Margarete Ulrike Augusta Marie Karoline Elsa von Bagenski was born in
Kolberg on 25 October 1870, Elsa's mother Auguste also moved to Munich where she died in 1904. Elsa followed the composer, whose fame increased, to
Leipzig in 1907, to
Meiningen in 1911, and to
Jena in 1915. She accompanied him to rehearsals and performances, and took care of his students as the
Regermutter (Reger mother). The couple adopted two daughters, Marie-Martha Heyer (1905–1969), adopted in 1908 as Christa Reger, and Selma Charlotte Meinig (1907–1963), adopted as Lotti Reger in 1909. The relationship was troubled by Reger's continued depressions and alcoholism, and her sickly constitution and her tendency toward depressive moods. After her husband's death in Jena in 1916, she took care of their daughters and also kept his memory alive. Her first step were house concerts in their residence, beginning in 1917. She invited her husband's former friends and students, who were familiar with his wishes for interpretation, to perform his works on two consecutive days in summer, also in 1918 and 1920. The performers played for free, and she took care of all expenses. She initiated a in 1920. She had left his studio unchanged after his death, and added a former dining room to contain his works. She retained 35 autographs for herself that had been in her husband's possession when he died, which later helped her as a financial protection in times of need, such as the economic crisis of the 1920s and World War II. The archive was moved to
Schloss Weimar in 1922, supported by the
State of Thuringia. It was moved to Meiningen in 1948. In 1927 she commissioned Else von Hase-Koehler, an author of novels, to collect the correspondence of her husband for publication. Around 4000 letters were collected, and 745 of them published, some of them shortened. In 1930 she moved to Munich, where her husband's urn was interred on an honorary grave of the
Waldfriedhof. She wrote, together with Hase-Koehler, an
autobiography,
Mein Leben mit und für Max Reger (My life with and for Reger), published in 1930. She created a memorial place in her home of photographies and portrait paintings of her husband. She again ran house concerts and prepared the publication of his works. She tried in vain until 1940 to move the Reger archive to Munich. Bombing of Munich led to her move to relatives in
Bonn. She founded there in 1947 both the Elsa Reger Foundation and the
Max-Reger-Institute. She had no financial means at the time but convinced the Cologne Regierungspräsidium that she would receive money for concerts with Max Reger's music during the war, not realising that few such concerts happened and no money would be paid. She died in Bonn in 1951, at the age of 80. According to her wish, she was buried on the
Alter Friedhof close to
Clara Schumann and
Maria Magdalena van Beethoven, Beethoven's mother. Her ideas and visions for the Foundation came reality only after her death. == References ==