Travel tips for opera lovers – Tribschen and Wagner

Richard Wagner Museum in Lucerne

The series about historical places of opera art. Get to know exciting excursion and travel ideas for opera lovers. This time: the Richard Wagner Museum in Tribschen near Lucerne (Switzerland)

All Destinations on google maps with links to detailed Blogposts:

Richard Wagner in Tribschen-Luzern

Expelled by the Munich government, Ludwig II financed Wagner’s asylum on the southern edge of Lucerne. Wagner lived there with his wife Cosima from 1866 to 1872. The young Friedrich Nietzsche, professor at the University of Basel, frequently visited the Wagners, and Ludwig II also paid his respects (incognito) to the master. Wagner had already been in Lucerne before. He composed the third act of his work “Tristan & Isolde” in the Hotel Schweizerhof 7 years earlier. He arrived with his Érard grand piano and occupied a suite for two months.

Richard and Cosima were married in St. Matthew’s Church and she bore him three children in Tribschen. It is possible that the generous Wagner also enabled the housekeeper Verena Weidman to have an offspring; the child is said to have been very much like Richard. Wagner also enjoyed the excursions to the neighboring mountains in Lucerne, especially Mount Pilatus.

LINK TO THE COMPLETE WAGNER BIOGRAPHY

Destination Richard Wagner Museum in Tribschen (Lucerne)

Expelled by the Munich government, Ludwig II financed Wagner’s asylum on the southern edge of Lucerne. The stately home is majestically situated on Lake Lucerne. It was acquired by the city of Lucerne in 1931 and became a Richard Wagner Museum. Wagner lived there with his wife Cosima from 1866 to 1872, and the young Friedrich Nietzsche, a professor at the University of Basel, frequently visited the Wagners, as did Ludwig II in person. The museum is worth seeing especially the Érard grand piano, which accompanied him everywhere, found its way back to Tribschen with the opening of the museum. It was in this house that the first performance of the Siegfried Idyll took place in 1870, which it gave to his wife on her birthday morning with 15 musicians in the stairwell of the villa.

Richard Wagner Museum (Asylum):

Especially idyllic is the lakeside walk (30 minutes from the train station) or by boat.

https://richard-wagner-museum.ch/

Destination St. Mathew Church

Here Cosima and Richard got married. She had to convert from the Catholic faith. The wedding took place on a small scale, “in silence and without all ceremonies and festivity, the children present and, of course, the curious people who did not let themselves be pushed back (diary entry by Cosima).

Matthäuskirche:

Musical background: Siegfried Idyll

In the opera “Siegfried,” Brünnhilde asks Siegfried to preserve her divine virginity. Wagner developed the musical motif (“Eternal Love”) into an independent composition.It became a composition for a small, 15-piece orchestra. He originally wanted to reserve it for Cosima, but later had to sell on the rights for financial reasons and wrote a version for large orchestra.

More about the Siegfried-Idyll:

https://opera-inside.com/siegfried-by-richard-wagner-the-opera-guide-and-synopsis/#Ewig