Esens in East Frisia remembers singer- A women's village for Sara Oppenheimer
She was born on October 4, 1844 in Esens, East Frisia, but from 1875 until her death on December 15, 1906, the opera singer Sara Oppenheimer lived in Mainz at Neutorstraße 6 5/10. Esens in East Frisia now commemorates the singer with the Sara Oppenheimer women's village.
To commemorate the artist, who was well known during her lifetime, an initiative was launched in Esens several years ago and successfully applied for recognition as "frauenORT Sara Oppenheimer." The title frauenORT is awarded in Lower Saxony by the State Women's Council.
On October 17, 2021, frauenORT Sara Oppenheimer will be officially inaugurated in Esens. We congratulate her on this award and look forward to further research into her life as an artist in the 19th century!
But Sara Oppenheimer, usually referred to as Wolf-Oppenheimer, is no longer unknown in Mainz either – after all, she lived here in the city much longer than in her birthplace. The following portrait of the singer appeared in the 2019 calendar "Blick auf Mainzer Frauengeschichte" (A Look at Mainz Women's History). The only surviving image of her also adorned the cover of the calendar. Sara Wolf-Oppenheimer's biography adds that she also actively participated in the musical life of Mainz, supported the Mainz Liedertafel, and occasionally performed at concerts.
From "A look at Mainz women's history" 2019
"In an aria from Cherubini's "Medea" [...] Miss Oppenheimer once again demonstrated that calm, serious singing is her forte. This requires her own solemn tones, which were heard in the purest intonation," wrote a critic in 1867 about one of Sara Oppenheimer's performances at the Frankfurt City Theater. In 1863, at the age of 19, she had come from Esens in East Frisia to Frankfurt initially for guest roles on stage – and stayed on as a permanent member of the company.
It is not documented when the daughter of Regine, née Abrahamson, and David Oppenheimer, a cattle dealer from Esens, decided to become an opera singer. She first attended the Jewish elementary school in her hometown; in 1858, at the age of 14, she was already a student at the Leipzig Conservatory. Sara Oppenheimer was then permanently engaged in Frankfurt for the 1863/1864 season. Like all singers in opera ensembles of that time, she appeared in many very different productions and roles, singing both tragic and comic parts. She also made a name for herself as a concert singer. Her signature role on the opera stage was that of Fides in Giacomo Meyerbeer's "Der Prophet." She
also played this role in her last performance, which she gave on December 15, 1874. With a concert evening on December 19, 1874, the 30-year-old finally bid farewell to the stage. Instead of accepting an engagement offer from Richard Wagner, Sara Oppenheimer chose a different path. In 1875, she gave one last concert in her hometown of Esens, even though anti-Semitic protests had prevented a concert in St. Magnus Church there ten years earlier.
On December 31, 1874, Sara Oppenheimer married Bernard Wolf, a wine and hop merchant from Mainz, in Frankfurt and moved in with him on Neutorstraße in Mainz, which was then still spelled Neuthorstraße. Bernard Wolf, born in 1834, was originally from Sörgenloch and had been a citizen of Mainz since 1865. Sara Oppenheimer was his second wife. Their son Michael
was born in 1876, followed by their daughter Fides in 1877, named after Sara Wolf-Oppenheimer's signature role.
Bernard Wolf died in March 1882; Sara Wolf-Oppenheimer remained in Mainz with her children. It is not known whether she participated actively or passively in Mainz's cultural and musical life. However, she was not entirely removed from Mainz society, as evidenced by her membership in the Mainz Women's Work School Association. She died in Mainz at the age of 62 and, like Bernard Wolf, was buried in the New Jewish Cemetery.
In Esens, a street has been named after Sara Oppenheimer since 2013.