strength and hope.
Von Weizsäcker and Genscher among previous award winners
Enke met her later husband at the sports high school in Jena. The couple’s first daughter was born four years after their marriage, but died at the age of two from a serious heart defect. In 2009, the couple adopted a two-month-old girl.
The Erich Kästner Prize was awarded for the 25th time this year. In addition to Teresa Enke, the wearers include politicians Richard von Weizsäcker and Hans-Dietrich Genscher as well as sea rescuer Claus-Peter Reisch. dpa
