LINDAUER
PART 3
After a wealthy family life, trips to Europe and a beautiful villa in Bad Cannstatt, the lives of Sigmund and Rose Lindauer came to an end.
And what happened to their only daughter, Marie Lindauer?
In 1915, Marie married Wilhelm Mayer-Ilschen - a non-Jewish intellectual, publisher, and a prominent figure in the preservation of local culture.
He was the founder of the Swabian Homeland Association (Schwäbischer Heimatbund), which worked to protect landscapes, traditions, and architecture in Württemberg.
His publishing house focused primarily on architecture and art.
One rare and highly sought-after work published by him in 1917 is a collection of over 80 colorful stage set designs by Bernhard Pankok.
At the end of 1921, Wilhelm sold his publishing house to a German company in Stuttgart and took on a managerial role at his father-in-law’s textile company, where he was appointed as a partner that same year.
Despite Marie's conversion to Christianity, under the Nuremberg Laws, she was still classified as a "Jew by race" due to her ancestry (three Jewish grandparents), which determined her legal status under Nazi rule. Wilhelm fought to save the factory from being confiscated by the Nazis and made a strategic move: he added his own name and changed the company’s name to:
"Wilhelm Mayer-Ilschen Korsett- und Leotardagenfabrik"
He also transferred all shares from his wife and mother-in-law into his own name.
Two years later, in 1940, the Nazi authorities officially recognized that the business was no longer “Jewish,” and in this way, the factory was spared from confiscation.
Wedding photo of Marie Lindauer and Wilhelm Meyer-Ilschen in front of the staircase of the Lindauer Villa in 1915.
Wilhelm was a non-commissioned officer in a cavalry unit “Dragoner-Regiment 26” during the German Empire. Upon his retirement from military service in 1916, he was awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class for his service.
The book
"Stuttgarter Bühnenkunst"
Published by Wilhelm with design by Bernard Bangkok
Wilhelm and Marie had one daughter - Rosemarie, named after her grandmother, Rosa.
She too was classified under the Nazi racial laws as a "Mischling ersten Grades" - a Nazi term meaning “first-degree mixed race,” or in other words, half-Jewish. Despite that, she survived the period of persecution together with her mother.
Wilhelm passed away in 1946 while on vacation in Garmisch, and after his death, Marie continued to manage the company, with the help of her daughter Rosemarie.
In 1949, Rosemarie took control of the brand, and the two managed it under its original name: Prima Donna.
The successful brand continued operating in Europe for decades. Eventually, in 1990, after 40 years of stable and respected operation, the brand - along with all rights, was sold to the Belgian lingerie manufacturer Van de Velde.
Van de Velde carried on the company’s legacy and turned Prima Donna into one of the leading global brands in high-quality women’s lingerie.
Later, they also introduced swimwear, particularly in plus sizes, with a focus on comfort and aesthetics.
To this day, exhibitions are held in fashion schools in Bad Cannstatt about the revolution sparked by the industrial bra and the Lindauer family’s contribution.
Greta. Greta Marx.
What is the connection between Rosemarie and Greta Marx?
Beyond the social and familial ties between the leading textile families of Bad Cannstatt, there’s more to the story. In 1945, Rosemarie married Professor Karl Hermann Usener, an art history scholar. Gudrun Rarig, an art historian and a colleague of Karl, was completing her doctorate on the painter Bernhard Pankok. She frequently visited Stuttgart for her research, and during those visits, she stayed with Karl and Rosemarie. Over time, the two women became close friends.
Rosemarie herself had been painted and photographed as a child by Bernhard Pankok in 1921, and was therefore very familiar with his work and artistic style. The portrait of Greta Marx had been commissioned from Pankok at the initiative of her brother, Leopold Marx, in 1915.
During one of her conversations with Rarig, Rosemarie suggested the name Greta Marx as a possible identity for the “unknown girl” depicted in one of Pankok’s untitled portraits. Thanks to this clue, Rarig contacted Alfred Marx, who confirmed with certainty that the portrait was indeed of his younger sister, Greta.
In other words: without Rosemarie, the identity of Greta Marx in the painting might have remained unknown to this day.
Karl Hermann Usener
Passport photos of Wilhelm and Marie, 1920
Marie who converted to Christianity but was still marked as Jewish with the letter
“J”
Wilhelm, thanks to whom the factory was saved
Unfortunately, I was unable to find the painting that Bernard Pancock painted of Rosemary, it probably remained in the private possession of her immediate family.
The life of a community - especially a Jewish community - neighbors, businesses and marriages are a delicate web of memories, connections, loves and tragedies,Entire communities existed together and their fates were woven together. The fate of a person cannot be isolated from the fate of his neighbors
The role of survivors and community members - to serve as witnesses to objects and stories even for those who did not survive. Even the thinnest thread of memory can change history dozens of generations ahead for an entire family
Shabbat Shalom
