Schwarzenbach was an equestrian sportswoman competing in main show jumping events in Switzerland and Germany, including the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.

Renée Schwarzenbach was the daughter of Swiss General Ulrich Wille and Countess Clara von Bismarck.

After her marriage she chronicled the family life on their Bocken Estate in Horgen near Lake Zürich in a detailed photographic diary.

Although she devoted herself to her husband and family she also had a long-term affair with the German opera singer Emmy Krüger.

This was partly due to the political differences between the two women: Renée being pro-German throughout the Nazi period and Annemarie holding decidedly anti-fascist views.