Fanny von Arnstein

Baroness
Fanny von Arnstein
Born
Vögele Itzig

(1758-09-29)29 September 1758
Berlin
Died8 June 1818(1818-06-08) (aged 59)
near Vienna
Occupations
  • Socialite
  • salonnière

Baroness Franziska "Fanny" von Arnstein (29 September 1758 – 8 June 1818), born Vögele Itzig, was a Viennese socialite and salonnière and a supporter of both Mozart and Beethoven.

Biography

Fanny Arnstein was born in Berlin, the daughter of Daniel Itzig, a banker.[1] She was a member of the extensive and influential Jewish Itzig family.

She married the banker Nathan Adam von Arnstein, a partner in the firm of Arnstein and Eskeles; her sister Cäcilie von Eskeles was married to the other partner, Bernhard von Eskeles. They brought the social influences of Berlin, notably the concept of the intellectual salon, to the Vienna of Joseph II.[2] The Arnstein mansion at Vienna and her villas at Schönbrunn and Baden bei Wien were regularly used for hospitality. She was also involved in charitable works. Mozart would frequently be a guest performer during the early days of the salon and the Arnstein’s would also attend Mozart’s subscription concerts.

Her salon was known for attracting individuals of intellect and brilliance.[1][3] During the Vienna Congress the Arnstein salon was frequented by celebrities including Beethoven, Wellington, Talleyrand, Hardenberg, Rahel Varnhagen and her husband, the Schlegels, Justinus Kerner, Karoline Pichler, and Zacharias Werner. She was one of the founders of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde and was herself a skilled musician, particularly on the pianoforte.[4]

In 1814, Fanny von Arnstein introduced a new custom from Berlin, hitherto unknown in Vienna: the Christmas tree.[5]

Her only daughter, Henrietta, Baroness Pereira-Arnstein, was also a skilled musician and a regular correspondent of her cousin, Lea Salomon, wife of Abraham Mendelssohn and mother of Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn (who was named after Fanny Arnstein).

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Parsons, Nicholas (2008-12-16). Vienna: A Cultural History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-970454-5.
  2. ^ Berger, Natalia (2017-10-02). The Jewish Museum: History and Memory, Identity and Art from Vienna to the Bezalel National Museum, Jerusalem. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-35388-6.
  3. ^ Shapira, Elana (2018-10-01). Design Dialogue: Jews, Culture and Viennesse Modernism: Design Dialog: Juden, Kultur und Wiener Moderne. Böhlau Wien. ISBN 978-3-205-20637-8.
  4. ^ November, Nancy (2024-01-18). Opera in the Viennese Home from Mozart to Rossini. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-009-40980-3.
  5. ^ "News Detail". Jüdisches Museum Wien (in German). Retrieved 2021-09-20.

Bibliography

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