Partner Bertha Wegmann

Queer Places:
Damehotellet, Jeudan Parkering, Gammel Mønt 1, 1117 København, Denmark

Toni Möller-Wegmann (1864–1947)—also known as Toni Möller, Toni Müller, or by her author pseudonym Agnes von der Decken—was a German-born writer, translator, and the lifelong partner, companion, and muse of the renowned Danish portrait painter Bertha Wegmann.

Möller met Bertha Wegmann in 1892, and the two women shared a profound personal and professional bond, living together for periods until Wegmann's death in 1926. Their relationship was deeply intertwined with the artistic community of their time. Earlier in her career, Wegmann had famously shared a joint studio in Munich during the late 1870s with fellow artist Jeanna Bauck—a creative and domestic partnership captured in Bauck's notable 19th-century painting Bertha Wegmann Painting a Portrait. In later years, Möller and Wegmann shared a home and life together in Copenhagen, spanning roughly three decades. Möller frequently served as an artistic model and muse for Wegmann, most notably appearing in the 1892 portrait En ung pige i skoven (Toni Möller) (A Young Girl in a Forest).

As a literary figure, Möller wrote under the pseudonym Agnes von der Decken, a pen name documented in Sophie Pataky’s historical lexicon of female German writers. Her extensive body of published work included collections of poetry, prose, and literary translations from Scandinavian languages. Among her notable publications are Aus der Salzbüchse, Drei Schock, The bathroom memory. Poems (featuring 22 pen drawings by Johanna Bauck, published in Landeshut), Heidekind (Barmen, 1888), In Dämmerungen. Gedichte (Friedland, 1892), Unser Fritz. Erinnerungen an Kaiser Friedrich (Hirschberg, 1889), and various contributions to periodicals such as the monthly magazine Elternhaus (1897). She also published a four-part series of Scandinavian translations in Hirschberg in 1895, featuring works such as Das Zeitwort aimer u. andere Nov. by C. Markmann, Das Silberherzchen u. anderes, Der Knabe im Rosenhain, and Norwegische Polizeiskizzen, as well as works like Lerchenlied überm Ackerfelde and Wiegenlieder der Mutter Gottes.

Following Bertha Wegmann's death in 1926, Möller dedicated herself to preserving, managing, and honoring her partner's artistic legacy through posthumous exhibitions and museum acquisitions. Demonstrating this commitment, Möller formally gifted Jeanna Bauck's historic painting depicting Wegmann at work—along with other significant pieces, including Wegmann's self-portrait and a portrait of Jeanna Bauck—to the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm in 1930. Toni Agnes Möller-Wegmann lived until 1947, outliving her lifelong partner by two decades.

Photograph of Bertha Wegmann and Toni Möller with their dog Fukki, undated. The Hirschsprung Collection Archive

References:

• Sophie Pataky: Lexikon deutscher Frauen der Feder. Eine Zusammenstellung der seit dem Jahre 1840 erschienenen Werke weiblicher Autoren, nebst Biographieen der lebenden und einem Verzeichnis der Pseudonyme (Berlin, 1898), Vol. I (p. 145) and Vol. II (pp. 53–54).
• Nationalmuseum (Stockholm): Records pertaining to the 1930 acquisition of artworks (including Bertha Wegmann's portrait of Jeanna Bauck, Wegmann's self-portrait, and other pieces) gifted directly by Ms. Toni Agnes Möller-Wegmann.
• The Hirschsprung Collection (Copenhagen): Research and documentation regarding works such as A Young Woman in the Forest (Toni Möller) and archival materials outlining Möller's role as companion, muse, and secretary.
• Heidekind (Barmen, 1888)
• Unser Fritz. Erinnerungen an Kaiser Friedrich (Hirschberg, 1889)
• In Dämmerungen. Gedichte (Friedland, 1892)
• The bathroom memory. Poems (featuring 22 pen drawings by Johanna/Jeanna Bauck, Landeshut)
• Elternhaus (Monthly magazine contributions, Landshut, 1897)
• Four-part Scandinavian translation series (Hirschberg, 1895), featuring titles such as Das Zeitwort aimer u. andere Nov. by C. Markmann, Das Silberherzchen u. anderes, Der Knabe im Rosenhain, and Norwegische Polizeiskizzen.
• Additional poetry and prose collections including Aus der Salzbüchse, Drei Schock, Lerchenlied überm Ackerfelde, and Wiegenlieder der Mutter Gottes.

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