History

Wahnfried Archives / Richard-Wagner-Archives (RWA)

Portfolio Stock: Richard and Cosima Wagner’s estate

Location: Festival House and Wahnfried House

Body Responsible: The Wagner Family (until 1973), The Richard-Wagner-Foundation (since 1973)

Direction: 1932 – 1953: Dr. Otto Strobel (*20 August 1895, + 23 February 1953), 1953 – 1976: Gertrud Strobel (* 20 March 1898, + 11 June 1979),
1976 – 1993: Dr. Manfred Eger (*17 September 1927) as scientific director of the Richard-Wagner-Foundation,
since 1993: Dr. Sven Friedrich (*05 April 1963) as scientific director of the Richard-Wagner-Foundation.

History: Family archives 1976 transferred into the National Archives of the Richard-Wagner-Foundation, founded in 1973

Richard-Wagner-Research-Institute (RWRI)

Portfolio: Special Library,

Body Responsible: Reichskanzlei, Municipality of Bayreuth

Direction: Dr. Otto Strobel, Municipal Librarian and Archivist of the Wahnfried House, Wolfgang Wagner (interim 1952 / 1953)

History: Initiated by the Mayors Karl Keller and Dr. Otto Schmidt on 16 March 1938 by arrangement with Winifred Wagner through her intervention an according memorandum was passed on  to Hitler. The involvement of the Reichskanzlei by Winifred Wagner took place for removing the Richard-Wagner-Foundation from the sphere of influence of the temporary Mayor Gauleiter Wächtler after Schmidt’s retirement. The opening took place according to order of the Fuehrer on 13 February 1939, the closing 1 April 1945.
19 June 1952: Transfer of the property as former possession of the Reich to the town council of Bayreuth with the purpose of creating Richard-Wagner-Archives by order of the Bavarian State Treasury Department.
Decision of the Bayreuth Town Council of 11 February 1952: A merging with the Richard-Wagner-Museum was planned, however, a provisional storage in the Festival House with the interim direction by Wolfgang Wagner was executed.
03 July 1952: The portfolio was taken over into the RWA in the Festival House by Dr. Otto Strobel.
1953: Return and integration of the portfolio to and into the town’s Richard-Wagner-Memorial.

Richard-Wagner-Memorial (RWM)

Portfolio: Estate C. F. Glasenapp (+ / deceased 1915 in Riga), later Wolzogen and Bartsch Library, Bales Collection (Freeman of Bayreuth in 1926)

Location: 1924 – 1927: Glasenapp Memorial Room with following Richard-Wagner-Parlor, for the first time in H. Wallem’s private apartment, Friedrichstraße 19, Bayreuth.
1976: Transfer in the exhibition of the Richard-Wagner-Museum in the Wahnfried House and the National Archives of the Richard-Wagner-Foundation.
Administration: 1976 – 1992 in the Chamberlain House, Wahnfriedstraße 1, 95444 Bayreuth / Germany.
Since 1993 in the Siegfried-Wagner-House, Richard-Wagner-Straße 48, 95444 Bayreuth / Germany.

Body Responsible: Town of Bayreuth (since 1927)

Direction: 1924 – 1953: Miss Helena Wallem (*28 June 1873, +27 June 1953), C. F. Glasenapp’s student and secretary, moved to Bayreuth in 1921
1953 – 1973: Dr. Joachim Bergfeld (*15 November 1906, +06 November 1988)
1973 – 1993: Dr. Manfred Eger (since 01 March)
Since 1993: Dr. Sven Friedrich (since 01 May)

History: Helena Wallem started to obtain “codicils” by the founders of the RWM supposed to exclude Dr. Strobel from the access to the RWM – not at last because of the successful exhibition “Genius Working” by Dr. Strobel with autographs of the Wahnfried Archives. Further aggravation by the new production of “Parsifal”: Opposition against Winifred Wagner and Dr. Otto Strobel by Daniela Thode, Eva Chamberlain and Helena Wallem.
Conditions (death of Eva Chamberlain on 26 May 1942): Chamberlain Estate (amongst others library with 12,500 books) under administration and as part of the RWM / NA up to now in the 2nd floor of the Chamberlain House.
1976 dissolution of the RWM in the New Palace (Neues Schloss) and transfer of the portfolio as well as of the library with 11,000 books into the Richard-Wagner-Museum as items on loan of the Town of Bayreuth.

Richard-Wagner-Foundation (RWF)

Portfolio: Richard-Wagner-Museum with National Archives and Research Institute

Location: Town Hall of Bayreuth / Wahnfried House

Body Responsible: Public body

Direction: Board of Foundation, Council of Foundation,
Dr. Manfred Eger, scientific director from 1976 – 1993.
Dr. Sven Friedrich, scientific director since 1993

History: Idea of a foundation first expressed by Siegfried Wagner in 1914 (interview with the München – Augsburger Abendzeitung, quoted in Karbaum II, page 57), established in 1973,
After merging of RWM and RWA (Wahnfried Archives): “National Archives and Research Institute of the Richard-Wagner-Foundation Bayreuth”,
Body responsible of the Richard-Wagner-Museum.

Richard-Wagner-Museum

Portfolio: RWM + RWA

Location: Wahnfried House

Body Responsible: Richard-Wagner-Foundation and the Town of Bayreuth

Direction: 1976 – 1993 Dr. Manfred Eger and since 1993 Dr. Sven Friedrich

History: 1973: Donation of Wahnfried House, half-destroyed in WWII, with premises by Winifred and Wolfgang Wagner to the Town of Bayreuth within the scope of the establishment of the foundation. Reconstruction into the original condition and opening on 24 July 1976. The museum has been closed for visitors because a comprehensive refurbishment and reorganization since 01 September 2010. The presumable reopening is planned for 2013.

Family tree of the families Wagner and Liszt

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Stammbaum-Familie-Wagner-Liszt.pdf