Annemarie Knapp

Annemarie Knapp, married Anna Maria Knapp - Santa Rosa

Secondary school teacher. She taught English and sport.

Birth name: Annemarie Knapp. Born in Großarl (St.Johann im Pongau district) in Austria. The Four-star hotel  'Alte Post' in Grossarl belongs to the Knapp family.

Professional career

Annemarie first completed an apprenticeship in the catering trade, then attended a 4-year fashion college in Salzburg, followed by evening school (Christian Doppler Gymnasium Salzburg) with a school-leaving certificate and a teaching degree at the Pedagogical Academy in Vienna. She worked as a secondary school teacher for English and sport until shortly before her death in 2004.

During the evening school-leaving examination (Christian Doppler Gymnasium Salzburg)

 She completed her evening school leaving certificate at the Christian-Doppler-Gymnasium in Salzburg and lived during this time with Mrs.Winter at the time. Of the 24 people who graduated with her at the time, only 4 people made it. Annemarie was a restless fighter. During this time, she met 1979 on the Mozartplatz Salzburg Lucia Nadia Cipriani, with whom she had been in contact for 25 years. With Annemarie, Nadia Cipriani went to Café Sacher, Café Bazar and made numerous trips to the Salzkammergut lakes, such as Wolfgangsee and also in Germany (Königssee in Schönau). They also travelled to Italy (Venedig, Bologna, Florenz, Assisi and Rom) together with Sebastian Santa Rosa de Andrade.

 Marriage

In Paris she met the former philosophy student Sebastiao Santa Rosa de Andrade and later married him. Sebastiao was born in Sergipe (state in northeastern Brazil). Civil marriage on December 17, 1987 in Vienna. Church wedding on July 2nd, 1988 in St. Jakob am Thurn in the Hallein district. Sebastiao and Anna Maria (birth name Annemarie) lived together in Vienna on Mittelgasse.

Her life in Vienna

There she taught English and sports as a secondary school teacher. During the school holidays she got to know and love Africa while traveling. Together with Sebastian she had a daughter named Nadja Santa Rosa de Andrade. Anna Maria (birth name; Annemarie) was very interested in yoga and spiritual topics. In 1979 she met the Italian artist and dancer Lucia Nadia Cipriani in the city of Salzburg at Mozartplatz. She was very good friends with her throughout her life. For many years at Christmas and on public holidays she stayed overnight in Siezenheim (Brückenstraße near the village church) for several days with her friend Lucia Nadia Cipriani. At Christmas time, Annemarie came with her little daughter Nadja to Siezenheim. After the Christmas presents were unwrapped, it was a tradition for Nadia, Annemarie and little Nadja to play tombola. 

Viennese friends 

Annemarie Knapp was a lifelong friend of Mag. Heinz Kapaun (10.11.1946 - 04.01.2018) He was a lawyer. She also met Paul Blümel through Heinz Kapaun. (Paul Blümel lives at Keilgasse 10 in Vienna and also has a house at Getreidegasse 6 in Salzburg) What she appreciated about Heinz Kapaun was that she could talk to him about anything.

Divorce

The marriage to Sebastian Santa Rosa de Andrade was ruined. Sebastian had been seeing a doctor in secret and had a relationship with her behind Annemarie's back for a long time. From then on, she had a double burden. She was a teacher at a secondary school and also looked after her daughter Nadja on her own. The stress was great.

Illness and death

After she was diagnosed with breast cancer, she read a lot in the death books of the Swiss Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. She received several chemotherapy treatments from the Brothers of Mercy in Salzburg, which she was not convinced about. Because the metastases were already everywhere. She talked about seeing threads in front of her eyes and said that these threads were angels. She lost her hair because of the chemo and so bought a wig in Salzburg on Mirabellplatz. A short time before her death she was already very emaciated and her skin was gray. Her body was nothing but skin and bones. In her last years she increasingly turned to spiritual topics. She read books about "Osho"and near-death experiences and gave away CDs of angel music to her friends. She has dealt intensively with dying.

 At the age of 53, she died in Großarl on Tuesday from complications of breast cancer. She was buried in the afternoon of September 9, 2004 in Großarl (market town in the St. Johann im Pongau district). Her parents, Anton (called Toni) and Walburga Knapp (called Burgl), as well as their daughter Nadja and over 100 other mourners were present at the funeral. Afterwards the mourners met in the Hotel “Alte Post”.Her best friend Mag. Heinz Kapaun and Paul Blümel came from Vienna. Long-term friend Lucia Nadia Cipriani and Peter Siegfried Krug came from city of Salzburg.

Her mother Walburga Knapp died on June 8, 2014 in Grossarl at the age of 88. Her father Anton Knapp died on October 30, 2018 at the age of 93.

Short biography of Annemarie Knapp's mother Walburga Knapp (17 May 1926 - 8 June 2014):

Her parents, Walburga and Anton Knapp (Alte Post in the second generation 1957 - 1990), had a total of 8 children: Annemarie (later she called herself Anna Maria), Roswitha, Christa, Hildegard, Gertraud, Toni, Rupert and Norbert. The 8 children were brought into the hotel business at an early age. 

 Walburga Knapp née Gruber was born on 17 May 1926 as the second of 13 children on the Reiterbauernhof farm. After completing 6 years of primary school, she worked on her parents' farm and was a dairymaid on the Hubalm. In the winter of 1947/48 she attended the Winkelhof agricultural college in Oberalm. She married Anton Knapp on 11 October 1948. Busy years followed. Her interests were varied - she travelled, enjoyed visiting St. Lorenzen/Südtirol​, the home of the Knapp family, and kept in touch with relatives. She died on 8 June 2014.

Peter Krug's observation

Annemarie Knapp (birth name) led a life of restlessness and rushing from one training programme to another. From one action to the next. It was a permanent state of nervousness and inner restlessness. The evening school-leaving exam alone must have been particularly stressful for Annemarie, because she didn't learn so easily, but struggled through it. 

After the years of stress during her studies, there was the private stress caused by the break-up of her relationship with Sebastian. She worked at a secondary school and the many children put additional stress on her. Annemarie also looked after her daughter  Nadja Santa Rosa de Andrade alone for many years. Her interest and balance to the constant stress was travelling and yoga to calm down. 

Sources: Personal knowledge and research on the Internet