Elsa Reger

Elsa Reger (née von Bagenski; previously von Bercken, 25 October 1870 – 3 May 1951) was a German writer, the wife of the pianist and composer Max Reger, whose memory she kept alive by founding an archive, the Max-Reger-Institute and a foundation, all dedicated to him and his work. The foundation is now named after her.

Elsa Reger
fair use portrait
Born
Margarete Ulrike Augusta Marie Karoline Elsa von Bagenski

(1870-10-25)25 October 1870
Kolberg
Died3 May 1951(1951-05-03) (aged 80)
Bonn
Other namesElsa von Bercken
OccupationWriter
OrganizationMax-Reger-Institute
Spouse(s)
    Franz von Bercken
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1887; div. 1899)​
      ​
      ​
      (m. 1904; died 1916)​
      ChildrenChrista Reger (Marie-Martha Heyer)
      Lotti Reger (Selma Charlotte Meinig)
      Parent(s)Ernst von Bagenski
      Auguste von Seckendorff-Aberdar zur Welt

      Life

      Born as Margarete Ulrike Augusta Marie Karoline Elsa von Bagenski in Kolberg the daughter of Captain Ernst Hugo Robert von Bagenski (or von Bagensteg or von Bagensky) and his wife Auguste (or Augusta) Karoline Josepha Marie Theresia Fanny Olga (née Baroness von Seckendorff-Aberdar zur Welt),[1] she married in 1887 Franz von Bercken.[2] She met Max Reger in 1893, when she spent a summer vacation in Wiesbaden, where she took voice lessons with him. In 1899 she divorced her husband, but first rejected Reger's courting.[1] He composed many songs between 1899 and 1902.[3] They married on 7 December 1902 in Bad Boll and lived in Munich. As she was divorced and a Protestant, the Catholic Reger was excommunicated.[4] Elsa's mother Auguste also moved to Munich where she died in 1904. Elsa followed the composer, whose fame increased, to Leipzig, Meiningen and Jena. She took care of his students as the Regermutter (Reger mother). The couple adopted two daughters, Marie-Martha Heyer (1905–1969), adopted in 1908 as Christa Reger, and Selma Charlotte Meinig (1907–1963), adopted as Lotti Reger in 1909. The relationship was troubled by Reger's depressions and alcoholism.[1][5]

      After her husband's death in 1916, she took care of their daughters and also kept his memory alive. She initiated a Max Reger Archive, published in 1930 an autobiography Mein Leben mit und für Max Reger (My life with and for Reger), published his correspondence and prepared the publication of his works.[5] She founded in 1947 the Max-Reger-Institute with a foundation which was later named after her.[5]

      She died in Bonn in 1951. According to her wish, she was buried on the Alter Friedhof close to Clara Schumann and Maria Magdalena van Beethoven, Beethoven's mother.[1]

      References
      1. Lux, Antonius, ed. (1963). Große Frauen der Weltgeschichte. Tausend Biographien in Wort und Bild (in German). Munich: Sebastian Lux Verlag. p. 386.
      2. Schwalb, Michael, ed. (2018). Max Reger: Der konservative Modernist (in German). Verlag Friedrich Pustet. ISBN 978-3-79-176126-8.
      3. "Max-Reger-Institut in Karlsruhe / "Neue Fülle"" (in German). SWR. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
      4. Historisches Bonn: 3.5.1951: Todestag von Elsa Reger, abgerufen am 16. August 2015
      5. Fischer, Teresa. "Elsa Reger". Musik und Gender im Internet (in German). Musikhochschule Hamburg. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
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