At a Literary Society festival in Leipzig for Detlev von Liliencron (1844–1909) and Frank Wedekind (1864–1918), she met the painter and sculptor Max Klinger (1857–1920).

Their daughter Désirée was born on 7 September 1900, during a longer stay in Paris and she was given to a French foster mother.

In 1903, Klinger purchased a vineyard in Großjena, including a winegrower's cottage, which he converted into a normal residential building in order to be able to withdraw from the hectic city life of Leipzig with Asenijeff.

Guests of their salon were, among others, the three young poets Walter Hasenclever (1890–1940), Kurt Pinthus (1886–1975) and Franz Werfel (1890–1945).

Elsa Asenijeff was completely isolated, had no connection to her Viennese relatives, and her daughter Désirée, who spent some time in Leipzig for the funeral of her father in 1920, did not make any contact with her.

A two-year stay in the Leipzig-Dösen hospital, followed in 1926 by the transfer to Hubertusburg and finally as “not a danger to the public” in the Colditz Castle.

In 1933, the responsible authorities relocated this facility to Bräunsdorf near Freiberg as a “correctional institution for antisocial adults and those unwilling to work”.