Lena Stein-Schneider (born Helene Meyerstein)
January 5, 1874 | Leipzig – June 17, 1958 | Munich
Composer, conductor, singer, pianist, author
Helene Meyerstein was the seventh child of wool merchant Moritz Meyerstein and his wife Pauline (née Philipp). Her birthplace at Große Fleischergasse 16 also housed the wool store Gottschalk & Meyerstein, which her father ran together with his business partner Gerson Gottschalk. The Meyerstein family moved several times. Helene grew up at 26 Leibnizstr. (now No. 4), 7 Jacobstr., and 8 Pfaffendorfer Str. with eight brothers and only one older sister.
Helene studied piano and voice at the internationally renowned Leipzig Conservatory of Music. On November 3, 1892, she married the merchant Alfred Schneider—and moved with him to Berlin. There, new musical opportunities opened up for her. Despite giving birth to her four children between then and 1905, she studied voice with Lola Beeth, among others, as well as counterpoint, composition, and conducting. Her first compositions were written during this period. She established a renowned musical salon in her home.
Her works were published under the pen name Lena Stein-Schneider. In 1909, her first operetta was performed, for which she had also written the libretto. And like Fanny Hensel, née Mendelssohn (1805–1847), she conducted her own works. In 1919, she composed her first film score for the emerging medium of film. She also published cabaret lyrics – in conjunction with her light music compositions. All of this brought her financial independence. Her works were released on records, enabling her to make a living from her artistic work even after her husband’s death in March 1923.
The rise of National Socialism in 1933 meant a complete ban on performances and work. Lena Stein-Schneider fell into poverty without her own income. She was dependent on support from her children, who had fled Germany for London, the Netherlands, and Palestine. Lena Stein-Schneider’s name was on the deportation list for August 15, 1942, bound for Riga. Due to a change in plans, the 68-year-old was taken to Große Hamburger Straße in Berlin on August 6, 1942, and deported to Theresienstadt on August 14, 1942. She spent thirty months in the Theresienstadt ghetto – and was one of the few who survived.
In February 1945, two and a half years after her deportation, she was rescued and taken to Switzerland on a special transport. She settled there and began composing again. In 1949, her new composition based on a traditional Jewish supplication from the first century was published in Lausanne: “Prayer for Peace – Avinu Malkénu.”
To commemorate the 77th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp on January 27, 2022, Lena Stein-Schneider’s composition was performed by the Czech chamber ensemble “musica non grata” in front of the German Bundestag.
NOTE: *) Due to the exhibition format, the biographical information listed above had to be abbreviated. Exhibition visitors can read an expanded version of the biographical information in the exhibition brochures available on site. The entire, very extensive project includes additional biographies, expanded content, and research … is in progress – also online…