November 14, 1805:
06:30 Fanny Mendelssohn is born at Michaelisstraße 14 in the Free Imperial City of Hamburg, the first of four children born to Abraham Mendelssohn, a banker, himself the son of the Enlightenment philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, and Lea Solomon, daughter of the Prussian court jeweler and granddaughter of Daniel Itzig, a financial advisor to King Friedrich II of Prussia and one of the most affluent citizens of Berlin.
March 11, 1829:
18:00 Felix Mendelssohn (20) conducts (from the piano) the first performance of Johann Sebastian Bach's (†78) St. Matthew Passion in nearly a century. This performance, in the Berlin Singakademie, is much more successful than the original. Among the standing room only audience are King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia, Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Hegel, Gaspare Spontini (53), Alexander von Humboldt, and Heinrich Heine. The conductor uses a baton for the first time. In the alto section of the chorus is Fanny Mendelssohn (23).
December 26, 1829:
Two new works by the Mendelssohn siblings are performed for the first time, at the Berlin home of the composers’ parents, in honor of their silver wedding anniversary: Die Heimkehr aus der Fremde, a liederspiel by Felix Mendelssohn (20) to words of Klingemann, and Festspiel for vocal soloists, chorus, and orchestra by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (24) to words of her husband, Wilhelm Hensel.
June 16, 1830:
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (24) gives birth to her first and only child, Sebastian Ludwig Felix Hensel in Berlin. The child is named after her three favorite composers.
July 6, 1831:
Lobgesang, a cantata for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (25) to words from the Bible, is performed for the first time, at the Mendelssohn residence in Berlin.
July 19, 1831:
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (25) notes in her diary that Asiatic cholera has reached as far west as Danzig (Gdansk).
October 3, 1831:
Hiob, a cantata by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (25) to words from the Book of Job, is performed for the first time, at the Mendelssohn residence in Berlin, for her second wedding anniversary.
December 10, 1831:
Cantata nach Aufhören der Cholera in Berlin, 1831 by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (26), to words from the Bible, is performed for the first time, at the Mendelssohn residence in Berlin, on the birthday of her father.
November 1, 1832:
At the Mendelssohn residence in Berlin, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (26) gives birth to a dead girl.
September 15, 1833:
The concert scene Hero and Leander by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (27) is performed for the first time, at the Mendelssohn residence in Berlin.
November 22, 1833:
Zum Fest der heiligen Cäcilia for chorus and piano by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (28) is performed for the first time, at the Mendelssohn residence in Berlin.
June 15, 1834:
Members of the Königstadt Theatre Orchestra read through Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s (28) Overture in C at the Mendelssohn residence in Berlin. At one point, the conductor, Julius Amadeus Lecerf, hands her the baton and bids her to take over, which she does.
June 22, 1835:
After spending time with her brother Felix (26), Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (29) and her husband Wilhelm Hensel depart Düsseldorf for Paris.
July 28, 1835:
Corsicans led by Giuseppe-Maria Fieschi fire upon an entourage containing King Louis-Philippe as it passes through the Boulevard du Temple, Paris during celebrations commemorating the July revolution of 1830. The King is grazed in the face but 18 others, including Maréchal de France Edouard-Adolphe Mortier, Duke of Treviso are killed. 22 are wounded. The Corsicans will be rounded up and guillotined. Fifteen minutes earlier, Wilhelm and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (29) watched the royal procession pass by their balcony.
August 6, 1835:
Wilhelm and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (29) are part of a large crowd in Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris watching King Louis-Philippe engage in a public reconciliation with the Catholic Church. At night, they depart for Boulogne.
August 7, 1835:
Wilhelm and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (29) visit the Rouen Cathedral and the square where Joan of Arc was executed.
August 9, 1835:
Wilhelm and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (29), with their son Sebastian, reach Boulogne-sur-Mer from Paris. Fanny has been prescribed sea baths.
September 16, 1835:
Wilhelm and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (29), with their son Sebastian, take their first trip by railroad, from Brussels to Mechelen.
September 27, 1835:
The Hensel family, including Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (29), return to Berlin after over three months of travel.
May 22, 1836:
St. Paul, an oratorio by Felix Mendelssohn (27) to words of Schubring after the Bible, is performed for the first time, at the Niederrheinisches Musikfest, Düsseldorf, the composer conducting. This performance, and others at the festival, assure the international stature of Mendelssohn. At one point, a soloist playing a “false witness” against St. Stephen loses his way. An alto named Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (30) steps out of the chorus and sings the correct notes for him, whereupon he resumes his part and Frau Hensel returns to the chorus.
June 24, 1837:
Felix Mendelssohn (28) writes to his mother from Frankfurt that he will support and help his sister, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (31), to publish if that is the wish of Fanny and her husband. But he will not encourage her to publish. He thinks that publishing should be part of a lifetime career and that Fanny is “too much a Frau, as is proper…” It might take her away from her first and preferred calling.
February 27, 1838:
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (32) performs as piano soloist in public for the first time, at a charity concert in the Berlin Schauspielhaus. She plays her brother’s Piano Concerto in g minor.
June 4, 1838:
The British Great Western Railway is opened from Paddington to Maidenhead. Present at the ceremony is a visiting German painter named Wilhelm Hensel, husband of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (32).
August 27, 1839:
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (33), her husband and son leave Berlin for a sojourn in Italy. They go immediately to Leipzig for a week with her brother Felix (30).
October 12, 1839:
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (33) and her family arrive in Venice, the first stop on their year-long tour of Italy.
November 26, 1839:
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (34) and her family arrive in Rome on their year long tour of Italy.
June 1, 1840:
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (34) and her family depart Rome for Naples on their year-long visit to Italy.
June 5, 1840:
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (34) and her family arrive in Naples.
June 16, 1840:
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (34) and her family ascend to the summit of Mt. Vesuvius, first on horseback, then by means of sedan chairs. They are able to look down into the crater.
August 11, 1840:
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (34) and her family depart Naples on a steamboat for Genoa on their year long visit to Italy.
August 18, 1840:
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (34) and her family reach Milan from Genoa on their year long visit to Italy.
September 11, 1840:
After more than a year away, traveling mostly in Italy, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (34) and her family arrive home in Berlin.
October 28, 1841:
Incidental music to Sophocles’ play Antigone by Felix Mendelssohn (32) is performed for the first time, before King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia and invited guests at the Potsdam Court Theatre, including Giacomo Meyerbeer (50) and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (35). See 13 April 1842.
December 23, 1841:
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (36) completes Das Jahr, a cycle of 12 piano pieces in honor of the months of the year. Only one will be published during her lifetime. (The entire cycle will finally be edited and published in 1989.)
April 14, 1844:
Franz Liszt (32) makes a visit to one of the programs of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (38) at the Mendelssohn residence in Berlin.
January 2, 1845:
Wilhelm and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (39) leave from Berlin on a second sojourn to Italy.
January 19, 1845:
Wilhelm and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (39) arrive in Florence on their second sojourn to Italy.
February 21, 1847:
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (41) makes her third and last public appearance as pianist as she accompanies a vocalist at the Berlin Singakademie.
March 4, 1847:
Wilhelm and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (41) give a soiree to introduce Robert (36) and Clara (27) Schumann to Berlin society.
April 11, 1847:
A Piano Trio by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (41) is performed for the first time, at the Mendelssohn residence in Berlin.
May 14, 1847:
While conducting a choral rehearsal in Berlin, Fanny Hensel loses control of her arms. While a friend takes over the rehearsal she goes to soak her hands in hot vinegar. Those present hear her call through the open door, “How beautiful that sounds.” The paralysis goes through her body and she says, “It's a stroke, like Mother had.” She then loses consciousness. At 23:00 Fanny Cäcilie Mendelssohn Hensel dies in the Mendelssohn home at Leipzigerstraße 3, Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, aged 41 years and six months.
May 17, 1847:
The mortal remains of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel are buried in the Alte Dreifaltigkeits Kirchhof in Berlin.
May 18, 1847:
A service in memory of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel is held in the Singakademie, Berlin. In Frankfurt, her brother Felix (38) learns of her death, cries out, and faints.