Tatiana von Metternich-Winneburg
Encyclopedia
Tatiana von Metternich-Winneburg (Tatiana Hilarionowna Princess of Metternich-Winneburg, born Princess Tatiana Hilarionovna Vassiltchikov , 1 January 1915 – 26 July 2006) was a German patron
of the arts of Russian birth. She published her books and watercolours under the name Tatiana von Metternich. She supported charity, especially the Red Cross and the Order of St. Lazarus, which she served as Grand Bailiff for Germany. She was a founding member of the Rheingau Musik Festival
, made parts of Schloss Johannisberg
available as concert venues for the festival and served as the president of its Kuratorium
until her death.
, the second daughter of Prince
Hilarion Sergueïevitch Vassiltchikov (1881–1969), a member of the Russian Imperial Parliament Fourth Duma, and his wife, the former Princess Lidiya Leonidovna Vyazemskaya
(1886–1946). Married to Paul Alfons von Metternich-Winneburg (1917–1992, de), she was the last member of the House of Metternich
.
October Revolution
. They took refuge, first in France, where she and her sister Marie Vassiltchikov
(1917–1978), called Missie, were educated at the Lycée of St Germain-en-Laye. She studied painting in Munich
. In the 1940s, she moved to Berlin with her sister Missie and was employed by the Foreign Office
. Tatiana and Missie joined a circle of civilian members of the German resistance
. Tatiana met her husband there and was married on 6 September 1941. Her sister described these years in her memoirs The Berlin Diaries 1940–1945 of Marie "Missie" Vassiltchikov (1985).
The couple lived in Vienna and then in the Metternich family's Schloss Königswart
in the Egerland
. After the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia
in 1945, they lived in Schloss Johannisberg
, the family's estate in Geisenheim
, in the Rheingau
, which had been destroyed by bombing in 1942. They rebuilt the estate and ran the winery. The East Wing was restored, but not as living quarters, rather it was turned into a hall for indoor tennis. In collaboration with Henkell & Söhnlein, a winery and member of the Oetker Group
, they created the sparkling wine, "Fürst von Metternich". In 1974, they shared ownership of the castle and the winery with the Oetker Group. After her husband's death in 1992, she sold the property completely to Oetker, but retained the right to live on the premises.
Tatiana von Metternich published several books, some of them illustrated with her own watercolours. In 1976, she published her memoirs under the title, Tatiana: Full Circle in a Shifting Europe, summarizing her experience of the war:
In 1987, she was a founding member of the Rheingau Musik Festival
, together with Michael Herrmann
, Walter Fink
and others. She made parts of Schloss Johannisberg
available as concert venues for the festival, turning the East Wing of the building into a concert hall. After her husband's death, the hall was named "Fürst-von-Metternich-Saal". Concerts of sacred music are performed in the Basilika; chamber music, including the annual composer's portrait, in the Fürst-von-Metternich-Saal; open air concerts are performed in various courts; and the annual "Sommerfest" takes place on all public grounds of the estate. She served as the first president of the festival's curator
s until her death and was kept on the list as "Gründungsvorsitzende" (founding president).
She sponsored charity projects, especially in the Order of Saint Lazarus
, which she joined in 1978. After her husband's death in 1992, she succeeded him as the organization's "Grand Bailiff" in Germany until her death at Schloss Johannisberg on 26 July 2006. She and her husband are buried next to the Basilika of Schloss Johannisberg.
Patrón
Patrón is a luxury brand of tequila produced in Mexico and sold in hand-blown, individually numbered bottles.Made entirely from Blue Agave "piñas" , Patrón comes in five varieties: Silver, Añejo, Reposado, Gran Patrón Platinum and Gran Patrón Burdeos. Patrón also sells a tequila-coffee blend known...
of the arts of Russian birth. She published her books and watercolours under the name Tatiana von Metternich. She supported charity, especially the Red Cross and the Order of St. Lazarus, which she served as Grand Bailiff for Germany. She was a founding member of the Rheingau Musik Festival
Rheingau Musik Festival
The Rheingau Musik Festival is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres...
, made parts of Schloss Johannisberg
Schloss Johannisberg
Schloss Johannisberg is a winery in the Rheingau wine-growing region in Germany, that has been making wine for over 900 years. The winery is most noted for its claim to have "discovered" late harvest wine.- History :...
available as concert venues for the festival and served as the president of its Kuratorium
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
until her death.
Family
Tatiana von Metternich-Winneburg was born in Saint PetersburgSaint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, the second daughter of Prince
Knyaz
Kniaz, knyaz or knez is a Slavic title found in most Slavic languages, denoting a royal nobility rank. It is usually translated into English as either Prince or less commonly as Duke....
Hilarion Sergueïevitch Vassiltchikov (1881–1969), a member of the Russian Imperial Parliament Fourth Duma, and his wife, the former Princess Lidiya Leonidovna Vyazemskaya
Vyazemsky
Vyazemsky is a town in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located southwest of Khabarovsk close to the Ussuri River and the border with China. Population: -History:...
(1886–1946). Married to Paul Alfons von Metternich-Winneburg (1917–1992, de), she was the last member of the House of Metternich
House of Metternich
The House of Metternich is a German noble house originating in Rhineland. The most prominent member of the House of Metternich was Klemens von Metternich, who was the dominant figure at the Congress of Vienna .-Background:...
.
Biography
The family fled Russia in 1919, following the BolshevikBolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
. They took refuge, first in France, where she and her sister Marie Vassiltchikov
Marie Vassiltchikov
Marie Illarionovna Vassiltchikov was a Russian princess who was acquainted with some of the people who plotted to kill kill Adolf Hitler in the July 20 Plot, but was not directly involved in the plot itself.-Early life:...
(1917–1978), called Missie, were educated at the Lycée of St Germain-en-Laye. She studied painting in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. In the 1940s, she moved to Berlin with her sister Missie and was employed by the Foreign Office
Foreign Office (Germany)
The Foreign Office is the foreign ministry of Germany, a federal agency responsible for both the country's foreign politics and its relationship with the European Union. From 1871 to 1919, it was led by a Foreign Secretary, and since 1919, it has been led by the Foreign Minister of Germany...
. Tatiana and Missie joined a circle of civilian members of the German resistance
German Resistance
The German resistance was the opposition by individuals and groups in Germany to Adolf Hitler or the National Socialist regime between 1933 and 1945. Some of these engaged in active plans to remove Adolf Hitler from power and overthrow his regime...
. Tatiana met her husband there and was married on 6 September 1941. Her sister described these years in her memoirs The Berlin Diaries 1940–1945 of Marie "Missie" Vassiltchikov (1985).
Castle Kynžvart
Castle Kynžvart is located in the District of Okres Cheb in the Czech Republic and is built in neoclassical archytectural style....
in the Egerland
Egerland
The Egerland is a historical region in the far north west of Bohemia in the Czech Republic at the border with Germany. It is named after the German name Eger for the city of Cheb and the main river Ohře...
. After the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia
Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia
The expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II was part of a series of evacuations and expulsions of Germans from Central and Eastern Europe during and after World War II....
in 1945, they lived in Schloss Johannisberg
Schloss Johannisberg
Schloss Johannisberg is a winery in the Rheingau wine-growing region in Germany, that has been making wine for over 900 years. The winery is most noted for its claim to have "discovered" late harvest wine.- History :...
, the family's estate in Geisenheim
Geisenheim
Geisenheim is a town in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hessen, Germany, and is known as Weinstadt , Schulstadt , Domstadt and Lindenstadt ....
, in the Rheingau
Rheingau
The Rheingau is the hill country on the north side of the Rhine River between Wiesbaden and Lorch near Frankfurt, reaching from the western Taunus to the Rhine. It lies in the state of Hesse and is part of the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis administrative district...
, which had been destroyed by bombing in 1942. They rebuilt the estate and ran the winery. The East Wing was restored, but not as living quarters, rather it was turned into a hall for indoor tennis. In collaboration with Henkell & Söhnlein, a winery and member of the Oetker Group
Dr. Oetker
Dr. Oetker is a German company that produces baking powder, cake mixes, yogurts, frozen pizza and pudding.Also included in the portfolio are a maritime freight business, a bank, a publishing company, an insurance outfit, a brewery and a number of high class hotels all over...
, they created the sparkling wine, "Fürst von Metternich". In 1974, they shared ownership of the castle and the winery with the Oetker Group. After her husband's death in 1992, she sold the property completely to Oetker, but retained the right to live on the premises.
Tatiana von Metternich published several books, some of them illustrated with her own watercolours. In 1976, she published her memoirs under the title, Tatiana: Full Circle in a Shifting Europe, summarizing her experience of the war:
When all was over, we learnt that horror was not the sum of human experience. Those who survived would only remember the flashes of light in the darkness: the warm comradeship, the selfless gesture of love or courage which seemed the last reality in a world gone mad, where finally simplicity and gentleness remained the only valid sounds in a man's heart.
In 1987, she was a founding member of the Rheingau Musik Festival
Rheingau Musik Festival
The Rheingau Musik Festival is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres...
, together with Michael Herrmann
Michael Herrmann
Michael Herrmann is a German culture and music administrator. He founded the Rheingau Musik Festival in 1987 and is its Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer.-Professional career:...
, Walter Fink
Walter Fink
Walter Fink is a German retired executive and a patron of Contemporary music. He is mostly known for being a founding member, Executive Committee member and sponsor of the Rheingau Musik Festival.- Biography :...
and others. She made parts of Schloss Johannisberg
Schloss Johannisberg
Schloss Johannisberg is a winery in the Rheingau wine-growing region in Germany, that has been making wine for over 900 years. The winery is most noted for its claim to have "discovered" late harvest wine.- History :...
available as concert venues for the festival, turning the East Wing of the building into a concert hall. After her husband's death, the hall was named "Fürst-von-Metternich-Saal". Concerts of sacred music are performed in the Basilika; chamber music, including the annual composer's portrait, in the Fürst-von-Metternich-Saal; open air concerts are performed in various courts; and the annual "Sommerfest" takes place on all public grounds of the estate. She served as the first president of the festival's curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
s until her death and was kept on the list as "Gründungsvorsitzende" (founding president).
She sponsored charity projects, especially in the Order of Saint Lazarus
Order of Saint Lazarus
This article concerns the order of knighthood named after Saint Lazarus. For other uses of the name Lazarus, see Lazarus .The Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem is an order of chivalry which originated in a leper hospital founded by the Knights Hospitaller in 1098 by the...
, which she joined in 1978. After her husband's death in 1992, she succeeded him as the organization's "Grand Bailiff" in Germany until her death at Schloss Johannisberg on 26 July 2006. She and her husband are buried next to the Basilika of Schloss Johannisberg.
Awards
- 1970: Award of Honour (Ehrenzeichen) of the German Red CrossGerman Red CrossThe German Red Cross , or the DRK, is the national Red Cross Society in Germany.With over 4.5 million members, it is the third largest Red Cross society in the world. The German Red Cross offers a wide range of services within and outside Germany...
- 1990: Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1st class
- 1999: "Georg August ZinnGeorg August ZinnGeorg August Zinn was German lawyer and a politician of the . He was Minister-President of Hesse and a member of the Bundestag . He was born and died in Frankfurt am Main....
Medal" - 2001: "Wilhelm LeuschnerWilhelm LeuschnerWilhelm Leuschner was a social-democratic politician who opposed the Third Reich....
Medal", the highest award of the state of HesseHesseHesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state... - 2003: Ring of Honour (Ehrenring) of the District of Rheingau-TaunusRheingau-Taunus-KreisRheingau-Taunus is a Kreis in the west of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Limburg-Weilburg, Hochtaunuskreis, Main-Taunus, district-free Wiesbaden, Mainz-Bingen, Rhein-Lahn.-Geography:...
Literature
- Tatiana Metternich: Tatiana: Five passports in a shifting Europe, 1976
- Marie VassiltchikovMarie VassiltchikovMarie Illarionovna Vassiltchikov was a Russian princess who was acquainted with some of the people who plotted to kill kill Adolf Hitler in the July 20 Plot, but was not directly involved in the plot itself.-Early life:...
: The Berlin Diaries 1940–1945 of Marie "Missie" Vassiltchikov, The Estate of Marie Harnden 1985
Selected publications
- Tatiana Metternich: Purgatory of fools: A memoir of the aristocrats' war in Nazi Germany 1976
- Tatiana Metternich-Wassiltchikow: Was wird aus Russland? Der dornige Weg in die Demokratie, UllsteinUllstein-VerlagThe Ullstein Verlag was founded by Leopold Ullstein in 1877 at Berlin and is one of the largest publishing companies of Germany. It published newspapers like B.Z. and Berliner Morgenpost and books through its subsidiaries Ullstein Buchverlage and Propyläen.The newspaper publishing branch was taken...
, Frankfurt am Main 1992, ISBN 3-548-34999-4 - Tatiana Metternich: "Pfauenthron / Peacock Throne: Reisetagebuch / Travelling Chronicle Johannisberg, Teheran, Persepolis, German/English, Modul-Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2002, ISBN 3-9806679-5-2
External links
- Tatiana Fürstin von Metternich-Winneburg / Ein Leben für Musik und gute Taten (A life for music and charity) obituary, henkell-sektkellerei.com
- Refugee royal fled revolution obituary, The Syney Morning Herald 30 September 2006
- † HSH Princess Tatiana von Metternich-Winneburg GCLJ obituary, Order of St. Lazarus 11 September 2006
- Fürstin von Metternich-Winneburg. Tatiana Metternich Amazon.com