Fanny Wittekind, née Mendle was born in Swabian Fischach on August 15, 1872 as the daughter of Josef Mendle and his wife Sara, née Kaufmann.

In 1891, she married Wilhelm Wittekind from Bad Kissingen in Ansbach and moved to the Franconian spa with him. Between 1892 and 1903, their four children were born: Simon, Paula, Arthur and Max. The family lived in “Villa Paula” in Promenadestrasse.

After her husband’s death, Fanny Wittekind moved to Leipzig in August 1936 where her son Arthur lived, but returned to Bad Kissingen in Summer 1937. Since July 1938, she lived in Leipzig again. Just like all her children, Fanny could leave Germany in time. Like her sons Simon and Max, she emigrated to South Africa and lived in Johannesburg. Fanny Wittekind died there in November 1942 at the age of 70.