Author and collector Hertha Koenig was the daughter of Carl Koenig (1849-1927) and his wife Julie, née Helfferich (1851-1937). Her grandfather was Leopold Koenig (d. 1921). In 1910, in Munich Hertha married the professor Roman Woerner. They divorced three years later. It was during this time in Munich that she first made the acquaintance of the poet Rainer Maris Rilke (her reminiscences of him were published in 1992) and published her first novel, "Emilie Reinbeck." In 1914 Hertha visited Picasso in his studio in Paris. Shortly thereafter she acquired several works by Picasso, including two now at the National Gallery of Art. Hertha continued to write and publish throughout her life. She died in 1976; her art collection was donated to the Kunsthalle Bielefeld. Her archives are held by the Pendragon Verlag in Bielefeld.