Geneology question Wagner?

Question

Alright, I was told many times that we were descended from Richard Wagner.. and after watching an old interview with his last grand child (as an adult obviously) I don't doubt it.. The guy was IDENTICAL to my Grandfather.. (although now that my grandfather IS that old it is even more Identical).. but, I'm not finding any trace in the legitimate lines.. It doesn't help that my grandfather never asked his father about any of the family history. Is there any way to trace illegitimate children... I know there were plenty of rumors, but have found no actual names. The common "family" names seem to be Truman and Kelsey.

Answer 1

Richard Wagner was married twice. His first marriage (to Minna Planer) ended in 1861 with no offspring (he divorced her). His second marriage was to the former wife of a devoted follower, Cosima von Bülow (nèe Liszt). That marriage produced three children:

Two daughters:

1. Isolde (m. Franz Beidler) 1865-1919
2. Eva (m. Houston Stewart Chamberlain) 1867-1942

and one son:

3. Siegfried (m. Winifrid Williams Klindworth) 1869-1930.

Isolde had one son, also named Franz, who lived in Switzerland during WWII.

Eva had no children.

Siegfried had four children, Wieland (1917-1966), Friedelinde (1919-1991) who opposed the Nazis (she never married), Wolfgang (1919- ) the current Festspielleiter of the Bayreuther Festspiel, and Verena (1920- ) m. Bodo Lafferentz.

Looking over the surnames associated with Wagner's legitimate progeny, I don't see anything related to "Truman" or "Kelsey".

On the other hand, Wagner's relationship with Cosima was scandalous, and a man of Wagner's temperament would certainly have been capable of fathering illegitimate children that have dropped from the pages of history.

For example, he did have an infatuation with Mathilde Wesendonck in the 1850s (which was apparently never consummated however). Wagner apparently had difficulty resisting other men's wives, which complicates the genealogy.

Other than those three women, I can't find any record of affairs, let alone offspring. It's possible that any offspring would have been covered up as much as possible (especially given his predilection for other men's wives), since even in the 19th century, illegitimacy had a social stigma and Wagner seems to have gotten away with far more than ordinary mortals just through sheer force of genius (von Bülow remained an admirer and friend even after Wagner stole his wife).

The Wikipedia page on Siegfried Wagner mentions rumors of an illegitimate child. However, that seems unlikely, given Siegfried's fairly well documented sexual preference for men (his four children with Winifrid notwithstanding).

I'd say your chances are pretty remote at this point, unless you can find a family member that has some kind of tie to the Wagner family. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to work back through your own family tree rather than trying to figure out Wagner's.