Bach FAQ 138
Who Was Maria Barbara Bach? What Did Johann Sebastian Bach's Wife Look Like?..
Maria Barbara Bach. Not really, of course. However, it is the most recent picture of her. Because this is how she might have looked, of course. Why this strange introduction on my website? Because there is no picture at all of Maria Barbara Bach. Not on Wikipedia, not in the Bach House in Eisenach, not on books or in books either: All, absolutely all of the women and girls depicted there are ... not ( ! ) Maria Barbara Bach. By the way: The picture above is drawn by Peter Fielding. And he has created a tremendously cool and infinitely wonderful animated film about the life of Johann Sebastian Bach. He has now completed it with 40 episodes. He produced the first episodes all by himself. Later, more creative people became enthusiastic about the project and contributed heavily. Click here for episode 1. Be sure to watch it! © Peter Fielding + © Pixabay..
Maria Barbara Bach. She was Johann Sebastian Bach's first wife. But why did the then court conductor in Köthen at the court of Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Köthen marry a second time? Bach did indeed do so. Why? Because Maria Barbara died very, very young. While her husband was traveling with his prince to Karlovy Vary in what is now the Czech Republic. Did Maria Barbara Bach have children? What was Maria Barbara Bach's profession? What was the cause of her death? And how old was Maria Barbara Bach exactly ... when did she die? And one of the most important questions of all: Is there a picture of Maria Barbara Bach after all?..
First, let's take a look at Wikipedia. There we see a prominent silhouette of a woman, which was probably created around 1800. Around 1800, a full 80 years after her death. This silhouette of a woman has as little to do with Maria Barbara Bach as the so-called Rentsch painting or the so-called Ihle painting have to do with Maria Barbara's husband Johann Sebastian. All three motifs are pure fiction: All three artists simply imagined what the two Bachs might have looked like at the time. This is especially true, of course, for the silhouette of Maria Barbara. Is that certain? Of course, because none of the many professors and doctors in the prestigious New Bach Society or the competent Bach Archive support the claim that the silhouette is Maria Barbara. So this woman with the two giraffe horns, below is not Maria Barbara Bach..
Promise: It only works this silly with the images on this page. And in this FAQ. That's because there's so much nonsense about it on the internet. Wikipedia is often an excellent “point of contact.” Very often, however, authors, even those with more competent specialist knowledge, fail because of the “Wikipedia gatekeepers” and their assessment of “relevance” for inclusion. Inclusion in this highly regarded global compendium. In any case, I no longer strive for my – naturally serious – contributions to be mentioned there. Instead, I am making my way to the neighborhood there ... that is, the neighborhood of Google, in “the neighborhood of the Wiki entry.” © Pixabay..
Then there is a younger lady who is particularly prominent on Google. She looks directly at visitors: It is Maria Barbara ... but ... is it Maria Barbara of Portugal or also Maria Barbara of Braganza. To be precise, she even had almost both names of Bach's two wives in her title: Those who had time back then also addressed her as Maria Magdalena Bárbara Xavier Leonor Teresa Antónia Josefa. She was also a musician and a composer. However, that is not reason enough to present her in connection with the composer Bach. The image section on Google is full of her portraits. It is even more intense on Google.com in the USA..
The Queen of Portugal. Also named Maria Barbara, but not Maria Barbara Bach..
Maria Magdalena Bárbara Xavier Leonor Teresa Antónia Josefa of Portugal. Easy to remember. But ... not really. In 1725, she was one of 17 princesses seriously considered for marriage to Louis XV of France. When the list was reduced to 99 ladies. But due to physical and mental impairments in her family, she was soon removed from the list ... if Wikipedia is correct. At the age of 18, she finally married anyway. However, it was a different king. More precisely, a future king. This was Ferdinand VI of Spain. And now she was also the Queen of Spain..
Yes, that makes it quite complicated. When you find another Maria Barbara in the search results under Maria Barbara Bach. Represented by two completely different images of the same person: one young and slim, the other not quite so young and not quite so slim. And then both are not only called Maria Barbara, but, as if to add insult to injury, even Maria Magdalena Barbara. She appears nine times in the top 20 images on Google USA. At the time this website was created..
Maria Barbara Bach, née Bach, was about five months older than Johann Sebastian and was born at the end of October 1684. She was the daughter of the then well-known composer, cantor, and organist Johann Michael Bach, who was born in Arnstadt. He was the Gehrener Bach and thus also belonged to the Bach family of musicians. And that is why Maria Barbara was already related to Johann Sebastian Bach before her marriage. However, she was Bach's second ( ! ) cousin. She was therefore not the cousin of the future Thomas Cantor, which is of great significance, especially today..
Of six siblings – Maria Barbara had four sisters and one brother – three died in childhood. She was the youngest daughter of Johann Michael Bach. When he died at the young age of 45, Maria Barbara moved to Arnstadt with her two older sisters, Friedalena Margaretha Bach and Barbara Catharina Bach..
They found shelter in the home of Mayor Martin Feldhaus. Maria Barbara lived there until her marriage to Johann Sebastian Bach. Maria Barbara was a little over nine years old at the time. So she had plenty of time to get to know her future husband: a total of 14 years, three of which were spent in Arnstadt alone. She married at the age of 23..
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Today, a monument reminds us of Johann Michael Bach's legacy in Gehren. His daughter Maria Barbara is also featured on this monument..
The monument to Maria Barbara Bach's father, the Gehren cantor and composer Johann Michael Bach..
When and, Above All, How Did Maria Barbara Bach Meet Johann Sebastian Bach?..
First, an overview: Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach married in 1707, at a time when the young and later famous composer from Eisenach was working in Mühlhausen. The “Arnstadt era” was already over by then. However, because Maria Barbara lived in Arnstadt and not in Mühlhausen, which was a 14-hour walk away, the two must have met before Bach's time in Mühlhausen. Incidentally, they married around three and a half months after Johann Sebastian took up his position in Mühlhausen on July 1, 1707: on October 17, 1707..
At a time when Johann Sebastian Bach lived in Mühlhausen and Maria Barbara in Arnstadt, the two were married in the small village of Dornheim, “on Arnstadt's doorstep.”..
Here in Dornheim, not far from Arnstadt, Maria Barbara Bach and Johann Sebastian exchanged their vows..
This is the second time we have found a reference to Maria Barbara Bach “set in stone.” It is easier to read in the next image..
Now everyone can read it. Right?..
After the above overview of the period leading up to their wedding, let's go back in time again. And with that, to an incident that was incredibly memorable at the time. Plus, to consider how and where Maria Barbara and her Johann Sebastian probably met..
The musical superstar worked as an organist at the New Church in Arnstadt from July 1703. Maria Barbara's mother died in 1704, and her three daughters subsequently moved to Arnstadt. So Maria Barbara and Johann Sebastian both lived in Arnstadt ... until Johann Sebastian Bach took up his position in Mühlhausen in July 1706. Roughly two years, then. Now, it is of course possible that the famous composer met his second cousin at the local bakery or butcher's in Arnstadt. After all, there were no supermarkets back then. Or perhaps after Bach had finished his work during the regular services at the New Church. That would also have been an ideal opportunity to get to know each other..
However, it is also possible that he “discovered” her much earlier ... that’s right... or she discovered him ... namely at one of the annual Bache family reunions, which took place in a different Bach city or location each year. Bache ... that was their name back then. Every year, such a gathering took place in a different Bach location. One of these meeting places still exists today – they were houses where people could dine and stay overnight at the time – and it is located in Arnstadt, of all places. It is the still existing Hotel “Goldene Henne”. So, theoretically speaking, the two could have met around 22 times at such family gatherings. Because they were about the same age, this would have been during the exciting “getting to know you” age of around nine years, if you subtract the time before puberty. If not, they could even have played together in a sandbox. How it actually happened ... ultimately has to remain completely open..
In such locations, people ate, drank, had fun, played music, of course ... funny music, too ... and stayed overnight. The Bache did the same in Arnstadt at the “Goldene Henne” inn and hotel. And in other similar accommodations, mainly in Thuringia..
The "Foreign" Damsel in Arnstadt..
But didn't the two of them have a date together in the gallery next to the organ in the New Church? That is to say ... maybe they did ... but it went undiscovered?..
This unknown woman, who Bach was known to let her “perform” – that is, sing – in this New Church … so she was not Maria Barbara Bach? But how did people “know” that this “singer” was unmarried? There was talk of a “strange damsel.” At that time, a damsel was an unmarried woman. And why couldn't it have been Maria Barbara? Because Maria Barbara and her sisters had been living in the Arnstadt mayor's house for many years and, for this reason alone, were certainly not unknown, that is, not foreign, in Arnstadt?..
How did they even find out that she was unknown? An unknown woman whom the young Johann Sebastian let sing. My opinion? Very few people in Arnstadt had probably heard the performance, because it certainly did not take place during a church service. It seems to me that they didn't want to make a big deal out of it. Namely, that one of the girls who lived in the mayor's house was “misbehaving” with the organist. How likely is it that Johann Sebastian Bach would have had an outside artist sing next to the organ? An unknown woman ... in a town with an estimated population of 4,000 to 5,000 at the time?..
However, Bach experts once again disagree on this point. While my namesake – we are not related, however – Dr. Peter Bach, on his website “bach.de,” believes that it was ( ! ) rumored to have been Maria Barbara, the old master and Bach biographer Karl Geiringer thought that it could not have been Maria Barbara. This is because the three Bach girls were not strangers in Arnstadt, but well-known maidens..
But ... as an experienced bean counter (... me), you know that both could be true. Two things are important for this little story, if you take it seriously: First, Maria Barbara had been living in Arnstadt since 1704, and Johann Sebastian Bach had been the “master of the organ in the Bach Church” since 1703. Of course, it wasn't called that in his day. So there were two years between 1703 and mid-1706 to carry out this “outrageness (... performing in church).”..
However, Johann Sebastian Bach was still a terrible rascal at that time, as we know from other “incidents.” Firstly, during his time in Arnstadt, he requested four weeks vacation, even though he knew in advance that he would not be returning to Arnstadt for at least eight weeks. This turned into twelve weeks of absence. Then he actually drew his epee against several choir students, who then fled. And even before his time in Arnstadt, he left his marks on the Nikolai Church in Sangerhausen..
The fact that it was Maria Barbara who sang also suggests that, first of all, he was still something of a naught boy. Secondly, it is likely that he had already met his future wife at that point. And you don't “mess around” with other women, not even at the organ, after all. Finally, why would the master let anyone other than his great love sing?!..
Returning to the discovery of the “strange damsel”: Either only one or two residents of Arnstadt, that is, a small number of people, noticed this “improper” behavior. Or it was a larger group. In any case, it does not add up that only one person heard it and that this person did not try to find out who the singer was simply by waiting..
And if it happened during an official event, for example during a church service, then that is also very likely to be the case. The pastor, the mayor, highly respected citizens: Did no one wait there after this “event” to attribute this tremendous occurrence to a female person in Arnstadt? And no one climbed the stairs to the gallery with the organ? And checked what was going on there? I think it was Maria Barbara, and that would have suited Johann Sebastian Bach..
Perhaps that was the reason, or at least the catalyst, for accepting the position in Mühlhausen. And the two already knew that they wanted to become an “official” couple. Then: Where could this “strange damsel” have come from, if it was not Maria Barbara? It was certainly not a woman from one of the surrounding villages who had arrived and in no time at all was playing music with Bach..
And having quickly "popped in" from Weimar, where Bach had worked for six months, she was certainly no “old friend” after an eight-hour walk. The fact remains that this young lady would have had to disappear again quite unnoticed after her “guest appearance” in order to preserve her anonymity. One last argument: Although no one knew who the singer was, it was clear that she was unmarried, right? Ultimately, or rather, last but not least, we are left with Ockham's razor. According to this principle, the simplest of several conceivable equivalent possibilities is usually the most correct..
Is it her or isn't it? My research: It is a woman we are rather familiar with. Namely Maria Barbara. Who Bach had sing. But whether she was blonde ... is of course unknown. That the “unmarried, unknown” woman had such gorgeous hair and wore a red robe during her performance is, of course, also not recorded. © Briana Bach-Hertzog..
That's him, the young Bach with all sorts of crazy ideas in his head. Of course, he didn't look like that. After all, there are no authentic pictures of the young organist from Arnstadt..
Time Jump: The Bachs in Weimar..
The two Bachs did not live in Mühlhausen for long. The next stage of their life together took place in Weimar. Weimar, which of all the Bach cities pays the least tribute to the later Thomaskantor ... today. As you can learn on this page..
The Bachs lived here for nine long years, making music and babies. Three of the boys were musical. Two became famous, but around half of the children died before reaching adulthood. © Many thanks to Stephan Liebig for allowing us to use this and the next image from the Sammlung Karl und Klaus Magdlung..
On the far right of the picture, you can see the Bachs' apartment. © Many thanks again to Stephan Liebig, see caption in the photo above..
For the orientation of all Bach fans who have been searching for the master in Weimar: the Bach apartment in the photo with a view of the town hall, above, is directly behind the canopy..
This historic square now looks as desolate as it has for many decades. When I wanted to get involved in finding a suitable use for the site in Weimar, the mayor at the time told me during my visit: “Even if it were given to us for free, we in Weimar would not want to maintain a place of remembrance for Bach here.” That's quite an attitude, considering the wealth of culture in Weimar..
And ... who is missing here on the memorial plaque? That's right, it's Maria Barbara Bach..
Maria Barbara Bach and Johann Sebastian Bach had three musical and two famous sons. All three were born in Weimar. Above, on the left is Wilhelm Friedemann Bach and on the right is
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. WFB still needs to be thoroughly rehabilitated today after being portrayed as a loser in a novel. There is a picture of him wearing a hat and fur collar, but it is not
actually him. Johann Gottfried Bernhard Bach was the “black sheep” of the Bach family. He was organist at St. Jacobi Church in Sangerhausen, but stole off in 1738 and left his father to settle his
debts. © Many thanks to Dr. Jörg Hansen, director of the Bachhaus in Eisenach, for allowing us to publish these two authentic childhood
photos of the two famous Bach sons..
This page will slowly come to an end with an aerial view of the house where the Bachs lived for so many years. In the center of the picture, you can see the entrance to the musician family's house. In the background, you can see the Red Castle..
Of course, the woman in the middle, with the white cap and the red bow, is not Maria Barbara Bach. Sure, she's supposed to be. But Toby E. Rosenthal, the painter to whom we owe this wonderful painting, lived from 1848 to 1917. So he couldn't have known what Maria Barbara looked like..
Then perhaps we can agree on this: There is simply no picture of Maria Barbara Bach. And all we can do is imagine her. To draw the attention of Bach fans to this page, that is my suggestion above. Instead of a golden frame and no picture inside. Let's see if this picture ... or one of the others above ... ends up on Google at some point. © Peter Fielding..
The exceptional musician finally ended his nine years in Weimar with a “time out” in the cell of his prince and employer. Once again, it was a “typical Johann Sebastian thing”: he grumbled when he wanted to take up a new job and his duke neither met him nor let him go. The musician, who was no longer so young, then used inappropriate language and served four weeks behind bars for stubbornness. Before he was allowed to leave in disgrace. And moved with his family to Köthen in Saxony-Anhalt to the princely court there..
In Köthen, the family was happy in every way ... until fate struck unexpectedly..
Köthen was finally the perfect place to live and work. The town was neither too big nor too small, and most importantly, Bach's boss was also his friend. And he loved music too. He played himself, and Johann Sebastian had professional musicians at his disposal for his work. In Köthen, the family could imagine living for many years or even decades..
But things turned out differently. When the master returned from a trip with his prince to Karlovy Vary, Maria Barbara had passed away. No one knows today what caused her death: whether it was an accident or illness, the cause of her death remains a mystery forever. To make matters worse, Maria Barbara had already been buried when the sad news reached Bach. Namely, when he entered his home. That was in 1720, in the summer, on July 7. Maria Barbara died at the age of only 35..
Although Bach married again after a relatively long period of time, everything in Köthen reminded him of his first wife. This, along with other reasons, ultimately led him to leave Köthen and his beloved prince..
Today, a Maria Barbara Bach Hall in Köthen Castle serves as a reminder of her life. And in the Peace Park in this impressive city, a memorial stone has been erected in her honor. The city of Köthen also honored her with a lecture concert dedicated to Maria Barbara Bach. Finally, the Courage e.V. association commemorates her on the website Frauen-Orte.net with a biography and a beautiful picture of the memorial stone on the 301st anniversary of her death. The daily newspaper Die Welt presented a great solo piece for Maria Barbara Bach, which is three minutes of reading pleasure. Of course, Find A Grave presents her ... as usual ... with a picture of the Queen of Spain. And finally, the portal FAMOUSFIX offers something special: There is a double-wrong picture here. Under the name of Johann Sebastian's first wife, there is a picture of his second wife??? Exciting, exciting..
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