Ruth Wenger

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Claudia Ruth Wenger (born October 31, 1897 in Basel ; † May 30, 1994 in Weimar ) was a Swiss concert singer ( soprano ) and painter, who also called herself Claudia as an artist .

Life

Ruth Wenger was the second daughter of the Swiss painter and children's book author Lisa Wenger (1858–1941) and the factory owner Théo Wenger (1868–1928), the owner of the “Swiss cutlery factory” Wenger . One of the three daughters of her older sister Eva (1891–1959) was the artist Meret Oppenheim .

In 1919 Ruth Wenger met the writer Hermann Hesse , who was 20 years her senior, in Ticino while she was spending the summer in Carona with her parents . Both loved each other very much, but had doubts whether this love should be sealed by marriage, because the interests and character peculiarities of the two were too different. They met frequently, but briefly, either in Carona or in Basel, where Ruth Wenger studied singing, flute and piano. She married Hesse on January 11, 1924 after his divorce from his first wife Maria Bernoulli (1868–1963), one of the first women photographers in Switzerland.

The couple usually lived several hundred kilometers apart. Ruth lived mainly for her numerous pets, which Hermann Hesse was of little interest. The marriage was maintained for three years until, after a brief love affair with the painter Karl Hofer , Ruth filed for divorce in January 1927, which was pronounced on April 24, 1927 in Basel. Hesse unwillingly and not unconditionally agreed to the divorce.

She later married the actor Erich Haußmann and in 1935 had a son, Ezard Haußmann . Ezard was brought up in a Swiss monastery boarding school with the support of Hermann Hesse after his parents were arrested in France during the Second World War. Due to personal relationships between Ruth Haußmann and GDR culture minister Johannes R. Becher , the family moved to the GDR in 1956 .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Elke Minkus: Hermann Hesse: "Dear Heart!" - Correspondence with his second wife Ruth. (PDF; 26 kB)
  2. ^ A b Hermann Hesse's second wife Ruth Wenger
  3. ↑ Eckart Kleßmann: "Dear Heart!" Hermann Hesse's correspondence with his second wife Ruth. (PDF; 79 kB)
  4. ^ Meeting with Hermann Hesse. In: Hamburger Abendblatt , July 26, 2007.
  5. ↑ Marcel Piethe: I couldn't help it. In: Mulbeerblatt , Kulturmagazin from February 5, 2011.
personal data
SURNAME Wenger, Ruth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wenger, Claudia Ruth; Hesse, Ruth; Haussmann, Ruth; Claudia (pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss singer, wife of Hermann Hesse and later Erich Haußmann
DATE OF BIRTH October 31, 1897
PLACE OF BIRTH Basel
DATE OF DEATH May 30, 1994
Place of death Weimar