Ottilie Heinke

Polish German

Female

Born 1823, Died 1893

Ottilie Heinke was born in Breslau, Poland where her father worked as a police chief and later curator of the university. After her father's death, Ottilie moved to Berlin with her mother and two siblings. In Berlin, she began studying private composition with Richard Wüerst and occasionally studied with Friedrich Kiel. Heinke never married and lived in relative seclusion until her death in 1893.

Ottilie Heinke was a presence in the musical life of Berlin from 1869 until 1893 as both composer and piano teacher. She began teaching piano in 1870 and her first compositions appeared soon after. Heinke is far from a One-Hit Wonder in Germany. She wrote over 75 compositions as seen in the partial catalogue found on MUGI, Music and Gender on the Internet.