Life partners

The Trade Act, which came into force in 1862, made it possible for women to set up their own businesses. However, it was a requirement that you were not married, and many of the women who established themselves did not become so afterwards either. They were given an opportunity to support themselves and live a life outside of marriage with a man.

In contemporary times, unmarried women were made fun of, who were called "old maids". They were characterized as "superfluous, supernumerary, unmarried women, the self-acquiring ones, about whom life withers where they go". Fortunately, there was also someone who distanced himself from those prejudices. Journalist at "Berlingske Tidende", Christian Henriksen wondered about that view of the women when he wrote on the occasion of Laurberg and Gad's 25th anniversary. After a long description of Julie Laurberg's professional duties and results, he concluded with "The work thrives and grows under her active hands, and the people with whom she comes into contact, come of themselves under the care and warmth of her motherly and rich mind. "

However, the fact that the women were not married does not mean that they lived alone. In Copenhagen, two of the city's leading photographers, Julie Laurberg and Mary Steen, lived together with women who were also employed in their studios. In Laurberg and Gad's case, the couple were both owners of the company. In 1906 Laurberg and Gad lived together in Gothersgade 152 on the second floor. In 1911, Franziska is listed as Julie's relative. In 1921, the couple had a vacation home on Vilvordevej in Ordrup. Not long after, however, Franziska Gad contracted pneumonia and unexpectedly passed away long before Laurberg.

Laurberg and Gad lived their lives together in a close community. They worked together, they lived together, and they were described as deeply emotionally connected. Was it a close platonic and practical fellowship of women, which may have been common then, but which we rarely see today? Or were they actually living in a romantic love relationship? In the year 1900, the word lesbian was not yet used. That two women had a love affair was not something that was talked about, so it is difficult to assess.

In the obituaries, one could read "that an incurable grief" had struck Julie Laurberg. The writer concluded as follows: "Now Julie Laurberg sits alone in the shared beautiful vacation home on Vilvordevej in Ordrup, and all garden flowers, which were Ms. Gad's great joy, now covers her deathbed. For her elderly friend, we all know that the loss will be irreplaceable”.