Betty Roose

Betty Roose

Betty Roose , née Elisabeth Eckardt (born October 20, 1778 in Hamburg , † October 24, 1808 in Vienna ) was a German actress .

Life

Betty Roose was the eldest daughter of the actor and theater director Siegfried Gotthelf Koch (actually Eckardt, 1754-1831), who taught her acting . At the age of eleven she first appeared on a stage in Riga , where her father was acting director. On November 21, 1793 she made her debut at the Nationaltheater Mannheim and then played in Hanover , Hamburg and Bremen . In 1798 the actress was appointed to Vienna by the Burgtheater director August von Kotzebue . She made her debut at the Burgtheater on September 28, 1798 in the role of Margaret in August Wilhelm Iffland's Die Hagestolzen . In 1799 she married the actor and director Friedrich Roose (* 1767; † May 29, 1818). They adopted a child together. As a youthful heroine and sentimental lover , Betty Roose became a Viennese crowd favorite and also attracted the attention of the young Franz Grillparzer . Her best-known roles included the title role from Iphigenia on Tauris . She subsequently played in other cities such as Prague , Breslau , Regensburg and Pest .

Betty Roose died as a result of a difficult birth and was buried in the Hundsturmer cemetery .

“The local Imperial and Royal Court Theater has suffered a great loss. Betty Roose, bored cook, died on this 24th of the consequences of an unfortunate delivery and a receding gout. Not only was she an accomplished actress, but her moral character earned her the respect of the entire audience, which was excellently expressed at her funeral. On Tuesday 26th she was buried according to the customs of the Evangelical Church to which she professed. The superintendent Wächter made two beautiful speeches in front of the open coffin and then at the grave. About a hundred wagons followed the funeral procession, and several equipages from the most distinguished local families were noted among them. Not only women, but also serious men and old men gave heartfelt tears to their memory. The government councilor from Harti, as director of the kk theater, the entire theater staff and several art lovers accompanied the unforgettable girl to the crypt. Betty Roose deserves an excellent position in the history of art, like Miss Siddow and Katharina Jacquet . "

A few weeks after the funeral, Betty Roose's skull was stolen by the same perpetrators who were supposed to steal Joseph Haydn's skull from the neighboring grave in the spring of 1809 . During this time, the skull and brain theory of Dr. Franz Joseph Gall at the height of European interest - especially the skulls of outstanding personalities were at the center of desires. In 1930 the Betty-Roose-Weg in Vienna's 12th district of Meidling was named after her.

Her sister Henriette Koch was also a stage actress.

literature

• Ludwig Eisenberg : Large biographical lexicon of the German stage in the XIX. Century . Verlag von Paul List , Leipzig 1903, pp. 845 f., ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
• Constantin von Wurzbach : Roose, Betti . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 26th part. Imperial and Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1874, p. 337 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Ignaz Franz Castelli : On the death of the kk court actress Betty Roose . Wallishausser, Vienna 1808.
• Johann Wächter: Speech at the coffin of the imperial court actress Betty Roose, who died on October 24, 1808, née Koch . Vienna 1808.
• Article Roose, Betty . In: Franz Graeffer and Johann Jakob Czikann: Österreichische National-Encyclopädie or alphabetical presentation of the peculiarities of the Austrian Empire that are worth knowing . Vol. 4, Vienna 1836, p. 409.

Individual evidence

1. ^ See Augsburgische Ordinari Postzeitung, Nro. 265, Freytag, November 4th, Anno 1808, p. 1, as a digital copy .
2. ↑ Wiener Geschichtsblätter , Volume 46, Volume 4, Vienna 1991, p. 187.