Poverty, dropping out of school, unintentionally pregnant: The hard way of Germany's most famous emergency doctor Lisa Federle

Created: 05/13/2022, 17:20

By: Sina Alonso Garcia

She is Germany's best-known emergency doctor and, among other things, made a name for herself during the pandemic with the "Tübingen model".

Now Lisa Federle presents her biography.

Tübingen – Lisa Federle really didn't have it easy in life.

She dropped out of school, was unplanned pregnant at the age of 17, had a partner who was addicted to drugs, and times when she had nothing to eat due to poverty.

When she was young, no one would have believed that she would one day study medicine and become Germany's best-known emergency doctor.

Instead of looking back bitterly at the difficult time, Federle has no regrets: "I think if I hadn't walked this path in life, I wouldn't have the understanding for people that I have now," she says in an interview with

.

Lisa Federle wrote her own biography - "I think it comes across as more authentic than if someone else wrote it"

In her biography "On crooked paths straight ahead", the Tübingen emergency doctor tells her life story for the first time: from childhood with the early death of her father, her doctorate at the age of 37 to her commitment to refugees, the homeless and children.

"I wrote the book because I want to encourage other people," says Federle.

She herself raised four children, was completely on her own at times, but never lost sight of her dream.

"Even in the most difficult times, I always knew clearly: I want to become a doctor."

Anyone who speaks to Federle quickly realizes that she is always concerned with the matter at hand.

She doesn't take herself too seriously.

"There are people who have achieved much more," she says dismissively when it comes to publicity about her person.

The offer to write a biography was already in the room eleven years ago - but at that time she didn't want to go public.

In the meantime, more and more people had asked if she could write down her really special life story.

Lisa Federle's autobiography is a single plea for side paths, curiosity, empathy and respect.

© dpa/Knaur

"First I hired a ghostwriter," says Federle.

The first reading samples would then have disappointed her.

"It just wasn't my style and I didn't like it," she says.

"Every one of my friends I showed it to said, 'That's not you.'" So Federle was faced with the decision of putting the project on hold or doing it himself.

For the next two months, she worked on her biography every day from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Now she's glad she wrote it all herself.

"I think it comes across as more authentic than if someone else wrote it," she says.

Her book was out of print shortly after it was published.

It is now number 3 on the Spiegel bestseller list.

Lisa Federle: "I can talk to a homeless person the same way I can talk to a professor"

What sets Lisa Federle apart: She can, as she says herself, “talk to a homeless person just like you can to a professor”.

The social aspect was also incredibly important to her when raising her children.

“The children were often on the emergency service and helped me with little things.

They also got to know suffering, for example when it came to old people.” Federle thinks it is essential that young people have access to social issues.

“In the meantime, all my children have made their way and I have a very good relationship with them.

To me, that shows that you can work and still be successful in raising children.”

While her mother threw the young Lisa Federle out at the age of 17, she always drew a lot of strength from the good relationship with her father.

He died when she was eleven and gave her the self-confidence she needed to believe in herself while she was alive.

Lisa Federle: Germany's most famous emergency doctor

As early as 2015, during the refugee crisis, Lisa Federle converted a mobile home into a medical practice on wheels and treated people in front of the homes.

In the corona pandemic, she relied on a comprehensive test strategy from the start, primarily to protect people in nursing homes.

Tübingen's pilot project "Opening with security" in February 2021 finally catapulted them into the limelight.

Interest in Federle's book is currently unabated: after the sold-out reading in Tübingen, the reading in Stuttgart on May 11th, at which she was accompanied by her friend Dieter Thomas Kuhn and his band, was also sold out.

Around ten more readings at locations throughout Germany are planned.

In the meantime, she has only received positive feedback for her book from friends and acquaintances: "Some have written to me that they laughed heartily, but also cried in some places."