“My painting seems to have come into fashion.”

A new Tyrolean film project aims to bring the nearly 200-year-old novel about “Die Geierwally” closer to reality in 2025. We will follow the project by Tyrolean artists over the coming months on this blog with descriptions of the real life of this legendary woman. Interested readers can find more information about this project by Tyrolean artists on this website under “The Film.”

The contents of the five blogs on Anna Stainer-Knittel until now

Anna Stainer was born in Elbigenalp in 1841. Her talent for painting was recognized early on by Anton Falger, the "father of the Lech Valley," who took her under his wing. The fact that she had "emptied" two eagles' nests in her youth became known to the man who wrote the first real travel guide to Tyrol: Ludwig Steub. He published the story of this courageous deed in a German magazine. Years later, the story was turned into a best-selling novel.

After Anton Falger encouraged Anna Knittel, known to everyone as “Knittele,” to attend a drawing school in Munich, the young woman got her first taste of city life. She met famous painters such as Moritz von Schwind and Mathias Schmid. Since women were not allowed to study at university then, she ended her studies in Munich in 1863. As Innsbruck was the city of her dreams, she moved to the provincial capital on the advice of her acquaintance, the then-famous Paznaun painter Matthias Schmid, and kept her head above water by painting portraits. However, she met and fell in love with the plaster mold maker Engelbert Stainer. This was even though her father was initially completely opposed to this son-in-law. This demonstrated the indomitable spirit of this woman who, as she wrote, “would rather live in poverty than leave her beloved husband.” In the late 1870s and early 1880s, Anna Stainer-Knittel celebrated her first “countable” successes as a painter. This was fortunate, as she had given birth to three children in the meantime.

Engelbert Stainer, the man Anna Knittel loved. From: Nina Stainer, Anna Stainer-Knittel, Painter, Wagner University Press

An image of the emperor and “false braids” at the imperial reception

In her memoirs, she describes the defining moment of her painting career. Empress Elisabeth, known as Sissi, spent the winter of 1870 in Merano. In February 1871, Emperor Franz Joseph I visited his family and stopped off in Innsbruck. A reception was quickly organized. An artist was sought who was willing to paint a larger-than-life portrait of the emperor in a very short time. The painting was to adorn the hall where the grand reception would occur. Unlike many of her colleagues, Anna applied for the commission and was awarded the contract. This naturally included an invitation to the imperial reception.

The portrait of the emperor painted in haste by Anna Stainer-Knittel in 1871 (detail). From: Helga Reichart, “Die Geierwally,” Haymon-Verlag

The mayor asked her to wear a “Lechtal costume” at the reception. At the last minute, her father sent her a borrowed traditional costume. She had only one problem: her short hair was considered highly inappropriate for a woman then. She knew what to do and attached fake braids to her hat.

In her painting “Kirchgang in Elbigenalp” (Churchgoers in Elbigenalp), Anna Stainer-Knittel immortalizes the church where she was married and women in the Lech Valley's beautiful but expensive traditional costumes.

The emperor wanted to know, “Do you always paint?”

Anna was presented to the emperor, who asked if she always painted. "Yes, Your Majesty, it is my profession," she replied. "He then said encouraging words to me, and I was dismissed." Presumably, Franz Joseph was "very pleased," as always.

The emperor's portrait marked the beginning of Anna Stainer-Knittel's success as a painter. She received more commissions for portraits, but these gradually declined due to the emergence of photography. "Then came a rescue," she wrote in her memoirs. "Mandl (her husband Engelbert) persuaded me to start painting flowers. Mandl wanted a 'bouquet that would never wilt' for his name day."

Anna Stainer-Knittel, Alpine Flower Bouquet, undated Innsbruck, TLM, Older Art History Collection, Inv. No. Gem 2182 Photo: TLM

The first attempts were successful. "Then Mandl brought a bowl made of alabaster. Shortly before, we had bought a small batch of vases, bowls, and small dishes from a Welsch. I had to paint an alpine rose on it." It soon became clear that she had struck gold. The small bowl was sold immediately. "Now I was hooked and immediately started making one after the other." In the meantime, Engelbert Stainer had opened his shop on Maria-Theresien-Straße. Then, as now, it was ideally located for selling souvenirs. In any case, the couple's financial situation improved considerably.

A small fortune for a single painting

The World Exhibition planned in Vienna suddenly became a hot topic. Anna was invited to participate. She decided to paint a larger picture. "I thought of a wreath of alpine flowers, with two girls in the middle picking diamonds from the rocks. In the background, I painted the Freispitze in Parseier." The Vienna World Exhibition occurred from May 1 to November 2, 1873, for the first time in the German-speaking world. At the time, it was a showcase for the emerging industrial age with all its technical developments. Machines, agriculture, and art were presented as if in a living encyclopedia. However, the exhibition was ill-fated.

A stock market crash during the event and a cholera epidemic reduced visitor numbers massively. The picture that Anna Stainer-Knittel had submitted was to be exhibited in the "Women's Work" section. However, her image was lost in the mass of paintings. A friend helped her place the painting in an exhibition at the Künstlerhaus. And sure enough, one day the postman brought her a thick envelope from Vienna for "my painting, the wreath from the World's Fair." She received no less than 500 guilders, equivalent to about 12,000 euros today.

Pencil sketch of the painting that Anna Stainer-Knittel sent to Vienna for exhibition, which earned her the enormous sum of 500 guilders at the time, as she noted below the sketch. The painting went to England but is unfortunately ‘lost’. Image from: Helga Reichart, “Die Geierwally,” Haymon-Verlag

The sources used are taken from the book “Anna Stainer-Knittel, Malerin” (Anna Stainer-Knittel, Painter), published in 2015 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of her death by Nina Stainer, her great-granddaughter, by Wagner University Press in Innsbruck.