Jörg Brena

Jörg Brena (since 1946; born as Georg Wilhelm Albert Bernhard Prince of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach ) (born November 24, 1921 in Heinrichau Castle in Silesia; † March 11, 2011 in Bad Krozingen in the Black Forest) was a pianist , singer , university lecturer , Reciter and special representative of the Sophienhaus in Weimar .

Life

Georg was the youngest son of the Grand Duke Wilhelm Ernst of Saxony, who ruled until 1918, and of Feodora von Sachsen-Meiningen . He was born in Heinrichau Castle in Silesia, where the family had been living in exile on their private property since the father's forced abdication in autumn 1918. The father died there when Georg was just 31 months old. His older brother was Karl-August (1912–1988), the last Hereditary Grand Duke of Saxony.

In 1946, Georg Prince von Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach adopted the name Jörg Brena as his stage name . In 1953 he had his previous artist name changed to the official name. This happened on January 22nd, on the occasion of his first civil marriage on February 5th.

From her marriage to Gisela (1930–1989), daughter of the Hamburg school principal Wilhelm Erich Jänisch , three daughters were born in the 1950s.

After his death at the age of almost 90 on March 11, 2011 in his last place of residence Bad Krozingen , his body was buried on March 23 in Freiburg im Breisgau , where his mother, the last Grand Duchess of Saxony, also died in 1972.

Training and professional activity

By fleeing from the Soviet troops he came to Northern Bavaria via Meininger Land in 1945 and to the newly founded University of Music Freiburg in 1946 . After completing his piano training, he studied singing from 1949 to 1953. Since 1953 he has been teaching as a singing teacher at the Freiburg University of Music . In 1959 he accepted the call to the Basel Music Academy . Appearances as a song and oratorio singer were followed by appearances as a reciter, from 1975 to 1982 in the Art Ensemble Basel .

Commitment to the Sophienhaus

Jörg Brena returned to Thuringia for the first time in 1991 . There he joined the Board of Trustees of the Sophienhaus Foundation in Weimar , which was founded by his ancestor Grand Duchess Sophie . Since then he has been involved in many charity events for the diaconal institution, from 1997 as a special representative . His mother, Grand Duchess Feodora, was the last head of the Sophienhaus. She died in Freiburg in 1972. At Brena's request, her grave cross was brought to the Sophienhaus in Weimar after the right to use the grave had expired in autumn 2010, where it is to serve as a memorial stone for the princely protectors and the members of the grand ducal house closely associated with the Sophienhaus.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Journal for Thuringian History ZThG, register of places, persons and subjects ( Memento of the original from October 24, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The  archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Volumes 1 (1852/54) –67 (2013) including supplements 1–37
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Michael von Hintzenstern, Jörg Brena died at the age of 89 , obituary in: Thüringer Allgemeine on March 25, 2011 (accessed on October 22, 2014), resp. Michael von Hintzenstern, closely connected to music and Thuringia , obituary in: Glaube und Heimat (Mitteldeutsche Kirchenzeitung) on ​​March 27, 2011 (accessed on October 22, 2014)
3. ↑ ^{a b} Jörg Wilhelm Albrecht Brena on thepeerage.com , accessed on September 11, 2016.
4. ↑ Radio Lotte Weimar on March 24, 2011: Artist and Prince Jörg Brena is buried in Freiburg (accessed on October 22, 2014)
5. ↑ ^{a b} Diakonie Stiftung Sophienhaus Weimar press release of November 8, 2010: Traces of a Grand Duchess in the Sophienhaus (accessed on October 24, 2014)