The Music Room of Fanny Hensel (nee Mendelssohn)

The music room of Fanny Hensel (nee Mendelssohn), pianist, composer and elder sister of the more renowned composer, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, was in the Hensel residence at no. 3 Leipzigerstrasse in Berlin. Well before her marriage and continuing for many years afterward, Fanny organized and programmed small musical gatherings which took place in this room. The room is dominated by a grand piano. The walls are hung with a collection of paintings. A desk and sewing table are placed to catch the sunlight. Simple white curtains at the windows, potted plants on the windowsills, and the bare floor suggest summertime. A large cross is placed on a table in front of a pier mirror.