| Timeline |
| 1813 |
Born 22 May, in Leipzig; son of police official |
| 1831 |
Enrols at Leipzig University to study music |
| 1834 |
Writes first opera, Die Feen |
| 1836 |
Weds actress Minna Planer |
| 1839 |
After conducting post in Riga finishes, leaves Russia secretly to escape creditors |
| 1841 |
Lives in poverty in Paris |
| 1842 |
Premiere of Rienzi; becomes Director of Dresden Opera |
| 1849 |
Begins Der Ring des Nibelungen |
| 1857 |
Love affair with Mathilde Wesendonk inspires Tristan und Isolde |
| 1862 |
Begins love affair with Cosima von Bülow |
| 1866 |
First wife, Minna, dies |
| 1870 |
Weds Cosima, by whom he already had three children. Meets important patron King Ludwig II of Bavaria |
| 1876 |
Premiere of Der Ring des Nibelungen in Bayreuth |
| 1883 |
Dies 13 February |
