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Christine Wilhelmine "Minna" Planer (5 September 180925 January 1866) was a German actress and the first wife of composer Richard Wagner, to whom she was married for 30 years, although for the last 10 years they often lived apart. At an early age, she had an illegitimate daughter with a Royal Saxon Army officer, whom she raised as her sister. After a stormy courtship, which involved infidelities on both sides, she married Richard Wagner in 1836.
In the early years Minna was the main wage earner in the household, having a successful career as a dramatic heroine who drew both applause for her abilities on stage and admirers for her beauty. She shared in many of the escapades of Wagner's life, including a perilous sea voyage to London, poverty in Paris, and following him around Europe after his involvement in the Dresden uprising of 1849, which led to his banishment from Germany.
After Wagner's affair with Mathilde Wesendonck in 1857, Minna mostly lived apart from him. In later years she developed a heart condition which ultimately claimed her life.
Minna pursued a career as an actress, specialising in female juvenile lead roles ( "Erste Liebhaberin") in tragedy.Burk, John N, (1950). "Letters of Richard Wagner – The Burrell Collection. " page 18. She was in demand by many German theatre companies, and appeared in Dessau, Altenburg, Magdeburg and Dresden before she met Richard Wagner.Burk, 1950. pages 18-19. In a letter dated 27 December 1833, Minna sets out her conditions for employment: she would not accept guest appearances, but expected the leading tragic and young heroine parts. Her fee was 600 thaler plus travelling expenses.Burk, 1950, page 456. While she was praised for her abilities as an actress, her physical charms also brought her admiration. One anonymous suitor wrote to her: "When Nature created you, O Fair One, she broke the mold and never more may create so fair an image. Ah, I have known you long, you splendid creature, beautiful in youth, your lovely image flitting around in my dreams..."Burk, 1950, page 20.
Minna's relationship with Wagner was stormy: Wagner was jealous and possessive and there were frequent loud arguments which usually ended with Minna in tears.Gregor-Dellin, 1983. page 80. However, by the time the company returned to Magdeburg to open the season in October 1834 the two were lovers, and by February 1835 Wagner wrote to his brother Alfred that he and Minna were engaged,Gregor-Dellin, 1983. page 70. although to Wagner's fury Minna continued to be pursued by other suitors. In November 1835 Minna, dissatisfied with the Magdeburg troupe and probably with Wagner as well, left suddenly to take on a role at the Königstadt Theatre in Berlin. Wagner was wild with despair and implored her to come back and marry him.Burk, 1950, pages 31-42. Minna eventually agreed to return, but stayed only to the end of the season in Magdeburg before heading to Königsberg to join the local theatre company, while Wagner looked for work in Berlin.Wagner, Richard, 1992, pages 120-121. Failing in this, he joined Minna in Königsberg and accepted a menial position as a junior conductor. Minna married Wagner in Tragheim Church on 26 November 1836, where they argued even in front of the minister who was to marry them.Burk, 1950, pages 71-72.
Minna was furious with him and after this their relationship cooled irreparably. She considered Zurich a provincial town and lamented the loss of her social position as Frau Kapellmeister. It was only in August of that year that she agreed to rejoin Wagner in Zurich, but it was plain that their world-views were now totally different.Burk, 1950, pages 247-252. Minna could understand his work as a conductor, but increasingly found his operatic works not to her liking. Nevertheless, she was now tied to him since it was unlikely that she would again be able to work on the stage, and she had a horror of ending up in servitude.Burk, 1950, page 372 – 374. Minna also began to show signs of heart disease, for which she was prescribed laudanum.Burk, 1950, note on page 372. Before joining Wagner in Zurich she wrote to him:
My greatest pride and pleasure was seeing you as the head of the greatest orchestra in Germany. You may remember that I missed almost no performance which you conducted, saw only you and was happy. I believed that what I was hearing emanated from you only...the Ninth Symphony will be forever unforgettable to me on account of you. You appeared to me like a God governing all the powerful elements and working enchantments on men. See, dear Richard, you own the power, the glorious gift of creating something great even as a conductor...Letter dated 11 August 1849, from Minna to Wagner, quoted in Burk, 1950, page 260.
As a housewife she was most efficient. In their days of distress she cheerfully performed what are vulgarly termed menial services. In this she is as fitting a parallel of Mrs. Carlyle, as Wagner is of Thomas Carlyle. . . . Minna's efforts in the house and sustaining Wagner in the dark days is the pendant of Mrs. Carlyle's scrubbing the floors of the little house at Scotsbrig in the wilds of Scottish moors.It was the affair with Mathilde Wesendonck while Wagner was working on Tristan und Isolde in 1857 that provoked the final breach between Minna and Wagner. After her discovery of a letter from Wagner to Mathilde in April 1858,Letter of 7 April 1858 from Wagner to Mathilde quoted in Burck, 1950, pages 369 – 372. Minna accused them of adultery, which Wagner denied, claiming that Minna had put a "vulgar interpretation" on his letter.see Gregor-Dellin, 1983 pages 280 – 282. Minna took the view that Wagner had been seduced by Mathilde, and in subsequent letters referred to her as "that hussy" and "that filthy woman".Note to page 367 in Burck, 1950.
Nevertheless, Wagner and Minna parted, Wagner to travel to Venice and Minna to take the waters at Brestenberg in an attempt to improve her worsening heart condition. Minna wrote to Mathilde before departing for Dresden:
I must tell you with a bleeding heart that you have succeeded in separating my husband from me after nearly twenty-two years of marriage. May this noble deed contribute to your peace of mind, to your happiness.Burck, 1950, page 374.Minna later described Tristan and Isolde as "a much too enamoured and odious couple."Letter dated 15 December 1861 quoted in Barth, Mack and Voss (1975) "Wagner: A Documentary Study" page 198. Thames & Hudson Ltd., London .
In February 1862 when Wagner was living in Biebrich Minna made a surprise visit to him, which started well but all the old troubles were stirred when a letter from Mathilde Wesendonck arrived. Wagner referred to this period as "10 days of hell". In June 1862 he suggested they divorce; however, Minna refused to consider this.Wagner, Richard, 1992. page 683. Despite her repeated requests for him to join her in Dresden, he would not.
Minna and Wagner were never to live together again, but neither did they divorce. Minna was financially supported by Wagner for the rest of her life.
Minna Wagner died of a heart attack on 25 January 1866 in Dresden. Wagner did not attend the funeral.Gregor-Dellin, 1983 page 367. Minna's grave is in the "Alter Annenfriedhof" in Dresden.
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