Conrad Ekhof

Conrad Ekhof , portrait by Anton Graff , 1774.

Hans Conrad Dietrich Ekhof (also Konrad Eckhof; born August 12, 1720 in Hamburg ; † June 16, 1778 in Gotha ) was considered one of the best German actors of the 18th century. He introduced the realistic style of representation on the German stage and was called the "father of German acting" during his lifetime because of his numerous services to the German theater . He was best known in the 1760s and 1770s as the leading actor in Abel Seyler's theater companies - the Hamburg Entreprise and the Seyler Acting Society .

biography

Childhood and Adolescence (1720–1739)

Opera house in Hamburg , detail from a city view from 1726

Hans Conrad Dietrich Ekhof was born on August 12, 1720 as the eldest son of the tailor and city soldier Niclas Ekhof in Hamburg . The family lived in meager circumstances, which is why the father probably could not give the young Ekhof a regular school education. Due to his talent and the financial support from the church, however, he was able to visit the Johanneum , where he took part in German and Latin lessons and in the school comedies that were common at the time. The young Ekhof was enthusiastic about drama and theater from an early age ; and since he lived with his family in the opera courtyard, which housed the first public opera house in Germany, he must have often come into contact with artists and actors.

At fifteen, after his mother's death and his father's second marriage, it was time for Ekhof to earn a living. In 1735 he briefly accepted the post of clerk in the service of Post Commissioner Bostel, but resigned when his wife demanded servants from him. Ekhof then left Hamburg in 1738 and found a job in Schwerin as a clerk with the lawyer Johann Friedrich König, in whose library he read a wide variety of works and novels, mainly dramas . This deepened his interest in the art of acting, and when he heard the call of the actor Johann Friedrich Schönemann at the end of 1739 to invite the young actor to his newly founded theater group in Lüneburg , this was the last impetus that ultimately led him to do so brought to turn to the theater.

Schönemann Society (1740–1757)

JF Schönemann , engraving from the 18th century

Ekhof quit his job at König and joined the Schönemann Society at the same time as Sophie Charlotte Schröder , whom he had already met in Schwerin, and Konrad Ernst Ackermann, and together with them soon became one of the most important members of the ensemble. On January 15, 1740 he made his acting debut in the town hall of the Lüneburg Knight Academy in the role of Xiphares in Racine's tragedy "Mithridates" .

A year later, at the age of twenty-one, he celebrated his first major success in the role of the ruffian in Hinrich Borkenstein's Low German local farce "The Bookesbag" . During his time at Schönemann, Ekhof developed his outstanding acting talent and earned a reputation as a human actor. With increasing popularity, he gradually created a circle of fans, especially in Hamburg, and took on more and more leading roles. Ekhof appeared with the Schönemann Society on stages all over northern Germany and thus led a wandering life typical of an 18th century actor . In 1746 he married the actress Georgine Spiegelberg. The marriage with her remained childless.

Schwerin , engraving by Matthäus Merian from 1648

From 1750 the members of the Schönemann Society , which at that time was considered to be the best drama company in Germany, were supported by the theater-friendly Duke Christian Ludwig II (1683–1756) of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Princess Luise Friederike (1722–1791), and in 1751 even appointed court comedians with a fixed salary. To do this, they committed themselves to an eight-month season with four months off for guest performances, which took place mainly in Hamburg. This break from the stressful hiking life gave Ekhof the time to devote himself to improving his acting skills and especially his acting status for the first time. He founded the first German academy of actors in Schwerin on April 28, 1753 with members of the Schönemann Society . Even if it only lasted a little over a year, the “Academie der Schönemannische Gesellschaft” provided important impulses for the entire German theater industry.

Hamburg and the National Theater (1757–1771)

Heinrich G. Koch , engraving

After seventeen years, Ekhof finally left the troupe due to disputes with Schönemann and joined the Schuch Society in Danzig in 1757 . When there were also disputes with the local principal Franziskus Schuch over the distribution of roles, Ekhof returned to Hamburg three months later. There he briefly took over the company of Schönemann together with the actor Johann Ludwig Starcke and dance master Georg Ehrenfried Mierk, as the latter had meanwhile withdrawn from the business due to lack of success. Without a principal, however, the troupe lacked props and funds, which is why they soon handed over the management to Heinrich Gottfried Koch , who had to leave his Saxon play area due to the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) and now a new one in the quieter north of Germany Wanted to set up a troop in Hamburg. Koch oriented itself strongly to the taste of the public in putting together the game plan , which is why many comedies , musical comedies and farces but hardly tragedies were performed. This still offered Ekhof opportunities for convincing portrayals of people, but less for his artistic development as a dramatic actor.

Lessing monument on the Hamburg goose market

When Koch returned to Saxony after the end of the Seven Years' War, Ekhof joined the Ackermann Society in 1764 under the leadership of Konrad Ernst Ackermann . The troupe was so successful that they had their own theater built in Hamburg instead of the old opera house on Gänsemarkt, which opened on July 31, 1765. Due to financial difficulties, the theater was taken over two years later by Johann Friedrich Löwen and twelve wealthy citizens, headed by Abel Seyler , with the intention of founding the first German national theater . With the opening of the Hamburgische Entreprise in 1767, there was also an extremely fruitful collaboration for both sides between the Enlightenment expert Gotthold Ephraim Lessing , who worked as a dramaturge for the theater, and Ekhof, who reached the peak of his work here.

The Hamburg Entreprise had to close after two years after Seyler had spent the rest of his assets on it. Seyler then founded the Seylersche Drama Society with Ekhof and a few other actors in 1769 and received from the Hanoverian Elector Georg III. the privilege of being "director of the royal and electoral court actors". Ekhof moved with the troop to Hanover ; When Ackermann took over the management of the theater in Hamburg again in the same year, Ekhof returned to Hanover with a few colleagues. As a principal, Seyler did not initially manage to build on the old successes of the acting troupe. The lack of public interest led to financial problems and when Ekhof also fell seriously ill in May 1770 and was unable to perform for a long time, the situation worsened dramatically. Seyler's brother-in-law, the court pharmacist JGR Andreae from Hanover, saved Seyler's company from impending ruin by assuming all debts, but demanded that Ekhof take over the management.

At the court theater in Weimar and Gotha (1771–1778)

Duchess Anna Amalia , portrait by JE Heinsius, 1773

Under his principalship from May 1771 to October 1772, Ekhof led the drama troupe to Wetzlar , where Ekhof met the Gotha poet Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter , who practically became the group's theater poet. Afterwards, at the invitation of Duchess Anna Amalia , the company went to the Weimar court, where they were warmly welcomed and management passed back to Seyler. As a theater actor in a traveling troupe, Ekhof was associated with many personalities of his time, many of whom he met in Weimar at the end of the 18th century, which was shortly before its heyday, the Weimar Classic . Through her patronage, Duchess Anna Amalia drew a number of the brightest minds of her time to what was later to be dubbed the “ Weimar Museum of the Muses ”, which included Conrad Ekhof during the two years of his stay in Weimar. It was probably thanks to her mediation that Ekhof was taken into service with the Seyler's Society at the Gothaer Hof after the devastating castle and theater fire of May 6, 1774, which put an abrupt end to the commitment in Weimar . In the same year Ekhof, who has been a Freemason since at least 1768 , founded the Freemason lodge "Kosmopolit" in Gotha on June 25th, later called "Zum Rautenkranz" , to which the Gotha Duke Ernst II and his brother August belonged.

Royal seat of Gotha , colored engraving around 1730

In 1775 Abel Seyler left Gotha when he received a Saxon acting privilege, but only part of his company followed him. With the actors who stayed behind, including Ekhof, Duke Ernst II founded the first German court theater in Gotha on October 2, with a permanent cast of actors , headed by Conrad Ekhof and Heinrich August Ottokar Reichard as theater directors and in which August Wilhelm Iffland began his acting career. During the three years that Ekhof worked there, the Gothaer Hoftheater developed into the center of German theater life. Ekhof also wanted to set up a pension and death fund here, the first ever pension scheme for actors. However, this project failed because of his untimely death on June 16, 1778. Most recently he lived in a house in the vicinity of the church in Remstädt . A small plaque on the house reminds of this.

According to his own statement, on February 11, 1778, in Shakespeare's Hamlet in Schröder's translation, Ekhof stood
on the stage of the theater for the last time, to which he bestowed a special consecration for all time. His last words in the role of
the ghost of Hamlet's father were sensible: "Goodbye, goodbye, remember me!" "

- Dobritzsch 2004

reception

"Ekhof can claim to be highly respected by his fatherland to a much greater extent, because he is not only the" father of German acting, "but the most important cornerstone in the development of the entire German theater industry [...]."

- Furrier 1877

“Ekhof with his noble personality, who imparted a certain dignity to the acting class, which he previously lacked, raised the [...] characters [...] immensely, as he succeeded in expressing legality as a legal man. "

- Goethe 1814

“Ekhof was among Germany's actors what Lessing was among dramatic poets: the first, the unattainable! Who, like him, knew all the sides and folds of the heart, who knew all the colors and contrasts of the classes? Who had all the sounds and tones of passion in his power? Who has always been man, and never Ekhof? Who made Voltaire's and Corneille's skeletal skeletons into soulful, powerful beings, interested in hearts and minds? "

- General Theater Lexicon 1846

"E. was the first German actor who could be called the actor of life. He combined the knowledge of a linguist, a speaker and a poet with a deep insight based on nature and experience, with the talent to grasp the truth of a role at first glance and to hide his physical defects; he taught his art and wrote its history. As great in the tragic as in the cozy, the comic and the burlesque, he roused enthusiastic admiration with his facial expressions and the flexibility and violence of his speech organ. "

- Uhde 1877

Appreciations

“Ekhof Theater” in Gotha

Ekhof Memorial Schwerin

Ekhof's memory has been cherished to this day, especially in Gotha. Among other things with:

• Gravestone in the honor grove of the main cemetery
• Ekhofplatz
• Memorial plaque in the tower of the town hall (originally from the Gotha Theater, where it was placed under a bust of Ekhof, which is now lost)
• Memorial column in front of his no longer existing house on Nonnenberg
• State regular school "Conrad Ekhof"
• " Ekhof-Theater " in Friedenstein Castle , his last place of work named after him, which today is the oldest baroque theater in the world with still original stage technology.
• Ekhof cabinet in the west wing of Friedenstein Palace
• “Ekhof Festival”, which takes place every summer in the “Ekhof Theater”.

Appreciations outside of Gotha:

• “Conrad Ekhof Prize”, an award endowed with 2500 euros, which has been awarded annually since 1997 by the Society of Friends of the Mecklenburg State Theater Schwerin e. V. is awarded to particularly talented young artists.
• European theater academy “Konrad Ekhof” GmbH Hamburg, which has been organizing the “Theater Meetings of German-Speaking Drama Students” since 1990 as part of the federal competition to promote young actors.
• Masonic lodge "Konrad Ekhof" in Hamburg
• Memorial plaque on Ekhof's last house next to the church in Remstädt
• Ekhof monument in Schwerin
• Ekhofstrasse in Hamburg-Hohenfelde (since 1899)
• Ekhofstrasse in Gelsenkirchen
• Ekhofstrasse in Berlin-Koepenick
• Ekhofplatz in Berlin-Koepenick
• Ekhofplatz in Schwerin

Others

Ekhof tombstone from 1846 in the main cemetery in Gotha

Two days after his death, Ekhof was laid to rest in Gotha Cemetery II . Thanks to the brothers in his lodge, he received an elaborate funeral, during which all the church bells in the city rang. The writer Heinrich August Ottokar Reichard , friend of Ekhof, had a stone placed on the grave in 1782, which was lost in the decades that followed. It was not until 1846 that the Gotha court actors placed a new tombstone. When the cemetery was cleared in 1969, this stone was secured, which is now in the grove of honor in the main cemetery .

See also

• German touring stage
• Hamburg company

literature

• Elisabeth Dobritzsch: Baroque Magic Stage - The Ekhof Theater in Friedenstein Castle, Gotha. Weimar, Jena 2004, ISBN 3-89807-069-7 .
• Conrad Ekhof on the 200th anniversary of his death. In: Gothaer Museumhefte. 1978.
• Friedegund Freitag (ed.): "Such a transformation seemed almost magic". Conrad Ekhof and the Gotha Court Theater. Michael Imhof, Petersberg 2020, ISBN 978-3-7319-1037-4 .
• Theo Girshausen: Citizens should play citizens for citizens. "Father of German acting": Conrad Ekhof . In: The German Stage . 49th year (1978); Issue 3, p. 27. ( full text ; PDF; 143 kB)
• Hans Heinrich Borcherdt:  Ekhof, Hans Conrad Dietrich. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1959, ISBN 3-428-00185-0 , p. 429 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Gerhard Piens: Conrad Ekhof and the first German theater academy. Berlin 1956.
• Heinz Kindermann: Conrad Ekhof's Acting Academy. Vienna 1956.
• Klaus Tudyka: Theater Anecdotes - From Ekhof to Reinhardt. Berlin 1956.
• Hugo Fetting: Conrad Ekhof - An actor d. 18th century. Berlin 1954.
• Mecklenburg State Theater: Conrad Ekhof. Schwerin 1953.
• Inge von Wangenheim: On the 175th anniversary of Konrad Ekhof's death - speech at the commemoration of the d. Akad. D. Arts & State Commission for Art Affairs on June 16, 1953. Berlin 1953.
• Ludwig Geiger: Unprinted letters from Conrad Ekhof. Berlin 1905.
• Ekhof. In: Meyers Konversations-Lexikon. Volume V. Leipzig 1888.
• Joseph Kürschner:  Ekhof, Conrad . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 5, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1877, pp. 785-789.
• Hermann Uhde: Konrad Ekhof. In: The New Plutarch. Volume IV. Leipzig 1876.
• Joseph Kürschner: Conrad Eckhof's life and work - a biographical sketch. Vienna u. a. 1872.
• Otto Müller: Ekhof and his students. Leipzig 1863.
• Herbert Eulenberg : Ekhof in shadow pictures 1926
• Eduard Devrient: History of German Drama. Henschelverlag Art and Society (License Verlag Langen Müller), Berlin 1967, Volume 1, pp. 407-423

Web links

Commons : Conrad Ekhof  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Conrad Ekhof in the catalog of the German National Library
• Homepage of the just and perfect Johannisloge Konrad Ekhof i. O. Hamburg

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Elizabeth Dobritzsch: Baroque magic stage - The Ekhof Theater in the Castle Friedenstein Gotha. Weimar, Jena 2004, pp. 95f.
2. ^ Heinz Kindermann: Conrad Ekhofs Actor Academy. Vienna 1956, p. 74f.
3. ↑ The piece was premiered on August 16, 1741 in Hamburg and was so successful that it was repeated fifteen times while the house was always full. See: Elisabeth Dobritzsch: Baroque Magic Stage - The Ekhof Theater in Schloss Friedenstein Gotha. Weimar, Jena 2004, p. 99.
4. ↑ Among them: 1746: Orosman in Voltaire's "Zayre" 1747: Farmer Jürge in Marivaux ' "The Farmer with the Inheritance" and Timoleon in Behrmann's play of the same name, 1748: Corneille's Cinna and 1749 Duke Michel in Krüger 's play of the same name; see: Elisabeth Dobritzsch: Baroque Magic Stage - The Ekhof Theater in Schloss Friedenstein Gotha. Weimar, Jena 2004, p. 103f.
5. ↑ His stations were: Lüneburg, Ratzeburg, Wismar, Leipzig, Hamburg, Breslau, Berlin, Königsberg, Danzig, Halle, Halberstadt, Braunschweig, Förde, Schwerin, Stettin, cell, Hanover, Lübeck, Göttingen, Dessau, Magdeburg, Rostock, Stralsund , Barth, Schwerin and Schleswig; see: Joseph Kürschner: Ekhof. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Volume V. Leipzig 1877, p. 786f.
6. ↑ Georgine Sophie Karoline Auguste Ernestina Ekhof is the daughter of the principal Johann Spiegelberg and came from an important acting family and was considered one of the best actresses of her time; see: Elisabeth Dobritzsch: Baroque Magic Stage - The Ekhof Theater in Schloss Friedenstein Gotha. Weimar, Jena 2004, p. 99.
7. ↑ Elizabeth Dobritzsch: Baroque magic stage - The Ekhof Theater in the Castle Friedenstein Gotha. Weimar, Jena 2004, p. 100.
8. ^ Heinz Kindermann: Conrad Ekhofs Actor Academy. Vienna 1956, p. 80f.
9. ^ Heinz Kindermann: Conrad Ekhofs Actor Academy. Vienna 1956, pp. 72-74.
10. ↑ The difficulties seemed to have started in 1756 with the departure of the actors Fabricius and Kirchhof, since Schönemann did not know how to cast the roles and turned to Ekhof, who was overwhelmed by himself, for help; see: Heinz Kindermann: Conrad Ekhof's Actor Academy. Vienna 1956, p. 77. In the same year Schönemann's son-in-law Johann Friedrich Löwen is said to have taken over the management of the troops, but was unable to prevent them from being dissolved on December 2, 1757; see: Archive link ( Memento of the original dated March 2, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
11. ↑ Elizabeth Dobritzsch: Baroque magic stage - The Ekhof Theater in the Castle Friedenstein Gotha. Weimar, Jena 2004, pp. 103-105.
12. ^ Ekhof appears with the Ackermann Society in Hanover, Göttingen, Braunschweig, Bremen and Hamburg; see: Joseph Kürschner: Ekhof. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Volume V. Leipzig 1877, p. 787.
13. ↑ Elizabeth Dobritzsch: Baroque magic stage - The Ekhof Theater in the Castle Friedenstein Gotha. Weimar, Jena 2004, p. 105f.
14. ↑ ^{a b} Joseph Kürschner: Ekhof. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Volume V. Leipzig 1877, p. 787.
15. ↑ Elizabeth Dobritzsch: Baroque magic stage - The Ekhof Theater in the Castle Friedenstein Gotha. Weimar, Jena 2004, p. 106f.
16. ↑ Ekhof “... has been with men like Nicolai , Musäus , Lessing , Gellert , Bode , Löwen , Engel , Schiebeler , Eschenburg , v. Gerstenberg , Dreyer , Dusch , Mylius and Schmid . " (Joseph Kürschner: Ekhof. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Volume V. Leipzig 1877, p. 788.) " What had rank and name like Nicolai in the theater world of the late 18th century , Mylius , Engel and Schink, met the great artist in Weimar and was enthusiastic. Wieland , Gotter , Kotzebue and Bertuch were permanent guests. ” (Elisabeth Dobritzsch: Baroque Magic Stage - The Ekhof Theater in Schloss Friedenstein Gotha. Weimar, Jena 2004, p. 108.)
17. ↑ Even after his departure from Weimar, he had a particularly trusting relationship with Duchess Anna Amalia. She visited Ekhof and his performances at the Gotha court theater, sometimes together with Goethe, maintained a lively correspondence with him and looked after his sick wife until she followed her husband to Gotha; see: Elisabeth Dobritzsch: Baroque Magic Stage - The Ekhof Theater in Schloss Friedenstein Gotha. Weimar, Jena 2004, p. 111.
18. ^ According to Kürschner, the fire was on October 6, 1774; see: Joseph Kürschner: Ekhof. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Volume V. Leipzig 1877, p. 787. Elisabeth Dobritzsch gives the date May 6, 1774; see: Elisabeth Dobritzsch: Baroque Magic Stage - The Ekhof Theater in Schloss Friedenstein Gotha. Weimar, Jena 2004, p. 108. The latter information appears more credible, since the author has given a document from the Thuringian State Archives Gotha (ThStAG) as the source.
19. ↑ Elizabeth Dobritzsch: Baroque magic stage - The Ekhof Theater in the Castle Friedenstein Gotha. Weimar, Jena 2004, p. 110.
20. ↑ Elizabeth Dobritzsch: Baroque magic stage - The Ekhof Theater in the Castle Friedenstein Gotha. Weimar, Jena 2004, p. 108.
21. ↑ Elizabeth Dobritzsch: Baroque magic stage - The Ekhof Theater in the Castle Friedenstein Gotha. Weimar, Jena 2004, p. 112.
22. ^ Joseph Kürschner: Ekhof. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Volume V. Leipzig 1877, p. 788
23. ↑ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Poetry and Truth. Third and fourth books, chapter 4, part thirteenth
24. ↑ Allgemeine Theater-Lexikon, Vol. 3, 1846, p. 105
25. ^ Konrad E. Uhde: The New Plutarch , Vol. 4, Leipzig 1877
26. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from February 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
27. ↑ http://www.ekhof-festival.de/
28. ↑ Internet presence of the lodge
29. ↑ Elizabeth Dobritzsch: Baroque magic stage - The Ekhof Theater in the Castle Friedenstein Gotha. Weimar, Jena 2004, p. 113.
30. ^ Joseph Kürschner: Ekhof. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Volume V. Leipzig 1877, p. 785ff.