Winifred Wagner: A Life at the Heart of Hitler's Bayreuth

It would be difficult to match Klingsor Tristan's review of this book so I won't even try! Suffice it to say that throughout her eventful life Winifred Wagner took a postive joy in confounding, confronting and exasperating those around her. She lived by a code of absolute loyalty and stayed true to it whether it meant upsetting family members, Third reich officials, or later those she saw as rehabilitating their former Nazi selves. Hamann's book is a masterpiece of even-handed analysis which ultimately displays a sympathy for the lead protagonist. She never sought personal gain but always worked for the mission of keeping Wagner's legacy alive. The Hitler she came to know and admire was the same personable aesthete who charmed all who met him outside his political role. The Fuhrer's deep love for Wagner and his generosity to the Bayreuth festival made them natural bedfellows. It was written in the stars - Winnie and Wolf. In fact her declining influence with Hitler from the late 30's onwards was as a result of her own obstinate principled stands on behalf of the Festival. She refused to let Nazis interfere in its operation even though she needed their financial assistance. In later years she reinvented herself as the one true unbiddable follower of Hitler when in reality she was too principled and headstrong to march to anyone else's drum. The book is a remarkable glimpse into the Jerry Springeresque infighting that seems a part of Wagnerian family life. It also offers another tantalising insight into the private world of Hitler. If you're looking for a demonic portrait of the Fuhrer look elsewhere (Trevor-Roper, Kershaw). This is a mature reasoned and refresingly unpatronising portrayal of the Reich at a time when it dazzled and blinded those who danced into its flames.

Winifred Wagner lived a long and complicated life. The English orphan was born in Sussex in 1890 living until 1980. She was adopted by distant relatives living in Germany. Winifred as a child lived in music mad Germany where her guardian was known as a man who was friendly with composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883) the great opera composer. Among Wagner's massive musical dramas the most famous include: The Ring Cycle, Tannhaueser, Lohengrin, The Meistersingers of Nuremburg, The Flying Dutchman and Parsifal. Wagner was a rabid anti-semite whose racial poison was passed on to his children and swallowed whole by the gullible Winifred. She and the Wanger family were early supporters of Hitler giving him money and providing a warm family atmosphere for the lonely dictator. Hamann charts the rise and fall of the Nazis to put the situation of the Wagner family in a broader social and political context. Winifred was married off at 18 to Siegrfrid Wagner the son of Richard Wagner and his wife Cosima. Siegfried was 45 and eager for heirs to inherit the Wagner name. Siegrfrid was a mediocre composer of operas which are seldom produced in the 21st century. He and his stern willed mother Cosima both died in 1930. He was bisexual. Winfired was left with the awesome task of In a few years the couple had produced four children: 1. Wieland-The arrogant oldest son who served in a leadership capacity at a satellite concentration camp in Bayreuth. He divorced his wife for a younger woman, was rude and dismissive of his mother's wishes. He tried to distance himself from his Nazi past though he had been beloved by the Fuhrer who kept him out of harm's way during the war. Wieland was the festival director for many years until his early death. I did not find him to be a likeable person. b. Wolfgang was also the Bayreuth Festival Director serving in this capacity for many years following the death of Wieland. He served in the German army during the war. He and his brother both divorced wives for younger women. c. Friedelind was the family rebel. She became an American citizen and emigrated to escape Nazi Germany. She was strongly influenced by her mentor Arturo Toscanini. She wrote a non-complimentary book about the feduing and fighting money hungry Wagner clan. d. Verena was the youngest child who was colorless. She wed an SS officer during the war and lived in Bayreuth as a widow. Winifred Wagner had loving infatuations for the gay English novelist Hugh Walpole and Bayreuth music director Heinz Tietjen. She never remarried following the death of Siegrfried. During World War II she often intervened to save family and friends from the wrath of Nazi justice. She quarreled with such Nazi bigwigs as Himmler, Goebbels and Martin Bormann. Several times she was almost arrested. Following the war she was not imprisoned but suffered through a difficult Denazification court procedure. Birgitte Hamann has done an impeccable job of telling the story of Winifred and her brood

Quite simply one of the greatest historical biographies you can find, and a source of marvelous insights into the Wagner family, the Fuehrer, the great composer himself, and of course Winifred Wagner. I came away with a far deeper understanding of this woman who, unfortunately, was never able to comprehend that the charming man who brought toys for her children and made Bayreuth a national shrine was in truth a demon. And yet despite that, you cannot read this book without feeling a deep sense of sympathy and admiration for this woman, who courageously saved the lives of many Jews and Communists, whom she naively believed were being persecuted by local thugs without the knowledge of her dear friend Hitler. Naive, at times stupid perhaps, but a great woman with an amazingly big heart, a girl brought up in a cruel orphanage in England to become the dowager empress of Bayreuth - an amazing story told with grace, thoroughness and objectivity. Absolutely a must read.

This biography is for those with a deep interest in classical music history, Hitler and the Third Reich. For those who have the particular interest, this book repays close reading. I must personally thank the author, Brigitte Hamann, for the enormous research project she undertook to bring Winifred Wagner to 21st century readers, and to history. Hamann has meticulously read correspondence, archives, newspapers and conducted personal interviews with those still living. And unlike so many researchers, she brought her story to life in readable language. This is a jam-packed history, brimming with event, and I read almost every word with intense interest. Winifred Wagner's purpose in life was the Richard Wagner festival in Bayreuth, and as head of the festival she maintained a close friendship with Hitler, who was her chief sponsor from 1933 to 1944. The source of this partnership was the so-called "spiritual" relationship between the German nationalist ethos of Wagnerism and the theoretical underpinnings of Nazi Germany. Winifred Wagner was a hyper-nationalist and ardent Hitler supporter since the Munich putsch of 1923, she was a strong anti-Semite as her many letters attest; and yet she extended herself for individuals, especially Jews, many of whom she personally helped and who survived Nazi Germany because of her intervention with Hitler on their behalf. This is fully documented in the book. After the war, unlike most Nazis who hastened to obliterate their past, Winifred Wagner was proud of her friendship with Hitler and made no apologies; never did she try to whitewash her history. She was a remarkable, deeply deluded woman, who ran the Bayreuth festival and headed the Wagner family for many years. Her logistical abilities could easily have been put to deadly use in World War II - luckily, she was buried in Bayreuth where she could do the Allies no military harm! There is no doubt that Bayreuth today is implicated and besmirched by its close Nazi ties. This biography is a brilliant accomplishment. Only toward the end does the story begin to flag as Winifred's life winds down in a series of futile family quarrels. But til then it is a fascinating history. Do read it!

One of the most interesting books of the many that have been written about Nazi Germany. The book explains the motivation behind the seeming adoration of Hitler by the Wagner family. Having read Friedelind Wagner's book "Heritage of Fire" , it was very interesting to get a more objective account of those years in Bayreuth. The book can be read on several different perspectives and is carefully document. this is a "saver"