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Friedrich Fritz Lohr (1859-1924).

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  • Also: Löhr, Löwi, Löwy, Loehr.
  • Nickname: Fritz.

The frienship between Mahler and Lohr started in the year 1883. In 1884-1889 Mahler showed Lohr around in the Jihlava surroundings. They were fellow students at the Vienna University. Lohr took care of  Otto Mahler and Emma Mahler and also educated them. In 1898 Lohr became  secretary of the new Vienna Archaeological Institute.

Although Mahler and Bauer-Lechner knew each other in passing during their conservatory days, it seems fitting that their relationship began to blossom in 1888 under "familial" circumstances when they met again at the Vienna home of Mahler's longtime friend Friedrich ("Fritz") Lohr. (As noted above, Fritz and his wife Uda were so much a part of Mahlers extended family that he depended upon them to help look after his younger siblings after the death of their parents the following year (1889). During the Lohrs' gathering in 1888, Mahler, in an expansive mood, had invited everyone to visi him in Budapest, where he had just assumed the directorship of the Opera.

In july 1884 Gustav Mahler spend a week In House Eder (now Zsurek), Perchtoldsdorf, Marktplatz 8. It was a for his host Fritz Lohr unforgettable vacation week, with long walks en hours of making music. Passers were amazed by his piano playing. Picture postcard from 1905.

Mahler started with the sketches of the First Symphony in 1885, at the end of his work as conductor in Kassel and shortly after having finished the „Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen". Maybe he continued to work on the drafts already in Prague (1885/86), but certainly in Leipzeig in 1887. In March 1888, he wrote to his friend Friedrich Löhr (1859-1924):  „That's it! My work is finished! Now I want you by my little piano and to play it for you... You are probably the only one, who will found nothing new in it; the other people will certainly be surprised at quite a few things! It became so overwhelming - as it rushed out of me like a mountain torrent!"

In july 1891 (1889?) Gustav Mahler rented a home in Perchtoldsdorf, Hochstrasse 25. He stayed there as a 'summerguest', together with his sister Justine, Emma, Otto and Alois. This picture postcard from 1908 shows the baroquebuilding.

Lohr family (Lowi/Lowy)

The Mahlers were close to the entire Lohr family.

Parents

  1. Hermann (Papa Lowy) Lowi (1827-1913), father of Friedrich Fritz Lohr (1859-1924), Louise, Ernestine, Bertha and Margarethe. Also of another son, John Leo (1856-1883). Lowi was a tradesman and a businessman in Vienna. Between 1887 and 1901, all of his surviving children changed their surnames to Lohr. Married to:
  2. Anna Bunzl (1831-1885). 

Children (1 son and 4 daughters)

  1. Friedrich Fritz Lohr (1859-1924), (born Lowi; name change 26-01-1887), archaeologist an philologist. Married in 1887 to Ludovica (Uda) Lohr (1854-1936), née Czilchert. See above.
  2. Louise Lohr (1862-1938), (born Lowi; name change 18-02-1895), painter.
  3. Ernestine Lohr (1863-1942?), (born Lowi; name change 15-06-1892). She was a particularly close friend of Justine (Ernestine) Rose-Mahler (1868-1938). On 10-07-1942, she was deported to Theresienstadt.
  4. Bertha Lohr (1867-1933), (born Lowi; name change 18-02-1895). She studied piano with Hans Rott (1858-1884) and Gustav Mahler. Later owned a paper shop.
  5. Margarethe (Gretel) Lohr (1878-1934), (born Lowi; name change 30-09-1901).