Memorial Signs for Margarethe and Berthold Sterneck,
Presselweg 1

Margarethe and Berthold Sterneck both came from jewish families in Vienna, but met at the Deutsches Landestheater in Prague, where they often appeared together in operas. They married. In 1923 they moved to Munich with Berthold's son Kurt, and their daughter Johanna Freia was born. Berthold Sterneck was a celebrated singer at the Bavarian State Opera, but after the National Socialists seized power, he was banned from his profession and forced to perform forced labour. He fell seriously ill and died in 1943. His daughter Johanna was rescued on a Kindertransport to Great Britain, his son Kurt was deported to a concentration camp and later to a forced labour camp, but both children survived the Holocaust. Margarethe Sterneck went into hiding in 1944 to escape the threat of deportation and was hidden in a vicarage in Schwenningen. She committed suicide there at the beginning of 1945.

On Sunday, 10 July 1922, a memorial service for the Sterneck couple was held at Pasinger Fabrik. Members of the Opera Studio of the Bavarian State Opera provided the musical accompaniment. Family members of the Sternecks spoke, as did Anton Biebl, Head of Cultural Affairs of the City of Munich, followed by Dr Charlotte Knobloch, President of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, and Malte Krasting, dramaturge at the Bavarian State Opera.
Afterwards, the Memorial Signs for Margarethe and Berthold Sterneck were placed at their former home at Presselweg 1.