Josephine von Wertheimstein

Josephine von Wertheimstein, early 1870s

Grave of the von Wertheimstein family in the Dobling cemetery

Josephine von Wertheimstein (born November 19, 1820 in Brno , † July 16, 1894 in Vienna ) was a salonnière of the Viennese Ringstrasse epoch .

Life

Josephine Gomperz came from a respected and wealthy family . She was the daughter of Philipp Josua Feibelman Gomperz (1782-1857) and Henriette Gomperz, née Auspitz (1792-1881). She was also the sister of the classical philologist Theodor Gomperz and the major entrepreneurs Max von Gomperz and Julius von Gomperz and the aunt of the philosopher Heinrich Gomperz . Her younger sister Sophie von Todesco , like Josephine, was to become known as a Salonnière.

Josephine, a spirited and attractive girl, enjoyed a good education and at the age of 23 married Leopold von Wertheimstein, the authorized signatory of the Rothschild bank in Vienna , who was 18 years older . The Wertheimstein's apartment in Singerstrasse became a meeting place for critics of the pre-March regime. In 1844 and 1847 the two children Franziska and Carl were born. The marriage was not happy, however, and Josephine had psychosomatic problems that led to lengthy spa stays. From 1866 onwards, severe depression followed the unexpected death of her 19-year-old son Carl.

After moving to the former villa of Rudolf von Arthaber in Oberdöbling , the Salon Wertheimstein was re-established, a meeting place for liberal personalities in Vienna. The lifelong unmarried daughter Franziska played a major role in this. Ferdinand von Saar , Franziska's admirer, who had an intensive correspondence with mother and daughter Wertheimstein for more than three decades, was the preferred house guest at Villa Wertheimstein . Josephine, however, withdrew around the mid-1880s due to increasing weakness and again spent years on spa stays, accompanied by her devoted daughter.

It rests in an honorary grave in the Döblinger Friedhof (group I1, row G1, number 1) in Vienna.

literature

• Ernst Kobau: "The years of flight are restless ...". Josephine and Franziska von Wertheimstein, Ferdinand von Saar . Böhlau Verlag, Vienna 1997. ISBN 978-3-205-98624-9 .
• R. Müller:  Wertheimer von Wertheimstein, Josephine Edle. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 16, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1957–2013, p. 147 f. (Direct links on p. 147 , p. 148 ).

Web links

Commons : Josephine von Wertheimstein  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Josephine von Wertheimstein in the database Women in Motion 1848–1938 of the Austrian National Library