Charlotte Ackermann

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Idealized copperplate engraving by Charlotte Ackermann, published after her untimely death. Johann Friedrich Hermann Wehrs 1977

Marie Magdalene Charlotte Ackermann (born August 23, 1757 in Strasbourg , † May 10, 1775 in Hamburg ) was a German actress .

Life

Charlotte Ackermann came from a family of actors. Her father Konrad Ernst Ackermann had worked with Gotthold Ephraim Lessing , among others , her mother Sophie Charlotte Ackermann was also an actress, as was Charlotte's older sister Dorothea Caroline Ackermann , married. Unzer , and her stepbrother Friedrich Ludwig Schröder were.

Charlotte Ackermann made her stage debut on October 16, 1761 as Louison in Molière's The Conceited Sick . From 1765 she appeared at the newly built Komödienhaus am Gänsemarkt in Hamburg and went on tour with her father's theater troupe to Braunschweig, Altona and other cities in northern Germany. While she was often seen as a ballet dancer at a young age, she was already used for the role of adolescent lover at the age of 12 and starred in leading roles a year later. At the age of 14 she delighted the theater audience in the Hamburg premiere of Lessing's Emilia Galotti , in which she held the title role. A little later she appeared as Adelheid in Goethe's play Götz von Berlichingen . In Lessing's play Minna von Barnhelm she was Franziska. In her day she was considered an "extraordinary talent full of grace and inventive spirit". In 1773 and 1774 she appeared in more than 35 pieces each, and from 1771 until her death she played in 116 different pieces.

Charlotte Ackermann died in Hamburg at the age of 17, “her early death brought the whole city into deep mourning”. The presumptions of the cause of death ranged from suicide (in the course of the so-called " Werther fever "), to murder by poisoning, to emotional overexertion. The death of Charlotte Ackermann led to a hitherto unknown wave of grief. The stock exchange was suspended, the theater in Hamburg was draped in black for several days and the audience appeared in mourning clothing for the performances. Charlotte's body was laid out for several days so that the city could bid her farewell. Around 4,000 people finally followed her coffin, and Johann Franz Brockmann gave the funeral speech at her grave. Charlotte Ackermann was buried on May 14, 1775 in the vault of St. Petri Church in Hamburg.

Aftermath

The monument to Charlotte Ackermann in Rathleff's vision. Thalia and Melpomene wreath the late actress. Engraving from 1775.

A few days after her death, plans for a memorial to Charlotte Ackermann became known. Numerous residents of Hamburg donated over 700 Reichstaler for a project, the possible appearance of which was shown on a frontispiece in Rathleff's contribution to the last days of the younger demoiselle MM Ch. A *** . At times when actresses were not yet fully recognized by society, the proposal for a memorial alone was a sensation. The Hamburg Senate finally forbade the erection of the memorial and even the publication of newspaper articles about Charlotte Ackermann.

After Charlotte Ackermann's death, innumerable works came onto the market that dealt with her short life. Numerous poems on her death were written and published in newspapers until the Senate was banned. Charlotte Ackermann is the main character in Otto Müller's novel Charlotte Ackermann , which also appeared on the German stage as a play in the 19th century and was very successful. In 1929 Albert Petersen published a novel with the title Charlotte Ackermann .

Contemporary works about Charlotte Ackermann

  • R ** [= Ernst Lorenz Michael Rathleff]: The last days of the younger demoiselle MM Ch. A ***; Promoted to print from authentic sources (1775)
  • [Ernst Lorent Michael Rathleff]: Contribution to the last days of the younger Demoiselle MM Ch. A *** (1775)
  • JC Bock: Collected Compassion (1775)
  • JC Bock: In memory of our deceased Charlotte Ackermann (1775)
  • JC Bock: At the grave of our Charlotte Ackermann (1775)
  • Anonymous [= Albrecht Wittenberg]: Correspondence on the occasion of the death of the demoiselle Charlotte Ackermann, a German actress (1775)

Later novels about Charlotte Ackermann

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ADB, p. 38.
  2. ↑ Franklin Kopitzsch and Dirk Brietzke (eds.): Hamburgische Biographie . Christians Verlag, Hamburg 2003, p. 17.
  3. ↑ NDB, p. 35.
personal data
SURNAME Ackermann, Charlotte
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ackermann, Marie Magdalene Charlotte
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German actress
DATE OF BIRTH August 23, 1757
PLACE OF BIRTH Strasbourg
DATE OF DEATH May 10, 1775
Place of death Hamburg