Winifred Wagner

Winifred Wagner

Winifred Marjorie Wagner, born Williams on 23 June 1897 and passed away on 5 March 1980, was an English woman who married into a famous family. Her husband was Siegfried Wagner, the son of the well-known composer Richard Wagner.

After her husband died in 1930, Winifred took over running the Bayreuth Festival, a special event celebrating her father-in-law's music.

During her time leading the festival, Winifred became friends with Adolf Hitler, who also loved Richard Wagner's music. They wrote letters to each other often. Her support for Hitler caused some people to view her negatively, especially after World War II ended in 1945, when she stopped running the festival.

Biography

Winifred Marjorie Wagner was born Winifred Marjorie Williams in Hastings. After losing her parents, she was raised by different families. She was later adopted by a German couple. She met Siegfried Wagner, the son of famous composer Richard Wagner, at the Bayreuth Festival. They married in 1915. After his death in 1930, she helped lead the festival until the end of World War II.

Winifred met Adolf Hitler in 1923. Hitler loved Richard Wagner's music and often stayed at their home, Haus Wahnfried, in Bayreuth. Though she said she did not support his political party, she stayed close to him. After the war, she was not allowed to lead the festival anymore, but she stayed active in political circles until she died in 1980 at the age of 82 in Überlingen.

In popular culture

The friendship between Winifred Wagner and Adolf Hitler was shown in a story called Winnie and Wolf written by A.N. Wilson in 2007. Another play from 1982 named The Music Keeper by Elliot Tiber and André Ernotte happens two days before Wagner passed away and talks about her relationship with Hitler.