Ellen Franz ( him. Ellen Franz , later Baroness Helena von Heldburg , him. Helene Freifrau von Heldburg ; May 30, 1839 , Naumburg - March 24, 1923 , Meiningen ) - German pianist , stage actress . The third, morganatic spouse of the duke of Saxe-Meiningen, George II .
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Biography
Ellen Franz was born in the family of the director of the trade school. Ellen's mother is a Scottish noblewoman. Ellen grew up in Berlin , where she learned to play the piano with Hans von Bülow . Thanks to the famous conductor, she met Cosima Liszt , the future wife of Richard Wagner , with whom they had a strong friendship for the rest of their lives. Later, Ellen took lessons in performing arts from Fribe Blumawer and Heinrich Marr .
The acting debut took place in 1860 in Gotha . Then Franz served in the theaters of Stettin , Frankfurt an der Oder , Oldenburg and Mannheim . Thanks to the mediation of Shakespeare’s translator and theater director Friedrich von Bodenstedt, Ellen Franz joined the court theater in Meiningen , where she played leading roles until 1873. Already in 1868, Ellen Franz became the mistress of Duke George II of Saxe-Meiningensky , who was the artistic director of the theater and worked on his reformation. Eminent actress Ellen Frantz had a great influence on this work. Thanks to the theatrical reform carried out, the court theater gained world fame.
Herzog George married Franz on March 18, 1873 in the villa of Theodore in Bad Liebenstein . Shortly before the marriage, the duke elevated her to the nobility and conferred the title of Baroness von Heldburg. Ellen Franz became the Duke's third wife. The duke of Saxe-Meiningen's morganatic marriage annoyed Emperor Wilhelm II , who refused to visit Meiningen and the summer ducal residence of Altenstein Castle .
After the death of George II in 1914, Baroness von Heldburg lived mainly on her estate Feste-Heldburg. Since 1918, the widow settled in the Helenensteft Palace, which was specially built for her, now Am Prinzenberg Palace. After her death, she was buried in the same grave with Duke George II at the Park Cemetery in Meiningen.
Notes
- 2 1 2 3 German National Library , Berlin State Library , Bavarian State Library , etc. Record # 118882333 // General Regulatory Control (GND) - 2012—2016.
- ↑ The Peerage
Literature
- Else von Hase-Koehler (Hrsg.): Fünfzig Jahre Glück und Leid. Ein Leben in Briefen aus den Jahren 1873-1923 . 2. Aufl. Koehler & Amelang, Leipzig 1926.
- Eva Hoffmann-Aleith: Ellen Franz , Evangelische Verlagsanstalt Berlin, 1989, ISBN 3-374-00808-9
- Kuratorium Meiningen (Hrsg): Lexikon zur Stadtgeschichte Meiningen. Bielsteinverlag, Meiningen 2008, ISBN 978-3-9809504-4-2 .
- Norbert Klaus Fuchs: Das Heldburger Land-ein historischer Reiseführer; Verlag Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza 2013, ISBN 978-3-86777-349-2
Links
- Semenov I.S. Christian dynasties of Europe