In her teenage years Friedelind enjoyed an especially close relationship with her aunt Daniela Thode, the first daughter of Cosima's marriage to Hans von Bülow. It was a friendship which continued into the years of Friedelind's early adulthood. Daniela was generally regarded with some contempt as a fossilized old maid. But she was clever and spirited, even passionate. ‘She was continually exploding, wrecking everything about her, continually repenting and flagellating herself for her outbursts,’ recalled Friedelind. Cosima had brought up Daniela firmly within the narrow bounds that were normal for girls at the time, so she had been unable to develop her intellectual and creative abilities to their full potential. Heinz Tietjen claimed that Daniela was ‘stubborn and dangerous’ and tried, without success, to drive a wedge between her and her niece by insisting that Friedelind show solidarity with Winifred. ‘We have to protect your mother,’ he said. Friedelind resented such pressure and remained attached to her aunt notwithstanding all her eccentricities. She also drew close to Eva, Richard's second child. After both aunts had lost their husbands (Daniela through divorce, Eva when her husband died) the two of them moved close to one another in Bayreuth and often went on trips together.