Carl Godlewski

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Carl Godlewski as a clown, 1887, drawn by CWAllers
Carl Godlewski 1887, dance rehearsal in Circus Renz , drawn by CWAllers

Carl Borromäus Godlewski (born November 20, 1862 in Dortmund , † December 6, 1949 in Mödling / Lower Austria ) was a circus clown , acrobat , ballet master , dance teacher and choreographer .

Live and act

Godlewski was the son of a builder. Without his father's knowledge, he learned the high school on horseback, trapeze art and acrobatics. After his father's death, Godlewski decided to take on a circus engagement, from whose monthly wage, 50 rubles , his mother and sister could also be received. After years of traveling with a traveling circus, he was hired by Ernst Renz (1815-1892) to Berlin, where he became known (especially in Circus Renz ) as a clown and sling board jumper who jumped over elephants and soldier companies with bayonets on , and subsequently Won world prizes.

Godlewski was already a celebrity when Wilhelm Jahn (1835–1900) brought him to the Vienna Court Opera from Berlin in 1893 . In the first year of his engagement he was one of the busiest members of the corps.

Because of his reputation, he was called to court as a dance master at the turn of the century. He danced with Grete Wiesenthal , became first mimic and solo dancer of the Vienna Court Opera Ballet and in 1918/19, shortly before the Erzhaus lost its influence on this stage, (as successor to Joseph Haßreiter ) still its ballet master.

When Godlewski celebrated 25 years of membership in the Imperial and Royal Court Opera in spring 1918, he looked back on 1770 performances.

Godlewski choreographed numerous ballets at the Vienna Opera, including the world premiere of Erich Wolfgang Korngold's first work, the pantomime Der Schneemann (1910). He also designed major revues for the general public, such as The Journey Around the World in 80 Days (1905) in the Vienna Olympic Arena, which was one of the largest theaters in Europe with 4,000 seats.

Godlewski's career demonstrates the prevailing cultural policy in Vienna before the First World War with its hostility to education and sympathy for popular culture as well as the declared tolerance of the anti-Semitic currents at the time of Vienna's mayor Karl Lueger .

Carl Godlewski had been married to the dancer Maria Ludmilla (also: Lola) Klahs (1868–1934) since 1889, with whom he celebrated a silver wedding in 1914 at his country estate in Tulln on the Danube .

In 1955, Godlewskigasse in Vienna- Donaustadt (22nd district) was named after him.

Work

  • -, M (oritz) Kronfeld : Help yourself! One-act ballet with prelude . Self-published, Vienna 1898, OBV .
  • Carl Frühling (music), -, Max Lewis: Watteau. Ballet pantomime in one act . Music printing. Josef Eberle, Vienna (1900), OBV .
  • -, Ernst Moriz Kronfeld , Rudolf Gutmannsthal (music): When the cat is not at home ... ballet pantomime . Self-published, Vienna 1901, OBV .
  • Julius Lehnert, Léo Delibes (music), Léon Minkus (music), - (choreography): Rübezahl. Ballet in one act . Wallishausser'sche kuk Hofbuchhandlung, Vienna 1910, OBV .

literature

  • Heino Seitler: The clown Carl Godlewski. A study of the history of the circus . Int. Society of Circus Historians (Union des historiens du cirque), Linz / Vienna 1957, DNB 454650418 , OBV .

Web links

Commons : Carl Godlewski  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Theater, Art and Literature. Karl Godlewski as an anniversary boy. In:  Deutsches Volksblatt / Deutsches Volksblatt. Radical medium-sized organ / telegraph. Radical Mittelstandsorgan / Deutsches Volksblatt. Daily newspaper for Christian German politics , morning edition, No. 10472/1918 (XXX. Year), March 1, 1918, p. 9, bottom right. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / dvb.
  2. ^ Silver wedding of the Godlewski couple. In:  Deutsches Volksblatt / Deutsches Volksblatt. Radical medium-sized organ / telegraph. Radical Mittelstandsorgan / Deutsches Volksblatt. Daily newspaper for Christian German politics , morning edition, No. 9231/1914 (XXVI. Volume), September 16, 1914, p. 7, column 2. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / dvb.
personal data
SURNAME Godlewski, Carl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Godlewski, Carl Borromeo; Godlwski, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German circus clown, acrobat, ballet master, dance teacher and choreographer
DATE OF BIRTH November 20, 1862
PLACE OF BIRTH Dortmund
DATE OF DEATH December 6, 1949
Place of death Mödling