Hennings was born on 17 January 1885 in
Flensburg,
German Empire, to Ernst Cordsen, a sailor, who died young. She described herself later as "a seaman's child". In 1906, after ending her first marriage to an actor, losing a son, and leaving her daughter to grow up with her grandmother, At the time, Hennings was already a published poet, whose works had appeared in the
left-wing publications
Pan and
Die Aktion. In 1913 she also published a short poetry collection titled
Ether Poems (
Äthergedichte in German). Later, Hennings was a contributor to the magazine
Revolution, founded by Ball and
Hans Leybold. Hennings and Ball moved to
Zürich in 1915, where they took part in the founding of the
Cabaret Voltaire, which marked the beginning of the
Dada movement. Hennings was a
morphine user and an occasional prostitute. Her performances included a role in the German premiere of
Das Leben des Menschen (The Life of a Man) by playwright
Leonid Andreev, in which she appeared with Ball. Hennings also performed in
Krippenspiel, a piece written by Ball. Hennings married Ball on 21 February 1920. They had no children together. However, Hennings had a daughter, Annemarie, from a previous relationship, who took fondly to Ball. Hennings, who outlived Ball by two decades, lived in
Magliaso,
Switzerland from 1942 to 1948. She died on 10 August 1948 at a clinic in
Sorengo, Switzerland. Hennings was a
Catholic and survived the
Spanish flu. ==Works==