Elmendorff, Karl Eduard Maria (also Carl)

Conductor, General Music Director

born: 25.10.1891 in Düsseldorf

died: 21.10.1962 in Hofheim (Taunus)

Karl Elmendorff was born in Düsseldorf, the son of a merchant. After attending a humanistic high school, he first studied classical philology, German language and literature, and dentistry in Freiburg, Munich, and Münster. He then studied musicology in Cologne and Bonn under Fritz Steinbach (1855–1916) and Hermann Abendroth (1883–1956). In 1916, he became Kapellmeister at the Stadttheater in Düsseldorf; in 1920, he moved to Mainz, spent a season in Hagen, and then became Chief Music Director in Aachen. In 1925, the Munich State Opera appointed him Principal Kapellmeister and later General Music Director. In 1932, he became General Music Director at the Nassau State Theater in Wiesbaden. There he conducted, among other works, Verdi’s *Aida* and *Macbeth*, Wagner’s *Ring*, Strauss’s *Rosenkavalier*, and several symphony concerts. He also conducted modern operas such as Eduard Künneke’s *Nadja* and Wolf-Ferrari’s *The Mischievous Widow*. In 1936, Elmendorff moved to the Mannheim National Theater, and in 1938 he also took on the role of Kapellmeister at the Berlin State Opera. In 1938, he was appointed State Kapellmeister by Adolf Hitler. In 1942, Elmendorff succeeded Karl Böhm (1894–1984) at the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden and the Semperoper. There, he was appointed Chief Music Director of the Dresden State Opera in 1943.

In 1926, Karl Elmendorff participated in the German Festival in Weimar, where he caught the attention of Bayreuth Festival Director Siegfried Wagner (1869–1930), leading to the development of a close relationship. Wagner introduced him to Bayreuth’s cultural circles, where Elmendorff actively recruited artists for the “Kampfbund für Deutsche Kultur” (Fighting League for German Culture) beginning in 1928. In Bayreuth, Elmendorff conducted “The Ring of the Nibelung” and other well-known operas by Richard Wagner on multiple occasions. He stood at the podium of the Bayreuth Festival a total of 81 times. During the “War Festivals” of 1939–42, he conducted *The Flying Dutchman*. When the festival reopened in 1951, Wagner’s grandchildren declined his continued participation.

Elmendorff’s close ties to the Wagner family and his involvement with the Bayreuth Festival contributed to his being commissioned to conduct a gala performance of *Die Meistersinger* in Nuremberg in 1933 on the occasion of the NSDAP Reich Party Congress. The conductor was engaged at the special request of Adolf Hitler. The director of the Bayreuth Festival, Winifred Wagner, organized the performance. Even later, Elmendorff maintained close ties with the leadership of the Nazi regime and used these connections to advance his career. In particular, Elmendorff used his close relationship with Gerdy Troost—the wife of architect Paul Ludwig Troost and a close confidante of Hitler—to repeatedly put himself in the running for awards or high-ranking positions. His goal was to assert himself against professional rivals such as the conductors Furtwängler and Herbert von Karajan and to secure his position—a goal he achieved, in particular, when he was appointed to the post of Chief Musical Director in Dresden. On May 1, 1937, Karl Elmendorff joined the NSDAP. Due to his profession, he was a member of the Reich Chamber of Culture.

Artistically, Elmendorff was regarded both at home and abroad as one of the most important and distinguished interpreters of Wagner.  His professional success is also evident in the size of his income, which rose from 14,000 RM annually in 1932 to 40,000 RM in 1937.  His professional success—which was made possible in part by his proximity to the regime—not only made Elmendorff financially independent but also enabled him to perform abroad. Elmendorff supported the Nazi regime in particular through performances in German-occupied territories. The conductor regularly performed in both the occupied and unoccupied parts of France, as well as in Belgium and fascist Italy. In 1943, he was awarded the War Merit Cross, Second Class, without Swords for these efforts.

After the end of World War II, Elmendorff served as Chief Music Director of the Kassel State Theater from 1948 to 1951. In 1951, he returned to Wiesbaden and served as Chief Music Director of the Wiesbaden State Theater until 1955. From 1955 onward, he served as music advisor to the municipal government of the state capital of Wiesbaden. During his second tenure in Wiesbaden, Elmendorff continued to stage operas by Wagner, Verdi, Beethoven, and Bizet. These were joined by, among others, Pfitzner’s *Palestrina*, Dvořák’s *The Jacobin*—an opera he particularly admired—and the world premiere of Hans Vogt’s (1911–1992) and Hermann Kasack’s (1896–1966) *Die Stadt hinter dem Strom*. He stood in the orchestra pit of the Hessian State Theater in Wiesbaden nearly 500 times.

In 1956, Karl Elmendorff was awarded the Goethe Plaque by the State of Hesse. He also received the Richard Strauss Medal and the Leuschner Prize.

Karl Elmendorff died on October 21, 1962, in Hofheim am Taunus. He was buried at the Nordfriedhof in Wiesbaden. A bust of Elmendorff, created by Ernst Dostal, stands in the stairwell leading to the first tier of the Hessian State Theater in Wiesbaden. A street in Wiesbaden was named after him in 1965. Due to a performance at the 1933 Reich Party Congress and his associated active support of the Nazi movement, Karl Elmendorff made a clear commitment to National Socialism as a political movement and to the Nazi regime. Through his close ties to the leadership of the Nazi regime, he attained well-paid positions and thereby benefited materially from the regime. For this reason, the Historical Expert Commission—appointed in 2020 by resolution of the City Council to review public spaces, buildings, and facilities in the state capital of Wiesbaden named after individuals—recommended in 2023 that the street in the Südost district named after Karl Elmendorff be renamed. His membership in the NSDAP and, due to his profession, in the Reich Chamber of Culture also contributed to the Historical Expert Commission’s recommendation.

The responsible Wiesbaden-Südost District Council followed the recommendation and decided on November 26, 2024, to rename the street Elisabeth-Schwarzhaupt-Straße. This was implemented by a resolution of the City Council on May 5, 2026.

[This text was written in 2012 by Holger Reiner Stunz for the print edition of the Wiesbaden City Encyclopedia and revised and expanded in 2024 by Dr. Katherine Lukat.]