page_title: Herbert von Karajan
section_title: Marriages and children
hierarchical_section_title: Herbert von Karajan / Biography / Personal life / Marriages and children
caption_attribution_description: English: Karajan family in Austria, in 1968
context_page_description: Herbert von Karajan was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years until his death in 1989. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg festival, with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, and during the Second World War he conducted at the Berlin State Opera. Generally regarded as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, he was a controversial but dominant figure in European classical music from the mid-1950s until his death. Part of the reason for this was the large number of recordings he made and their prominence during his lifetime. By one estimate he was the top-selling classical music recording artist of all time, having sold an estimated 200 million records.
context_section_description: On 26 July 1938, Karajan married Elmy Holgerloef, an operetta singer. He first worked with Elmy on a 1935 New Year's Eve gala production of Strauss's Die Fledermaus. They divorced in 1942. Elmy died of heart failure in 1983. A statement from his Salzburg office stated that Karajan was "very shocked, affected, and deeply upset by the news. He had never forgotten her; she had been a part of his life." Karajan did not, however, attend her funeral in Aachen.
  On 22 October 1942, at the height of the Second World War, Karajan married his second wife, Anna Maria "Anita" Sauest, born Gütermann. She was the daughter of a well-known manufacturer of yarn for sewing machines. Having had a Jewish grandfather, she was considered a Vierteljüdin (one-quarter Jewish woman). They divorced in 1958.
  On 6 October 1958, Karajan remarried. His third wife was Eliette Mouret, a French model born in Mollans-sur-Ouvèze. She had enjoyed a carefree childhood growing up in Provence before being discovered by Christian Dior when she was just 19 years old. This laid the foundation for an international modelling career. Karajan had first met Mouret in 1957, and was deeply taken with her. Their first daughter, Isabel, was born on 25 June 1960. In 1964, their second daughter, Arabel, was born.
  After the death of Herbert von Karajan in July 1989, Eliette von Karajan continued her husband's musical legacy. With the founding of the Herbert von Karajan Centre in Vienna, now situated in Salzburg and known as the Eliette and Herbert von Karajan Institute, she created a cultural memorial dedicated to Karajan that has established itself during the years of its existence as an essential part of the local cultural scene. Her numerous projects, focusing particularly on the development of young people, and her engagement as patron of the Salzburg Easter Festival, mean that Eliette von Karajan is ensuring that her husband's work is still heard long after his death, remaining a living thing for generations to come.
caption: Karajan family in Austria, 1968
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