Johanna Hilde Hemer (born Steindorff)
December 29, 1892 | Berlin – February 1983 | New York
Pianist
Hilde Steindorff, the second child of Egyptologist Georg Steindorff and his wife Elise (born Oppenheimer). Georg Steindorff came from Dessau to study in Berlin and converted to Protestantism during this time. Elise Oppenheimer was the daughter of Louis Oppenheimer, rabbi of Berlin’s Reform congregation. Hilde Steindorff was one year old when her father was appointed to the University of Leipzig. During his long tenure, he established the Egyptian Museum, which bears his name today.
The family initially lived at 8 Haydn Street. In 1904, Georg Steindorff became a full professor – and the family moved to 52/54 Wald Street; in 1911, they moved to 10 Fritzsche Street, now Schorlemmerstraße. Hilde Steindorff initially received her musical training from her aunt, the pianist Lucie Steindorff. After the outbreak of World War I, Hilde went to Berlin to study, where she was taught from 1915 to 1917 by her godfather, the pianist and composer Artur Schnabel. Starting in 1917, she studied at the Leipzig Conservatory under Prof. Teichmüller. The piano manufacturer Edwin Bechstein is said to have given her a concert grand piano. In 1917, she married the non-Jewish cellist Franz Hemer, who was serving as a fighter pilot at the time. Hilde Hemer and her mother, on the other hand, were very active in charitable work.
After the war, Franz Hemer became director of the Jewish tobacco company “König und Bruder” on Nikolaistraße. Hilde Hemer performed very successfully in chamber concerts. The couple had three sons. Beginning in 1933, the marginalization of the Jewish population increased dramatically. On September 15, 1935, the so-called Nuremberg Laws were enacted – these, among other things, criminalized marriage between Jewish people and “citizens of German blood” and provided for penalties including imprisonment or hard labor for violations. In 1938, Franz Hemer divorced.
Hilde Hemer emigrated with her two younger sons to Mexico; in 1940, they moved to California – where her brother and parents lived. Her eldest son went to England in 1938. For the pianist Hilde Hemer, after initially working as a housekeeper in the U.S., a period of major concert performances began once again. She performed works by Schumann, Brahms, Beethoven, Schubert, and Chopin. She continued to teach piano well into her old age. Hilde Hemer died in February 1984 in California at the age of 91.
NOTE: *) Due to the exhibition format, the biographical information above had to be abbreviated. Exhibition visitors have the opportunity to read an expanded version of the biographical information in the exhibition brochures provided. The entire, very extensive project includes additional biographies, expanded content, and research … is in progress – also online…