Margarete Schweikert was born into a family of the emerging middle class in Karlsruhe, Germany, on the 16th of February 1887. Her father Friedrich introduced her to playing the violin, her mother Luise familiarised her with the piano. Margarete Schweikert studied at Munzʼs Conservatory in Karlsruhe, there she received a broad musical education in violin, piano, composition and probably vocal studies. Margarete undertook her first attempts at composition when she was just ten years old. From 1904 onwards, her works were performed by her fellow students at the Conservatory. At the Baden Conservatory, the predecessor of the University of Music, she trained in violin, music theory and composition. In the winter terms of 1912/13, she continued her studies in Stuttgart. Her teachers there were Carl Wendling for professional violin and Joseph Haas, himself one of Max Reger’s pupils, for composition, both professors at the local Royal Conservatory. In 1912, Margarete Schweikert’s first collection of songs was published by Wunderhorn in Munich. In 1913, the Der Froschkönig premiered in Karlsruhe. The work is a musical comedy for children based on a text written by Erika Ebert. Concert tours, including a tour with the concert pianist August Schmid-Lindner, made Margarete Schweikert a well-known and respected violin virtuoso all over southern Germany. After the First World War, Margarete Schweikert organised her own fee- charging chamber concert series, at her parental home in Karlsruhe. For these concerts she arranged programmes featuring the so-called Höhenkamm literature, contemporary compositions and her own songs. The spectrum of Margarete Schweikert’s activities had a broad base: in the public eye, she was a teacher, a virtuoso violinist, pianist, composer and music critic. Purposeful and determined, the young musician prepared herself for life as an artist. For her 21st birthday, she received, instead of a dowry, a valuable violin as a present from her parents. After her marriage and the birth of their daughter in 1924, Margarete reduced her composing activities. During the “Third Reich”, Margarete Schweikert and her husband were classed as being a “double income household”, Margarete was thus deemed ineligible for a work permit. The violinist and composer had to be content with playing voluntarily at social events held in private and for musical soirées organized by the National Socialist Womenʼs League in the evenings. After the Second World War, Margarete Schweikert started teaching again.

Since the re-establishment in 1950 of the GEDOK (Association of Women Artists and Art Friends) in Karlsruhe, Margarete Schweikert became Chief Advisor for Music and in 1955 the GEDOK’s Chairperson. She died on 13 March 1957 in Karlsruhe.