10 09 2008
848
Mahler-Werfel, Alma
Alma was born in 1879 as the daughter of the prominent Viennese landscape painter Emil Jakob Schindler. Gustav Klimt, co-founder of the Viennese ‘Sezession’ and brilliant Jugendstil painter, was a regular visitor to her parents’ house during. He even stole a first kiss from young Alma, who would charm many more men during her lifetime. Gustav Mahler became her first husband, painter Oskar Kokoschka fell in love with her, so did architect Walter Gropius and poet Franz Werfel wrote: “She is one of the very few magical women.” In 1938, Alma fled from the Nazi occupation with her husband Franz Werfel. Eventually they settled in Los Angeles. Later, as a widow, she moved to New York City and was a major cultural figure until her death in 1964.
We meet Alma in our book CAFE CENTRAL TREASURY, where we also meet personalities like Sigmund Freud, Theodor Herzl, Peter Altenberg, Arthur Schnitzler, Leo Trotzky, Adolf Loos, Robert Musil, Felix Salten, and many other important personalities of the Vienna of yesterday.
The Cafe Central is today one of the most famous coffee houses in the world, a must for every discerning traveller.
See our book: Cafe Central Treasury
