 Bauer-Lechner was the eldest child of five children (four girls and a boy) born to the Viennese bookshop owner and publisher Rudolf Lechner (1822-1895) and his wife Julie, née von Winiwarter (1831-1905).She was educated privately, and from 1866 to 1872 she and her sister Ellen (28 July 1859 - 24 March 1940) studied at the Vienna Conservatory.Both sisters graduated on 25 July 1872 with a second prize (cf.