Fleisch und Blut: Alban Berg and Albine Wittula

Pat Bamford-Milroy pays a centenary tribute to the Second Viennese composer’s natural daughter

The first encounter between father and daughter in adulthood occurred in the mid-1920s. The account of this meeting was related by Berg’s housekeeper, Anny Lenz, to Erich Alban Berg, the composer’s nephew. It took place in front of the Berg residence in Hietzing, where Albine was waiting to take a picture of the composer. When he came out of his front door, she asked his permission for a photograph and an autograph. Berg, however, remarked that to give these on the street was impractical and, with his wife, Helene, being away on a ‘cure’, invited her into the apartment – possibly to avoid the prying eyes of neighbours. Once inside, Albine revealed her identity, after which they entered Berg’s study and talked for a long time. Berg demanded from Anny Lenz the strictest discretion about the meeting, as he did not want to upset his wife. (Apparently, the composer had a characteristic way of dealing with children and young people.) Albine suddenly called him father, and they hugged each other. Anny Lenz intervened at this point to say that Berg was not given to fatherly feelings, which angered the composer, who told her to mind her own business and keep quiet – thus putting her in her place as a servant. (This probably explains why she recounted the story in this fashion.) Berg must have been very happy to have fathered such a beautiful girl but, on a darker note, the possibility of blackmail may well have also crossed his mind. This young lady’s appearing on the scene at the beginning of his fame might not only have compromised his marriage but also the development of his career. Even so, a bond developed between the two, and in the composer’s personal correspondence at the Austrian National Library there are repeated notes to his daughter.