Born into a leading artistic family in Vienna, Alma Schindler, later Alma Mahler-Werfel (1879-1964), became a central figure in the artistic community of the Vienna Secession. She documented her encounters in an important group of diaries. She also studied music with Alexander Zemlinsky and composed songs for voice and piano (unpublished songs are in this collection). Alma Schindler married Gustav Mahler in 1902. She later married Walter Gropius, a marriage that ended in divorce. In 1929, she was married to novelist and playwright Franz Werfel, who was Jewish. They fled Austria for France in 1938; crossed the Pyrenees on foot; and emigrated to the United States in 1940.
The Mahler-Werfel Collection includes personal papers of Alma Mahler and Franz Werfel, memorabilia related to Gustav Mahler; research files; and a portion of the library of Alma and Franz Werfel. Images from the collection have been digitized.
The papers contain materials from all phases of the long and varied life of Alma Mahler, from handwritten diaries from her youth to musical compositions, as well as material pertaining to the literary work of Franz Werfel, including autograph manuscripts of most of his major prose, dramatic works, and poetry. The collection comprises 101 boxes of correspondence, writings, and memorabilia; 15 boxes of photographs; six boxes of audio recordings; and one box of oversized materials.
The correspondence in the collection includes some 1400 folders and over 1200 correspondents. The overwhelming majority of the letters date from after 1930 and, especially, after the exile of Alma Mahler and Franz Werfel from Austria, upon the Anschluss in 1938. Many earlier items were undoubtedly lost due to the circumstances of exile. Correspondents notably include Arnold Schoenberg, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Arthur Schnitzler, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Fritz von Unruh, and Thornton Wilder.
The collection includes only a few isolated original items related to Gustav Mahler: a poetic text (“Symphonisches Fragment”), several letters to Anna von Mildenburg dating to the mid-1890s, and two items addressed to Mahler from Prince Montenuovo in 1907.
Also included are 11 boxes of materials pertaining to Professor Adolf Klarmann’s research and writing on Werfel; to Werfel scholarship contributed by other researchers; and to Klarmann’s editorial work in producing the collected works of Werfel.
Information for researchers
Mahler-Werfel Papers (Ms. Coll. 575): 134 boxes. Researchers are strongly encouraged to consult the extensive biographical overview and collection description contained in this finding aid. Note: For a full listing of correspondence in the Mahler-Werfel Papers, researchers must search in the main online catalog, Franklin.
- Full, alphabetical listing of correspondents in the Mahler-Werfel Papers (in the online catalog, Franklin)
Related collections:
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Alma Mahler letters, ca. 1939-1961, to Willy Haas (Ms. Coll. 10, 35 items): these items were acquired in 1989.
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[Five selected songs] / Alma Mahler Werfel ; für Orchester gesetzt von Harold Byrus (Ms. Coll. 171): manuscript arrangements of these songs for voice and orchestra.
The Library of Alma Mahler and Franz Werfel: a portion of the book collections of Alma Mahler, Franz Werfel survives. These books were donated by Anna Mahler.
- Browse the library of Alma Mahler and Franz Werfel by author (in the online catalog, Franklin)
The Mahler-Werfel Collection includes personal papers of Alma Mahler and Franz Werfel, memorabilia related to Gustav Mahler; research files; and a portion of the library of Alma and Franz Werfel.
