In the course of my research into Emilie Goldberger’s musical life, many new details have come to light concerning her family or individual family members who were already known but could only now be linked to family constellations with her that have been rediscovered. This further detective work is due in particular to Bernd-Christoph Kämper, a librarian in Stuttgart, who was ‘infected’ by my Goldberger research and continued to investigate on his own initiative with his excellent knowledge of various search and finding machines.

Bertha Haft

This enabled him to reconstruct the long-lost life data of Emilie Goldberger’s cousin Bertha Haft (1857–1931) and family connections – Bertha Haft’s encyclopaedia article (author: Volker Timmermann) in the Sophie Drinker Institute has yet to be updated.

According to newly discovered sources, she was born on November 6, 1857 in Kremsier/Kroměříž, married the pianist Ludwig/Ludovic Löblsohn Breitner on June 1, 1880 – with Ludwig Bösendorfer, among others, as best man^[1] – and died on June 21, 1931 in her Paris apartment.^[2] Their daughter Marguerite Renée was born on January 24, 1891,^[3] was a member of the electronic music ensemble Les Ondes Martenot led by Ginette Martenot and was active as a pianist and composer.^[4][5] She died on September 3, 1973.^[6] The Haft-Breitner couple had two daughters and two sons,^[7] one of whom, Adrienne, became an actress.^[8] Research has revealed other important networks that will be worth investigating in greater depth.^[9]

I had already come across Bertha Haft earlier in my research into Augsburg’s theater history. She toured Bavaria in 1877 together with the singer Aglaja (von) Orgeni (1841–1926) and the pianist and composer Luise Adolpha Le Beau (1850–1927, also a pupil of Clara Schumann). The latter’s memoirs of a female composer exist – one of the rare testimonies of 19th century female composers in general. In it, she also describes her Augsburg concert in the still old Stadttheater at Lauterlech creek and the preparations for it backstage, but gives no further dates.^[10]

I was able to locate Monday, April 9, 1877 in the Augsburg daily newspapers of the time. On Friday, April 13, 1877,^[11] a review appeared in which Orgeni and Haft were highly praised and Luise Adolpha Le Beau was perceived as a “valiant pianist”, but without “excelling through particularly outstanding performances. People were kind enough to accept her alongside her two accompanists.”^[12] This concert in Augsburg is nevertheless significant, as it was the very last concert in the old Stadttheater before it closed for good in the late summer of 1877. Luise Adolpha Le Beau did not exactly write flatteringly about Bertha Haft: “She was a talented but very restless creature who also made a lot of noise in other respects.”^[13]

A brother, Samuel

The death notice of Emilie Goldberger’s mother Chaje/Anna Goldberger née Haft (see timeline) shows that there were no other living siblings of Emilie at this time (July 1887). Emilie did, however, have a younger brother – Samuel (1857 to July 4, 1863) – who died of “emaciation” in Vienna at Untere Viaduktgasse 5.^[14] There is no further information about the function of this house. Next door at no. 13 was the synagogue of the Landstraße Beth Hachneseth Temple Association until 1938.^[15] Perhaps house no. 5 was an associated hospital?

References
^[1] Matriken der Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde, 1784–1911, Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv, Mikrofilm (online, retrieved June 17, 2024).
^[2] État Civil, Archives de Paris, Paris 15eme, Décès, 2930/1931, p. 312/576 (online, retrieved June 17, 2024).
^[3] France, Index des décès enregistrés par l’Insee, 1970–2022 (online, retrieved June 17, 2024).
^[4] Peter Asimov: Une invention, essentiellement française: seeing and hearing the Ondes Martenot in 1937, in: Florence Gétreau/Marc Battier (Hrsg.): musique. images. instruments. Revue française d’organologie et d’iconographie musicale, No. 17, Paris (CNRS Editions) 2019, p. 107–126 (online, retrieved June 17, 2024).
^[5] Excelsior: Journal illustré quotidien: information, litérature, sciences, arts, sports, théâtre, élégances, March 20, 1911, p. 6.
^[6] openarchives (online, retrieved June 17, 2024).
^[7] The Musical Courier, No. 24, December 13, 1899, p. 9. At this time the Haft-Breitner couple lived in Paris in Rue Daubigny 5.
^[8] L’Initiaion. Revue philosophique des Hautes Études, 87 vol., No. 9, June 1910, S. 268. Marie Alice Adrienne Breitner was born on May 21, 1902 in Nancy and died on January 23, 1986 in Bar-le-Duc, see death files of Bar-le-Duc (online, retrieved June 17, 2024).
^[9] Susanne Wosnitzka: Emilie Goldberger – eine wiederaufgefundene jüdische Clara-Schumann-Schülerin, in: Sabine Meine/Kai Hinrich Müller (Hg.): It’s a Man’s World? Künstlerinnen in Europas Musik-Metropolen des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts. Würzburg (Königshausen & Neumann) 2024, p. 174/175.
^[10] Luise Adolpha Le Beau: Lebenserinnerungen einer Komponistin. Reprint der 1. Auflage von 1910 hgg. von Ulrike Keil anlässlich des 150. Geburtstages der Komponistin. Gaggenau (Willi Bauer) 1999, ISBN 3-00-004321-7.
^[11] Augsburger Neueste Nachrichten, No. 82, April 8, 1877, p. 647.
^[12] Augsburger Neueste Nachrichten, No. 86, April 13, 1877, p. 683.
^[13] Lebenserinnerungen, p. 79/80.
^[14] Matriken der Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde 1784–1911 (online, retrieved June 17, 2024).
^[15] See Wien Geschichte Wiki (retrieved June 17, 2024).