Bohnke, Emil |
| COMPOSER, CONDUCTOR (GERMANY) |
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BORN 11 Oct 1888, Zdunska Wola (near Lodz) - DIED 11 May 1928, Pasewalk (near) CAUSE OF DEATH car crash GRAVE LOCATION Berlin: Landeseigener Friedhof Dahlem, Königin-Luise-Straße 57 (Feld 01/91-93 (Ehrengrab)) |
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Emil Bohnke was the son of a merchant. He studied violin and composition under Hans Sitt (1850-1922) and Stephan Krehl (1864-1924) at the Conservatory in Leipzig. In 1901 he continued his studies in Berlin. In 1908 he became a member of the Busch-Quartett, led by Adolf Busch (1891-1952). In 1919 he married violinist Lilli von Mendelssohn, a daughter of Franz von Mendelsson, the president of the German Congress of Trade and Industry. He was well known as a violinist as well as a conductor. In 1926 he became the conductor of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. Bohnke and his wife died in a car crash near Pasewalk in 1928 when they were looking for a holiday location for their children. Their son Robert Alexander was only one year old at the time. He was brought up by his maternal grand/parents and became a successful composer himself. In the 1930s the nazis banned his compositions because his wife had been Jewish and his friend Hein Tiessen was a socialist. In later years Robert Alexander played his father's "The Piano Concerto". Family • Wife: Bohnke-Von Mendelssohn, Lilli (1919-1928) |
| Images |
 The grave of Emil Bohnke and Lilli Bohnke-Von Mendelssohn at the Landeseigener Friedhof Dahlem, Berlin. Picture by androom (24 Aug 2006) |
Sources • Mende, Hans-Jürgen, Lexicon Berliner Grabstätten, Haude & Spener, 2006 • Emil Bohnke - Wikipedia (DE) |
