Erna von Ostau

Erna von Ostau , b. van Delden (born May 17, 1903 in Gronau , † April 6, 1955 in Wiesbaden ) was a German actress and author. She came from a German-Dutch factory owner family.

Way to the stage

After her school education in Gronau (Westphalia) and Amsterdam and an educational trip to New York , Erna van Delden first took lessons in language technology and the art of speaking in Weimar in the early 1920s . She belonged to the pioneering generation of the open-air theater movement after the First World War. From 1925 she played at the newly founded open-air theater in Bad Bentheim , z. Partly directed by Hermann Griebel (1892–1932), important roles (including in Kleist's Hermannsschlacht , Schiller's Tell , Lienhards Wieland the blacksmith , Wildenbruch's Rabensteinerin , Hebbels Nibelungen ). It was a popular motif in the early postcard series of the Freilichtspiele. For her impressive performances on horseback, she took riding lessons in Hanover. Her actual training, however, took place at Max Reinhardt's drama school at the German Theater (Berlin) . In addition, the Bergtheater Thale offered Erna van Delden and her fellow students, e.g. B. OE Hasse (1903–1978), the great opportunity to gain experience under Erich Pabst (1890–1955), a lecturer at the Reinhardt School, and at the same time to become known to a wider public (e.g. in Tiecks Ritter Blaubart , 1928 summer season ).

Forced retreat into private life

With her marriage to Joachim von Ostau (1929) the bourgeois-patriarchal norms of her family of manufacturers took hold and forced her to give up her independent professional activity. Erna von Ostau, b. van Delden supported her husband in the management of his theater in the following years and cultivated many contacts from Berlin, including a. to Gerhart Hauptmann . Initially, Erna von Ostau's father, the textile manufacturer Dr, took care of the renovation and financial security of the New Theater at the Zoo . Hendrik van Delden , but the global economic crisis and a failed operetta project ended the dream of a private theater. After her return to Gronau for economic reasons (1931), Erna von Ostau was at the center of regional German-Dutch cultural life and took on roles in private club and public operetta performances ( e.g. in Fodor's jewel robbery on Kurfürstendamm and Gilbert's hit operetta Uschi ).

Columnist and poet

From the mid-1930s, writing became more important in her life than acting. In addition to modern, metropolitan feature pages, numerous poems were written. Her Wandervogel character and regional roots are also reflected in her Low German works, in which she brings up the fens and moor landscapes, but also the small people's world of her Gronau area .

Research tasks

In addition to her texts published in newspapers, a private print of her poems and an extensive diary have been preserved. The publication of a complete edition and the research into its role in the open-air theater movement and in the urban culture of Gronau are still pending.

See also

• Ostau (noble family)

literature

• Hanspeter Dickel (ed.): Nature and culture of the Gronau and Epe area. Gronau 1982, p. 259.
• Genealogical handbook of the German nobility. Noble houses A, Vol. XVI, Limburg 1981, p. 405.
• Walter Fenn: The director and theater director Erich Pabst. Munich 1960, p. 11ff.
• Freilichtspiele Bad Bentheim (ed.): From the Nibelungendom to the Villa Kunterbunt. 75 years of the Bad Bentheim open-air theater. Bad Bentheim 2000, p. 95. (with photo)
• Poems from our dear mother Erna von Ostau, geb. van Delden. In memory of the 10th anniversary of her death, 1955-1965. Gronau 1965. (partial collection)
• P. Moussault (Ed.): Het geslacht van Delden. (The Van Delden family). Laren 1954, p. 91ff.
• Uschi Siegers: Erna Hermance von Ostau. In: Alfred Hagemann, Elmar Hoff (ed.): "Island of Dreams". Music in Gronau and Enschede (1895-2005). Essen 2006, pp. 169–175.
• Thale City Archives: Collection of newspaper clippings. (August 5, 1928).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Genealogical Handbook, p. 405.
2. ↑ 75 years of open-air theater, pp. 23, 95.
3. ^ Stadtarchiv Thale, Magdeburger Zeitung, August 5, 1928
4. ↑ Hagemann / Hoff, p. 183ff.
5. ↑ Poems, p. 12ff .; Dickel, p. 259.