Winifred Wagner
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Winifred Marjorie Wagner ( Williams; 23 June 1897 – 5 March 1980) was the English-born wife of
Siegfried Wagner Siegfried Helferich Richard Wagner (6 June 18694 August 1930) was a German composer and conductor, the son of Richard Wagner. He was an opera composer and the artistic director of the Bayreuth Festival from 1908 to 1930. Life Siegfried Wagner ...
, the son of
Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
, and ran the
Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...
after her husband's death in 1930 until the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
in 1945. She was a friend and supporter of
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
, himself a Wagner enthusiast, and she and Hitler maintained a regular correspondence.


Biography


Early life and marriage to Siegfried Wagner

Wagner was born Winifred Marjorie Williams in
Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
, England, to John Williams, a journalist and critic, and his wife, née Emily Florence Karop. She lost both her parents before the age of two and initially was raised in a number of homes. Eight years later, she was adopted by a distant German relative of her mother, Henrietta Karop, and her husband
Karl Klindworth Karl Klindworth (25 September 183027 July 1916) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor, violinist and music publisher. He was one of Franz Liszt's pupils and later one of his closest disciples and friends, being also on friendly terms ...
, a musician and a friend of
Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
. The
Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...
was seen as a family business, with the leadership to be passed from Richard Wagner to his son
Siegfried Wagner Siegfried Helferich Richard Wagner (6 June 18694 August 1930) was a German composer and conductor, the son of Richard Wagner. He was an opera composer and the artistic director of the Bayreuth Festival from 1908 to 1930. Life Siegfried Wagner ...
, but Siegfried, who was secretly bisexual, showed little interest in marriage. It was arranged that Winifred Klindworth, as she was called at the time, aged 17, would meet Siegfried Wagner, aged 45, at the Bayreuth Festival in 1914. A year later, they were married. It was hoped that the marriage would end Siegfried's homosexual encounters and the associated costly scandals, and provide an heir to carry on the family business. Following their marriage on 22 September 1915, they had four children in rapid succession: * Wieland (1917–1966) * Friedelind (1918–1991) * Wolfgang (1919–2010) *
Verena Verena of Zurzach, mostly just called ''Saint Verena'' (c.  260 – c.  320) is an early Christian consecrated virgin and hermit. She is especially venerated in Switzerland, where her cult is attested in Bad Zurzach, the reported place of he ...
(1920–2019) After the death of Siegfried Wagner in 1930, Winifred Wagner took over the Bayreuth Festival, running it until the end of World War II.


Friendship with Adolf Hitler

In 1923, Winifred Wagner met
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
, who greatly admired Richard Wagner's music. When Hitler was jailed for his part in the Munich
Beer Hall Putsch The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,Dan Moorhouse, ed schoolshistory.org.uk, accessed 2008-05-31.Known in German as the or was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party ( or NSDAP) leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and othe ...
, Wagner sent him food parcels and stationery on which Hitler's autobiography ''
Mein Kampf (; ''My Struggle'' or ''My Battle'') is a 1925 autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The work describes the process by which Hitler became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germ ...
'' may have been written. In the late 1930s, she served as Hitler's personal translator during treaty negotiations with Britain. Although Wagner remained personally faithful to Hitler, she denied that she ever supported the
Nazi party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
. Her relationship with Hitler grew so close that by 1933 there were rumours of impending marriage (there were similar rumours about her love for English novelist
Hugh Walpole Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (13 March 18841 June 1941) was an English novelist. He was the son of an Anglican clergyman, intended for a career in the church but drawn instead to writing. Among th ...
). ''Haus
Wahnfried Wahnfried was the name given by Richard Wagner to his villa in Bayreuth. The name is a German compound of (delusion, madness) and (peace, freedom). Financed by King Ludwig II of Bavaria, the house was constructed from 1872 to 1874 under Bayreu ...
'', the Wagner home in
Bayreuth Bayreuth (, ; bar, Bareid) is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtelgebirge Mountains. The town's roots date back to 1194. In the 21st century, it is the capital of U ...
, became Hitler's favorite retreat. Hitler gave the festival government assistance and tax-exempt status, and treated Wagner's children solicitously. According to biographer
Brigitte Hamann Brigitte Hamann (; 26 July 1940 – 4 October 2016) was a German-Austrian author and historian based in Vienna. Biography Born in Essen, Germany, Hamann studied history in Münster and Vienna. She worked as a journalist in her native Essen for ...
, Wagner was reported to be "disgusted" by Hitler's persecution of the Jews. In one notable incident, in the late 1930s, a letter from her to Hitler prevented
Hedwig Hedwig may refer to: People and fictional characters * Hedwig (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Grzegorz Hedwig (born 1988), Polish slalom canoeist * Johann Hedwig, (1730–1799), German botanist * Romanus Adol ...
and
Alfred Pringsheim Alfred Pringsheim (2 September 1850 – 25 June 1941) was a German mathematician and patron of the arts. He was born in Ohlau, Prussian Silesia (now Oława, Poland) and died in Zürich, Switzerland. Family and academic career Pringsheim came ...
(whose daughter
Katia Katia is a feminine given name. It is a variant of Katya. Notable people with this name Actresses and models * Katia Dandoulaki, Greek actress *Katia Margaritoglou, Greek fashion model and beauty contestant *Katia Winter (born 1983), Swedis ...
was married to
Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novella ...
) from being arrested by the
Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...
. According to
Gottfried Wagner __NOTOC__ Gottfried Wagner (born 13 April 1947 in Bayreuth) is a multimedia director and publicist. Gottfried Wagner is the son of Wolfgang Wagner and a great-grandchild of Richard Wagner. His PhD is about Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht. He h ...
, Winifred Wagner's grandson, she never admitted the error of her ways. After the war, her posthumous devotion to the man she cryptically referred to as "USA" – for ''Unser Seliger Adolf'' (our blessed Adolf) – remained undimmed. She corresponded with Hitler for nearly two decades. Scholars have not been allowed to see the letters, which have been kept locked away by Amélie Lafferentz, one of Winifred Wagner's grandchildren, who has insisted that they not be released until the whole family agrees to do so.


Post-Bayreuth years

Like Hitler, Wagner believed profoundly in the rite of a secular cult of
German nationalism German nationalism () is an ideological notion that promotes the unity of Germans and German-speakers into one unified nation state. German nationalism also emphasizes and takes pride in the patriotism and national identity of Germans as one na ...
, of Nordic self-realization, and '' völkisch'' aspiration. After the defeat of
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, a
denazification Denazification (german: link=yes, Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by remov ...
court banned her from the Bayreuth Festival, which she passed to her sons Wieland and Wolfgang. In the 1950s, she again became a political hostess. Her grandson Gottfried Wagner later recalled that
My aunt Friedelind was outraged when my grandmother again slowly blossomed as the first lady of right-wing groups and received political friends such as
Emmy Göring Emma Johanna Henny "Emmy" Göring (; 24 March 1893 – 8 June 1973) was a German actress and the second wife of ''Luftwaffe'' Commander-in-Chief Hermann Göring. She served as Adolf Hitler's hostess at many state functions and thereby staked a ...
,
Ilse Hess Ilse Hess (née Pröhl; 22 June 1900 – 7 September 1995) was the wife of Rudolf Hess. After World War II she became a well-known author. Family Ilse Pröhl came from a nationalist conservative family. She was one of three daughters of the wealt ...
, the former NPD
Adolf von Thadden Adolf von Thadden (7 July 1921 – 16 July 1996) was a German far-right politician. Born into a leading Pomeranian landowning family, he was the half-brother of Elisabeth von Thadden, a prominent critic of the Nazis who was executed by the Nazi g ...
,
Gerdy Troost Gerhardine "Gerdy" Troost (née Andresen; 3 March 1904 – 30 January 2003), was a German architect interior designer and interior decorator and the wife of Paul Ludwig Troost. Life and work Troost was born in Stuttgart, the daughter of the ...
, the wife of the Nazi architect and friend of Hitler
Paul Ludwig Troost Paul Ludwig Troost (17 August 1878 – 21 January 1934) was a German architect. A favourite master builder of Adolf Hitler from 1930, his Neoclassical designs for the ''Führerbau'' and the '' Haus der Kunst'' in Munich influenced the style of N ...
, the British fascist leader
Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...
, the German NS-movie director Karl Ritter and the racist author and former Senator of the Reich
Hans Severus Ziegler Hans Severus Ziegler (13 October 1893 – 1 May 1978) was a German publicist, theater manager, teacher and Nazi Party official. A leading cultural director under the Nazis, he was closely associated with the censorship and cultural co-ordinatio ...
.
In 1975, Wagner gave a filmed interview to
Hans-Jürgen Syberberg Hans-Jürgen Syberberg (born 8 December 1935) is a German film director, whose best known film is his lengthy feature ''Hitler: A Film from Germany''. Early life Born in Nossendorf, Province of Pomerania (1815–1945), Pomerania, the son of a ...
in which she appeared unrepentant concerning her past. "To have met him itler" she declared, "is an experience I would not have missed." She was interviewed that year by
David Irving David John Cawdell Irving (born 24 March 1938) is an English author and Holocaust denier who has written on the military and political history of World War II, with a focus on Nazi Germany. His works include ''The Destruction of Dresden'' (19 ...
, who reported that she had said she would still welcome Hitler at her door and that she had discussed with Hitler the saving of some individuals. She died in
Überlingen Überlingen is a German city on the northern shore of Lake Constance (Bodensee) in Baden-Württemberg near the border with Switzerland. After the city of Friedrichshafen, it is the second largest city in the Bodenseekreis (district), and a cent ...
, one of the best preserved medieval sites, on the shore of
Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...
on 5 March 1980 at the age of 82 and was interred at Bayreuth.


In popular culture

The friendship of Wagner and Hitler is treated fancifully in A.N. Wilson's novel ''Winnie and Wolf'' (2007). ''The Music Keeper'', an American play from 1982 by
Elliot Tiber Elliot Michael Tiber (born Eliyahu Teichberg; April 15, 1935 – August 3, 2016) was an artist, professor, and screenwriter who wrote a memoir about the Woodstock Festival held in Bethel, New York in 1969. He claimed responsibility for the relocat ...
and André Ernotte, takes place two days before Wagner's death and is about Frau Wagner's relationship with Adolf Hitler and her obsession with the Bayreuth mystique and Hitler's malign mission.


See also

*
Wagner family The family of the composer Richard Wagner: Family of Carl Friedrich Wagner Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Wagner (1770–1813), a police actuary ∞ 1798 Johanna Rosine Pätz (1778–1848), daughter of a baker (after being widowed, in 1814 she becaome th ...


References


Further reading

*


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Winifred 1897 births 1980 deaths People from Hastings People from Bayreuth Winifred Opera managers Adolf Hitler Nazi propagandists German people of English descent Women in Nazi Germany