Epilogue

One year after her husband’s death, Cécile Mendelssohn Bartholdy moved to No. 18 Leipziger Platz in Berlin, which was also the home of her sister-in-law Rebecka. The following year, she and her children moved into the Mendelssohn family home at No. 3 Leipziger Strasse. Her husband’s friends and relatives treated the widow with empathy, tried to offer her distractions, and took pains to make her life as comfortable as possible. Cécile ensured that her children received a good education, employed home tutors, and placed great emphasis on music and language tuition. She spent the following summers in the newly-built villa of her brother-in-law Paul, visited her mother in Frankfurt am Main, and attended spas in Schlangenbad and Bad Kreuznach.

In mid-February 1851, she was dealt another cruel blow when her sickly child Felix died at the age of 7. And as if that was not enough, Paul Mendelssohn-Bartholdy sold the property at No. 3 Leipziger Strasse with which she associated so many happy memories. Cécile attempted to distance herself from all of this by embarking on an extended one-year journey to Switzerland and Italy, accompanied by her mother, her children, and the children’s tutors. When the family returned to Berlin in August 1852, her new apartment at No. 22 Jägerstrasse was ready for her to move into.

During her travels, Cécile regularly managed to fit in stopovers in Leipzig, where her circle of friends always prepared a warm welcome for her. If her delicate health and emotions permitted, she would attend performances of Mendelssohn’s music, which always gave her particular pleasure. Cécile was only to survive her husband by six years. She died on 25 September 1853 at her mother’s home, and was laid to rest in Frankfurt.