person
Saint Afra
Afra
also: Afra, die heilige Afra
A Christian martyr of Augsburg, said to have been a prostitute converted and then executed under Diocletian. Trakl invokes her as an image of redemption through suffering — a figure of fallen womanhood transfigured by sacrifice.
Reading notes
- Sebastian in Dream §22 Afra
Saint Afra of Augsburg (died c. 304), a martyr who, in legend, had been a prostitute before her conversion; her image painted on church windows as a blue-cloaked figure makes her a redemptive double for fallen womanhood.