Mathilde Wesendonck

Wesendonck, Mathilde (Elberfeld, 1828-1902, Traunblick, Traunsee, Austria), née Luckemeyer, married Otto Wesendonck, a businessman with interests in Switzerland and America. When Wesendonck invited R. Wagner to stay on his estate in 1857, Wagner fell in love with his hostess, and after his departure in 1858 they corresponded. Mathilde wrote poetry, and at this time (1857-8) Wagner set five of her poems, Fünf Gedichte für eine Frauenstimme (‘Der Engel’, ‘Stehe still’, ‘Im Treibhaus’, ‘Schmerzen’, and ‘Träume’).

Frau Wesendonck wrote industriously. Her works include Märchen und Märchen-Spiele (1864), Deutsches Kinderbuch in Wort und Bild (1869), Gedichte, Volks-weisen, Legenden und Sagen (1875), and Alte und neue Kinderlieder (1900), as well as war poetry (Patriotische Gedichte, 1870) and plays (Gudrun, 1868; Friedrich der Große, 1871; Edith oder Die Schlacht bei Hastings, 1872; Kalypso, 1875; Odysseus, 1878; and Alkestis, 1881). Her diaries and correspondence with Wagner covering the years 1853-71 appeared in 1904, and correspondence conducted with J. Brahms, Ein Briefwechsel, ed. E. H. Müller von Asow, in 1943.