Richard Wagner Association
The Richard-Wagner-Verband International e. V. as an umbrella organization, global local associations support the Richard Wagner Scholarship Foundation for young music students, singers and instrumentalists who are worthy of support, in order to enable them to visit the Bayreuth Festival by providing the necessary funds.
Purpose of the association
The Richard Wagner Association (RWV) has been collecting money since 1909 to pass it on to the Richard Wagner Scholarship Foundation in Bayreuth . These funds are used exclusively to purchase festival tickets, which selected candidates receive as grants. The foundation also pays for travel and accommodation costs if they are in need. The main criterion for the selection is an above-average musical talent. Such a scholarship has a material value of around 700 euros. The 3 performances in Bayreuth go to 250 scholars worldwide each year. The financial basis is created by the individual, independently active local associations that exist in all major cities in the Federal Republic. Membership fees and the proceeds from events go to the benefit of the scholarship foundation (lectures, chamber music, recitals), whereby the presentation of young soloists is another concern of the RWV. Successful artist personalities such as Gerd Albrecht , Hildegard Behrens , Franz Crass , Katarina Dalayman , Diana Damrau , Helga Dernesch , Christoph Eschenbach , Mihoko Fujimura , Günther Groissböck , Mirella Hagen, Franz Hawlata , Klaus Hirte , Andreas Hörl , Peter Hofmann , Heinrich Hollreiser , Gundula Janowitz , Manfred Jung , Anja Kampe , Jonas Kaufmann , Michaela Kaune , Johannes Martin Kränzle , Petra Lang , Uwe Eric Laufenberg , Catarina Ligendza , Ralf Lukas, Hillevi Martinpelto , Christoph Ulrich Meier , Waltraud Meier , Ricarda Merbeth, Kurt Moll , Judit Nemeth, Allison Oakes, Alexandra Petersamer , Julia Rutigliano, Birgit Remmert , Dorothea Röschmann , Detlef Roth , Roberto Sacca , Manfred Schenk, Andreas Schmidt , Wolfgang Schmidt , Peter Schneider , Robert Schunk , Michaela Schuster, Anne Schwanewilms , Daniela Sindram , Doris Soffel , Hans Sotin , Bryn Terfel , Iréne Theorin , Christian Thielemann , Juha Uusitalo, Violeta Urmana , Stefan Vinke , Michael Volle , Okka von der Dammerau, Yvonne Wiedstruck, Sebastian Weigle , Ortrun Wenkel , Erwin Wohlfarth, Hans Zender , Georg Zeppenfeld , Ruth Ziesak and many others testify to the timeless relevance of the foundation's concept. As former scholarship holders, they were sent to Bayreuth by the RWV.
history
First of all, two important facts about Richard Wagner's relationship with Leipzig should be mentioned, which is why the following associations were founded in Leipzig. Firstly, he was born in Leipzig in 1813 and, secondly, he began studying music in Leipzig in 1831, albeit not for long.
In 1871 Emil Heckel founded the German General Richard Wagner Society in Mannheim . By Friedrich Wilhelm von Schoen from Worms came in 1883 in Bayreuth establishing a Richard Wagner Scholarship Foundation. The suggestion came from Richard Wagner himself. In 1880, Schoen became chairman of the executive committee of the Wagner associations. He was the founder and head of the Richard Wagner Scholarship Foundation from 1882 to February 6, 1892 and from 1907 to 1914.
In 1908 a young teacher, Anna Held, lived in Leipzig, who found that not only large amounts help, but that many small amounts achieve just as much in the end. On February 13, 1909, she founded the Richard Wagner Association of German Women (RWVdF) in the Society House of the Palmengarten , which set itself the task of supporting the scholarship foundation initiated by Richard Wagner, which in turn made it possible for those with less financial means to attend the Bayreuth Festival. So "small amounts" flowed from donations and contributions from members and surpluses from events of the Scholarship Foundation in Bayreuth . However, the suggestion came from another side in view of the alarming balance of debts of the Bayreuth Festival of 1908 in the amount of 121,800 marks by the writer Carl Siegmund Benedict . who also had a biography of the composer published. It was about nothing less than maintaining the festival hall and its operations in general. Crown Princess Cecilie von Prussia made herself available as patron in 1910 after the chairmen of the local associations asked her to do so in a letter signed by them. It should be noted, however, that the academic Richard Wagner Associations that emerged in 1872 also played a certain role in promoting Richard Wagner's work at the university locations. B. the Richard Wagner Association Vienna refers to the Vienna Academic Richard Wagner Association. However, it took several attempts, 1872, 1880, 1883/84, until 1887 z. B. in Berlin or Leipzig these could establish themselves permanently. In contrast to the Richard Wagner Association of German Women, it was not about a scholarship foundation, but about the appropriation of Richard Wagner's work within the framework of student corporate sociability combined with lectures. But with National Socialism it came to an end around 1935. It should be noted that on March 5, 1883, one month after Richard Wagner's death, there was a funeral for Richard Wagner in Vienna . Academic Richard Wagner associations were not involved, however.
The First World War marked a turning point in activity . Even before it erupted, efforts were made to erect a monument for Richard Wagner in Leipzig. The rest of the story about this project left ambivalent impressions and cannot be counted as a pure success story. This did not leave the Leipzig daily press unaffected.
However, in 1919 another general meeting took place in Hanover and then continued continuously: every year in a different local association. The association grew steadily despite the difficult times around the 1930s.
The next big turning point in the work of the association brought the end of the Second World War , because the work of the association continued during the war. The incoming funds were collected, however, so that at the end of the war there was a very large fortune in the scholarship foundation. Like all other associations, the Richard Wagner Association of German Women was dissolved in 1945.
In October 1947, the main association managed to obtain a work permit from Hanover. The first general meeting after the Second World War took place on June 12, 1949 in Hanover. At this meeting it was decided to change the name of the association to the Richard Wagner Association with a view to expanding the possibilities (women and men of all professions and educational levels can become members) .
As early as 1951, 219 scholarships were awarded for 16,000 DM. Every scholarship holder was given the opportunity to attend 2 performances, and those from the neighboring cities of Bayreuth were given 1 performance each.
Such a perspective did not exist in the area of the Soviet occupation zone and later GDR . There was no re-admission, nor were scholarship holders sent to Bayreuth. Werner P. Seiferth describes in his book what the maintenance of Richard Wagner's work in the GDR looked like. The Wagner year 1983 marked a certain turning point, which is why Wagner was increasingly featured on the opera houses' repertoire. An international colloquium on the life and work of Richard Wagner took place in Leipzig. As a result, Werner Wolf was able to set up a "Richard Wagner Circle of Friends" under the umbrella of the Leipzig City Association of the GDR Cultural Association, from which the Richard Wagner Association Leipzig e. V. grew up.
In 1991 the Richard Wagner Verband International was founded in Lyon . The Richard Wagner Association International comprises 132 associations with around 20,000 members, 46 of which are in Germany and 86 in European and non-European associations. Since the establishment of the scholarship foundation, exactly 20,633 scholarship holders (until 2018) have been invited to Bayreuth. Between 1951 and 2002 alone, the Wagner associations paid in DM 3.8 million for scholarship holders from the post-war period until the euro was introduced.
Chairman and President
- 1909–1914: Margarethe Strauss, Magdeburg
- 1914–1943: Marianne Lange, Hanover
- 1943–1968: Lotte Albrecht-Potonié, Hanover
- 1968–1981: Mercedes Bahlsen, Hanover
- 1981–1988: Helmut Goldmann, Nuremberg
- 1988–2008: Josef Lienhart, Freiburg i. Br.
- 2008–2014: Eva Märtson, Hanover
- 2014–2015: Thomas Krakow, Leipzig
- 2015–2019: Horst Eggers, Bayreuth
- from 2019: Rainer Fineske, Berlin
Association activities
Every year members of the local associations come together for the International Richard Wagner Congress to exchange experiences and to plan for the future in working sessions. Before that, there were general meetings of the RWVdF and federal meetings of the RWV. The congresses always take place in other cities:
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Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ On Wagner's student days: Horst Grimm, Leo Besser-Walzel: Die Corporationen . Frankfurt am Main 1986. Richard Wagner, Gregor-Dellin (ed.): My life . Munich 1983, p. 51 ff. On this also Frank Huss: Richard Wagner as a corps student . In: Studenten-Kurier , 4/2006, p. 16, with clarification by Weiß: Richard Wagner's failed contrahages . In: Studenten-Kurier , 1/2007, p. 3, 4. Mario Todte: The Academic Richard Wagner Society Leipzig (1872-1937) . In: GDS-Archiv , 10, 2014, pp. 99–118. Here p. 100 f.
- ↑ Österreichische Musikzeitschrift 18/1 (1963), p. 42.
- ^ The protocol books of the Richard Wagner Association of German Women e. V. , arr. by Günther W. Wilberg. Freiburg i. Br. 1993, p. IX.
- ^ The protocol books of the Richard Wagner Association of German Women e. V., arr. by Günther W. Wilberg, Freiburg i. Br. 1993, p. IIX and p. 308-313.
- ^ Carl Siegmund Benedict: Richard Wagner. His life in letters . Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig 1913.
- ^ The protocol books of the Richard Wagner Association of German Women e. V. , arr. by Günther W. Wilberg. Freiburg i. Br. 1993, p. 324 ff.
- ↑ Veit Veltzke: From patron to paladin. Wagner associations in the empire from the founding of the empire to the turn of the century . Bochum 1987, p. 337 (= Bochum Historical Studies, Modern History , No. 5). Harald Lönnecker: Wagnerians at the University - The Association of Academic Richard Wagner Associations (VARWV) . In: then and now . Yearbook of the Association for Corporate Student History Research, pp. 91–120. Here p. 98 note 25.
- ↑ richardwagnerverband.at burschenschaftsgeschichte.de (PDF)
- ↑ Mario Todte: The Academic Richard Wagner Society Leipzig (1872-1937) . In: GDS archive , pp. 99–118. Here p. 106.
- ^ Peter Uhrbach: Richard Wagner's work in Leipzig. A documentation (= Leipzig contributions to Wagner research , Volume 7, edited by the Richard Wagner Association Leipzig). Sax-Verlag, Beucha-Markkleeberg 2018. ISBN 978-3-86729-199-6 On the Academic Richard Wagner Society Leipzig, especially pp. 255–261.
- ↑ Harald Seewann : The Richard Wagner Mourning Comers. Vienna, March 5, 1883. A documentation (134 pages). Self-published, Graz 2016.
- ↑ wagner-verband-leipzig.de (PDF)
- ↑ Harald Otto: It dares in Leipzig: Stations and considerations . In: Pro Leipzig, Leipzig 2012, pp. 173–195.
- ↑ Thomas Mayer: Search for traces for Richard Wagner: For a memorial on a tour of Germany from Leipzig to Bayreuth and Kiefernfelden . In: LVZ , 9/10. February 2008.
- ^ Werner P. Seiferth: Richard Wagner in the GDR - attempt to take stock (= Leipzig contributions to Wagner research , 4). Sax-Verlag, Markkleeberg 2012, ISBN 978-3-86729-096-8
- ↑ Richard Wagner Association Leipzig e. V. (Hrsg.): International Colloquium 1983 in Leipzig Richard Wagner Life, Work and Interpretation (= Leipzig contributions to Wagner research 2), Sax-Verlag Beucha 2010. ISBN 978-3-86729-046-3
- ^ Werner P. Seiferth: Richard Wagner in the GDR - attempt to take stock (= Leipzig contributions to Wagner research , 4). Sax-Verlag, Markkleeberg 2012, ISBN 978-3-86729-096-8 , p. 164 f.
- ↑ 25 years Richard Wagner Association Leipzig 1983–2008: 100 Years Richard Wagner Association, ed. from the Richard-Wagner-Verband Leipzig e. V. With contributions by Frank Dietze, Andreas Fiebig, Thomas Krakow, Ursula Oehme, Eleonore Petzoldt, Reinhard Pfundt, Mario Todte, Werner Wolf, Leipzig 2009.