Geissmar, Berta, 1892-1949

Geissmar was an acquaintance of Alma Mahler's from Vienna; she was a violinist and in the 1920s became the personal secretary to the conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler; she also handled much of the daily management of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Because she was of Jewish descent (raised Protestant), she was forced to flee Germany in 1935; she settled in England and became secretary to the conductor Sir Thomas Beecham, as well as manager of Covent Garden. She was the author of a memoir recounting her experiences during the Nazi era, first published in 1944 by the British publisher Hamish Hamilton as The Baton and the Jackboot; then in 1946 in the U.S. as Two Worlds of Music; and in 1945 in German under the title Musik im Schatten der Politik.

From the description of Correspondence to Alma Mahler, 1943-1945. (University of Pennsylvania Library). WorldCat record id: 155863332

Was secretary to Wilhelm Furtwangler and then to Sir Thomas Beecham. Autobiography 'The Baton and the Jackboot', 1944.

Epithet: secretary

British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue : Person : Description : ark:/81055/vdc_100000000544.0x00012c