Life and Family
The Bruch family – Gisela is the second from left to right – during a summer at the beach, accompanied by an unidentified au pair (c. 1925).
Hans and Lene Bruch, parents of the artist (Mannheim, Germany, 1920s). Hans, of pure Germanic stock, married Lene (Hélène), a German Jew, in March 1917. Both were exceptionally talented pianists, graduated from the prestigious Music Conservatory of Cologne. They specialized in piano duo concerts, which they presented in numerous tours in Germany and Europe, to the acclaim of critics and press. When National Socialism came to power, the official state persecution of Jews began. One of these laws targeted so-called “mixed marriages”, precisely the case of Gisela’s parents. In face of the increasingly menacing political situation in Germany, Lene Bruch travelled in 1934 to Brazil, invited by the conductor Ernst Mehlich to explore new professional opportunities for herserlf and her husband. After several traumatic events for the family, Gisela arrived with her father in Brazil in September of 1935. The couple’s other daughter, Maria Luisa (Didi), would come the following year.
Sisters Gisela and Didi (Mannheim, c. 1933)
1 Renewal of passport issued by the German Embassy in Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro, then federal capital, in 1941. Gisela’s full name appears on the document as Olga Fanny Gisela Bruch.
2 In Sao Paulo, Hans and Lene participate extensively in the cultural scene by performing at recitals and teaching, as the renowned piano teachers they already were, at their home at Rua Maranhão, 105.
3 Original document from the Reichsmusikkammer [State Music Institute] denying Lene Bruch, mother of Gisela, membership to the Institute that she requested in August of 1935. On the basis of Reichsmusikkammer anti-semitic legislation, Lene loses her right to exercise her profession (concert musician and teacher) in the institutions under the control of the Reichsmusikkammer. She is, however, granted the right of appeal, which must be forwarded to the President of the Reichsmusikkammer in Berlin.
Francisco Eichbaum was a reputed physician and researcher, responsible for great humanitarian initiatives in São Paulo. Gisela’s husband was a German from Mainz, where he was born in 1906. Under pressure of the anti-semitic legislation of the National- Socialist German state, he emigrated to Czechoslovakia in 1933, which he escaped in 1939 to England. He emigrated to Brazil in 1940. Francisco and Gisela were married in 1948. He would become one of the most enthusiastic supporters of Gisela’s artistic career.The couple would hold musical evening parties at their home, when Francisco would play the cello and Gisela the piano. These well-known venues were often attended by artists of international reputation.
Jan and Katia Eichbaum, children of Francisco and Gisela Eichbaum, in 1968.
