Marianne Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn German, 1919-2025

Marianne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn (1919-2025) was an Austrian-born photographer whose candid, elegant portraits of European high society earned her a unique place in 20th-century photography. A member of the German and Austrian nobility, she was born Marianne Mayr von Melnhof in Salzburg in 1919, the eldest daughter of Baron Friedrich Mayr-Melnhof and Countess Maria-Anna of Meran. She received her first camera at age ten and remained devoted to the medium for the rest of her life.

Educated at the Blocherer Art School in Munich, she married Prince Ludwig zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn in 1942 and had five children. After World War II left their ancestral home in ruins, the couple rebuilt their lives in Sayn, Germany, running a flower shop and market garden while remaining central figures in diplomatic and aristocratic circles. Marianne used her privileged access to capture intimate, unscripted moments among royals, artists, and political leaders with warmth and charm.

Following her husband's death in 1962, friends such as Lilli Palmer and Karl Lagerfeld encouraged the Princess to publish her photographic collection. Her work appeared in Bunte and other international publications, and she was especially known for her portraits taken at motorsport events, royal gatherings, and the Salzburg Festival, where she hosted legendary lunches attended by the likes of Sean Connery, Prince Charles, Leonard Bernstein, and Maria Callas.

Nicknamed the “Mamarazza” by Princess Caroline of Monaco, Marianne was described by Vogue as someone who “captured the beau monde at play.”  The focus of her photographs—aristocrats, politicians, actors, artists, and sports legends—formed a dazzling constellation through her lens, together composing a vivid, intimate tapestry of postwar Europe's cultural zeitgeist. Princess Marianne's collection has been widely exhibited, including solo shows in Salzburg, Vienna, Berlin, and Munich. In 2003, a gallery in Salzburg established a permanent exhibition of her work, and her photographic archive grew to an estimated 300,000 images.

The premiere solo retrospective exhibition in New York City of Princess Marianne's photography was presented by Westwood Gallery NYC in 2006.

Celebrated for her good humor, artistic instinct, and intuitive sense of timing, Marianne remained active into her centenarian years. She passed away in 2025 at the age of 105. Westwood Gallery NYC continues to represent her photographic archive, and her legacy endures as a visual chronicle of European cultural life.