Hanna Fuchs-Robettin (1896–1964) (née Werfel) was the sister of Franz Werfel, wife of Herbert Fuchs-Robettin, and mistress of Alban Berg. Berg secretly and cryptically dedicated his Lyric Suite to her.
Born in Prague (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), Hanna was the second of three children of Rudolf Werfel, a wealthy manufacturer of gloves and leather goods. Her mother, Albine Kussi, was the daughter of a mill owner. Her brother Franz was born in 1890 and her sister Marianne Amalie was born in 1899. [1] Her father's ancestors were German-Bohemian Jews, including a great grandfather who had served in Napoleon's Russian campaign as a courier. Her grandfather had come to Prague where he made and lost a fortune. His son (Hanna's father) rebuilt the family wealth. Hanna grew up in a stylish house on Marienstrasse in the New Town where the children were nurtured by a Czech Catholic woman named Babi. Babi would take the children with her to church and the family made regular attendance at the Maisel Synagogue. The Werfels were assimilated Jews with a strong interest in music and theatre, which they attended often. [1]
Hanna married Herbert Fuchs-Robettin and had two children: Munzo (born about 1917) and Dorothea (known as Dodo). Hanna was known by the nickname Mopinka. [2] Her husband was a Prague industrialist with a great enthusiasm for music.
In May 1925 Hanna began an affair with a friend of her husband, the Austrian composer Alban Berg. [2] Over the next year Berg wrote his Lyric Suite, which used a combination of his initials and those of Hanna (HF) as well as a melodic quote from Alexander von Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony, which originally set the words "You are mine own". [3] He gave an annotated copy of the score to Hanna, who bequeathed it to her daughter Dorothea. This score is now in the Austrian National Library. [4] The annotation reads in part:
In 1976 fourteen of Berg's letters to Hanna were discovered in her papers. Some had been carried between them by Theodor Adorno [6] and by Alma Mahler-Werfel. [7]
Berg died in 1935. Hanna and Herbert fled Prague to escape Nazi persecution as Jews and moved to New York City. [7] Her husband died in 1949 aged 63. She survived him by nearly 15 years.
Hanna Fuchs-Robettin (1896–1964) (née Werfel) was the sister of Franz Werfel, wife of Herbert Fuchs-Robettin, and mistress of Alban Berg. Berg secretly and cryptically dedicated his Lyric Suite to her.
Born in Prague (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), Hanna was the second of three children of Rudolf Werfel, a wealthy manufacturer of gloves and leather goods. Her mother, Albine Kussi, was the daughter of a mill owner. Her brother Franz was born in 1890 and her sister Marianne Amalie was born in 1899. [1] Her father's ancestors were German-Bohemian Jews, including a great grandfather who had served in Napoleon's Russian campaign as a courier. Her grandfather had come to Prague where he made and lost a fortune. His son (Hanna's father) rebuilt the family wealth. Hanna grew up in a stylish house on Marienstrasse in the New Town where the children were nurtured by a Czech Catholic woman named Babi. Babi would take the children with her to church and the family made regular attendance at the Maisel Synagogue. The Werfels were assimilated Jews with a strong interest in music and theatre, which they attended often. [1]
Hanna married Herbert Fuchs-Robettin and had two children: Munzo (born about 1917) and Dorothea (known as Dodo). Hanna was known by the nickname Mopinka. [2] Her husband was a Prague industrialist with a great enthusiasm for music.
In May 1925 Hanna began an affair with a friend of her husband, the Austrian composer Alban Berg. [2] Over the next year Berg wrote his Lyric Suite, which used a combination of his initials and those of Hanna (HF) as well as a melodic quote from Alexander von Zemlinsky's Lyric Symphony, which originally set the words "You are mine own". [3] He gave an annotated copy of the score to Hanna, who bequeathed it to her daughter Dorothea. This score is now in the Austrian National Library. [4] The annotation reads in part:
In 1976 fourteen of Berg's letters to Hanna were discovered in her papers. Some had been carried between them by Theodor Adorno [6] and by Alma Mahler-Werfel. [7]
Berg died in 1935. Hanna and Herbert fled Prague to escape Nazi persecution as Jews and moved to New York City. [7] Her husband died in 1949 aged 63. She survived him by nearly 15 years.