Denk, Berthe Marie

SOCIALITE (AUSTRIA)
BORN 15 Dec 1881, Wien - DIED 22 Jul 1974, Henndorf, Salzburg
GRAVE LOCATION Salzburg: St. Petersfriedhof, Domplatz (Gruftarkaden, XXXIII)

Berthe Denk was born in Vienna. In 1905 she started a passionate love affair with the author Frank Wedekind after she had met him in stuttgart after a performance. Marie had a car and she went on tours with Wedekind. At the time she was also close to Karl Krauss, whom she had first met in 1902. She met Krauss in Rome without telling Wedekind. Wedekind dedicated his volume of poetery "Die vier Jahreszeiten" to her. In January 1906 she visited Wedekind in Berlin, but this visn't didn't go well. Wedekind had his eye on the young actress Tilly Newes and his affair with Bertha came to an end.

In 1917 she married the opera singer Richard Mayr and she became a well known socialite. Her husband died in 1934 and after her own death in 1974 she left posessions of herself and her husband to the Salzburg Museum. Wedekind's biographer Artur Kutscher mentioned details of her affair with Wedekind in 1920 and referred to her as an actress, but there is no evidence that she ever did any acting.

Family
• Husband: Mayr, Richard (1917-1935)

Related persons
• was a friend of Kraus, Karl
• was the lover of Wedekind, Frank

Events
14/6/1905Frank Wedekind visits Klosterneuburg together with Berthe Denk. On the same day he visited the painter Hollitzer together with Karl Kraus. [Kraus, Karl][Wedekind, Frank]
9/1/1906Berthe Denk arrives in Berlin to visit Frank Wedekind. He picked her up from the station. After her return to Vienna on 14 January she fell seriously ill. [Wedekind, Frank]

Images

The grave of Richard Mayr and Berthe Denk at the St. Petersfriedhof, Salzburg.
Picture by Androom (31 Aug 2014)

 


Denk, Paula

Published: 17 Oct 2020
Last update: 18 Dec 2022