Elisabeth von Herzogenberg, the third child of the Hanoverian Chamberlain Bodo, Baron of Stockhausen and his wife, Clothilde Annette, Countess of Baudissen, was born in Paris on 13 April 1847. She spent her youth in Vienna and received her first instruction in music theory and piano from the Protestant organist Theodor Dirzka, before starting her musical education in 1861 under Julius Epstein. In 1863, she was also taught for a short time by Johannes Brahms.
She married the composer Heinrich von Herzogenberg (1843–1900) in Dresden on 26 November 1868, and moved with him to Graz, where both were active members of the Graz singing society. In 1872, they moved via Dresden to Leipzig, where Elisabeth assisted her husband in establishing and directing the Leipzig Bach society from 1875 onwards. Whilst living in the musical city of Leipzig, the Herzogenbergs became friends with key musical figures including Johannes Brahms, Clara Schumann, Joseph and Amalie Joachim and Philipp Spitta. In 1885, the couple moved to Berlin.
A heart complaint from which Elisabeth had suffered for many years worsened, and she died at the age of just 44, on 7 January 1892, in San Remo (Italy), where she had apparently hoped that her condition would improve in the warmer climes.
Elisabeth von Herzogenberg can be considered a true musician and artist in her own right, given her extensive work supporting and advising in the music scene. Elisabeth von Herzogenberg’s entire musical estate has sadly been lost. All that is left (in printed form) is the song Nachklang [echo] , published under her husband’s name. It would appear that she set the sad words of Zu meinen Füßen sinkt ein Blatt [A leaf falls to my feet] by Ludwig Uhland to music upon the death of her father on 29 December 1884.
