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Elsa Bernstein (née Porges; pseudonym, Ernst Rosmer; 27 October 1866 – 2 July 1949) was an Austrian-
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
writer,
dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...
, and literary figure.


Life

Elsa Porges was born in Vienna, a daughter of
Heinrich Porges Heinrich Porges (November 25, 1837 – November 17, 1900) was a Czech- Austrian choirmaster, music critic and writer of Jewish descent. Life Heinrich Porges was born in Prague, the son of Simon Porges (1801–1869) and his wife Charlotte. He ...
(a close 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 o ...
). At the age of ten, at her own insistence, she attended the first complete, four-opera performance of ''
The Ring Cycle (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelunge ...
'' in Bayreuth in 1876, for which her father served as Wagner's special documentary-archivist. In opera tradition, Elsa is considered to have been the cycle's youngest audience member. With her marriage to journalist
Max Bernstein Max Bernstein (May 12, 1854, Fürth – March 5, 1925, München) was a German art and theatre critic and author. He was the husband of Elsa Bernstein. The Salon Bernstein Bernstein and his wife Elsa had one of the most prominent salons during t ...
, she became hostess to one of the most notable musical and literary salons of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. At various times, attendees included
Gerhart Hauptmann Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into his work as well. He recei ...
(whose son married Bernstein's daughter, Eva),
Hugo von Hofmannsthal Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (; 1 February 1874 – 15 July 1929) was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist. Early life Hofmannsthal was born in Landstraße, Vienna, the son of an upper-cla ...
, Engelbert Humperdinck,
Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential pla ...
,
Annette Kolb Annette Kolb (pseudonym of Anna Mathilde Kolb; born February 3, 1870 in Munich; died December 3, 1967 in Munich) was a German author and pacifist. She became active in pacifist causes during World War I and this caused her political difficulti ...
,
Hermann Levi Hermann Levi (7 November 1839 – 13 May 1900) was a German Jewish orchestral conductor. Levi was born in Giessen, Germany, the son of a rabbi. He was educated at Giessen and Mannheim, and came to Vinzenz Lachner's notice. From 1855 to 1858 ...
,
Alma Alma or ALMA may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Alma'' (film), a 2009 Spanish short animated film * ''Alma'' (Oswald de Andrade novel), 1922 * ''Alma'' (Le Clézio novel), 2017 * ''Alma'' (play), a 1996 drama by Joshua Sobol about Alma ...
and Gustav Mahler,
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 ...
,
Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recog ...
,
Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic music, Romantic and early Modernism (music), modern eras, he has been descr ...
,
Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the U ...
, and
Max Weber Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German Sociology, sociologist, historian, jurist and political economy, political economist, who is regarded as among the most important theorists of the development of Modernity, ...
, among many others. She was educated at
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...
and for a short time, also was on the stage. A degenerative affliction of the
eyes Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and c ...
forced her to retire. Thenceforth she devoted herself to
dramatic literature Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
. Shortly after her marriage in 1892 to
Max Bernstein Max Bernstein (May 12, 1854, Fürth – March 5, 1925, München) was a German art and theatre critic and author. He was the husband of Elsa Bernstein. The Salon Bernstein Bernstein and his wife Elsa had one of the most prominent salons during t ...
, she wrote her first play, ''Wir Drei'' (English: "We Three"), which created considerable discussion; some saw it as a dramatization of the matrimonial and sexual views of Taine and
Zola Zola may refer to: People * Zola (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * Zola (musician) (born 1977), South African entertainer * Zola (rapper), French rapper * Émile Zola, a major nineteenth-century French writer Plac ...
. (Although written under the pseudonym of Ernst Rosmer, her identity as the author of the play was never secret.) Her next few plays fell short of exciting the same public attention: ''Dämmerung'' ("Twilight", 1893); '' Die Mutter Maria'', 1894; ''Tedeum'' (1896); ''Themistokles'' (1897); and '' Daguy Peters''. Unbounded admiration was elicited by ''
Königskinder ' (German for ''King's Children'' or “Royal Children”) is a stage work by Engelbert Humperdinck that exists in two versions: as a melodrama and as an opera or more precisely a ''Märchenoper''. The libretto was written by Ernst Rosmer (pen ...
'' (1895), a dramatic fairy-tale, however. Although its plot was simple, the beauty of the
theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...
and its poetry were such as to class it with
Ludwig Fulda Ludwig Anton Salomon Fulda (July 7, 1862 – March 7, 1939) was a German playwright and poet, with a strong social commitment. He lived with Moritz Moszkowski's first wife Henriette, née Chaminade, younger sister of pianist and composer Cécil ...
's ''Der Talisman''. Although Engelbert Humperdinck was dissatisfied with his first concert setting of ''Königskinder'' in 1897, an avant-garde melodrama that demanded an innovative " speak-singing" technique from its soloists (despite production challenges, it nevertheless enjoyed more than 120 performances across Europe), he persuaded Bernstein, in 1907, to authorize a traditional opera setting that debuted in German at the
Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...
in New York in December 1910. That version is still performed. Almost certainly at the instigation of
Winifred Wagner Winifred Marjorie Wagner ( Williams; 23 June 1897 – 5 March 1980) was the English-born wife of Siegfried Wagner, the son of Richard Wagner, and ran the Bayreuth Festival after her husband's death in 1930 until the end of World War II in 19 ...
, Bernstein was awarded an exit visa for the United States in 1941, but refused to leave her sister Gabriele behind (who like Elsa had lost almost all her eyesight) as she had become her caretaker. Being of Jewish heritage, the two women were transported to
Dachau , , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction ...
arriving on 25 June 1942, where Bernstein was recognized as the prominent author of ''Königskinder''. As a result, the sisters were sent the following day to
Theresienstadt Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ( German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstadt served as a waystation to the extermination camp ...
. Gabriele died while they were imprisoned there. Bernstein is listed among those prisoners whose works are noted in the
Theresienstadt Papers The Theresienstadt Papers (in German original Theresienstadt-Konvolut) are a collection of historical documents of the Jewish self-government of Theresienstadt concentration camp. These papers include an "A list" of so-called "prominents" interne ...
. After her liberation in 1945, Elsa Bernstein used a special typewriter for the blind to write a detailed account of her confinement in the camp's ''Prominentenhaus'', or ''House of Notables''. More than five decades after her death, the typescript was discovered by accident and published in German under the title of, '' Das Leben als Drama. Erinnerungen an Theresienstadt''.


Death

Bernstein died, aged 82, in 1949 in Hamburg-Eimsbüttel. Although buried in the same grave as her husband, her name is no longer legible on their shared headstone.


Literary works

;Under the pseudonym "Ernst Rosmer" * '' Dämmerung'' (Play, 1893) * ' (Drama, 1893) * ''Madonna'' (Novel, 1894) * ''
Königskinder ' (German for ''King's Children'' or “Royal Children”) is a stage work by Engelbert Humperdinck that exists in two versions: as a melodrama and as an opera or more precisely a ''Märchenoper''. The libretto was written by Ernst Rosmer (pen ...
'' (Fairy-tale drama, 1895; set to music in 1895 by Engelbert Humperdinck) * ''
Tedeum ''Tedeum'' (internationally released as ''Sting of the West'', ''Father Jackleg'' and ''Con Men'') is a 1972 Italian Spaghetti Western film directed by Enzo G. Castellari. The title role was initially offered to Tomas Milian, who eventually refus ...
'' (Comedy, 1896) * ''
Themistokles Themistocles (; grc-gre, wikt:Θεμιστοκλῆς, Θεμιστοκλῆς; c. 524–459 BC) was an Classical Athens, Athenian politician and General officer, general. He was one of a new breed of non-aristocratic politicians who ros ...
'' (Tragedy, 1897) * ''
Mutter Maria. Totengedicht in fünf Wandlungen Mutter may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Mutter (album), ''Mutter'' (album), a 2001 album by Rammstein ** Mutter (song), "Mutter" (song), a song by Rammstein * The Mother (Brecht play), ''The Mother'' (play) or , a play by Bertolt Brecht Oth ...
'' (1900) * ''
Merete Merete is a given name. Notable people with the given name include: *Merete Agerbak-Jensen (born 1967), Norwegian politician *Merete Ahnfeldt-Mollerup (born 1963), Danish architect, university professor and writer *Merete Alfsen (born 1950), Norwe ...
'' (1902) * '' Dagny'' (Drama, 1904) * ''
Johannes Herkner Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as " John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, '' Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' ...
'' (Play, 1904) ;As "Elsa Bernstein" * '' Nausikaa'' (Tragedy, 1906) * ''
Maria Arndt Maria Arndt, also known as Maria Staworzyńska and Maria Blank (20 October 1929 – 6 April 2000) was a Polish sprinter. She competed in the women's 200 metres at the 1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialais ...
'' (Play, 1908) * ''
Achill Achill Island (; ga, Acaill, Oileán Acla) in County Mayo is the largest of the Irish isles, and is situated off the west coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It has a population of 2,594. Its area is . Achill is attached to the mainland by ...
'' (Tragedy, 1910) * '' Das Leben als Drama. Erinnerungen an Theresienstadt'' (Concentration camp diary, published posthumously in 1999)


References


Sources

* Jürgen Joachimsthaler: Max Bernstein. Kritiker, Schriftsteller, Rechtsanwalt (1854-1925). Frankfurt/M. et al. 1995. Biography about her husband, containing much biographical material about her as well. * Ulrike Zophoniasson-Baierl: ''Elsa Bernstein alias Ernst Rosmer''. Bern et al. 1985.


Bibliography of the Jewish Encyclopedia

* ''
Das Jüngste Deutschland Das or DAS may refer to: Organizations * Dame Allan's Schools, Fenham, Newcastle upon Tyne, England * Danish Aviation Systems, a supplier and developer of unmanned aerial vehicles * Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad, a former Colombia ...
'', pp. 317–20 *
Kürschner Kürschner is a German-language occupational surname literally meaning "furrier". Notable people with the surname include: * Izidor "Dori" Kürschner (1885–1940), a Hungarian football (soccer) player and coach * Joseph Kürschner (1853–1902), ...
, ''
Deutscher Litteratur-Kalender Deutscher is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alma Deutscher, British musician and composer * Drafi Deutscher, German singer and composer * Guy Deutscher (linguist) * Guy Deutscher (physicist) * Isaac Deutscher, Britis ...
'', 1901, pg. 91 * '' Lexikon Deutscher Frauen der Feder'', i. 61; ** ib. ii. 203.S : {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernstein, Elsa 1866 births 1949 deaths 19th-century Austrian Jews Austrian women dramatists and playwrights 19th-century German dramatists and playwrights 20th-century German dramatists and playwrights German women dramatists and playwrights Jewish dramatists and playwrights Dachau concentration camp survivors Theresienstadt Ghetto survivors 20th-century German women writers 19th-century Austrian women writers 19th-century German women writers 20th-century Austrian women writers 19th-century Austrian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Austrian dramatists and playwrights Austrian salon-holders