Ferdinand von Gall

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Ferdinand Wilhelm Adam Freiherr von Gall (born October 13, 1809 in Battenberg ; † November 30, 1872 in Stuttgart ) was director of the court theaters in Oldenburg and Stuttgart and manager of the German Stage Association .

Life

Gall was the youngest son of the Grand Ducal Hessian Landjägermeister Karl Friedrich Christian Freiherr von Gall (1773–1861) and his wife Marie Henriette nee. Grüter (1777-1841). Until the age of 14 he stayed in his parents' house in Battenberg, where he was tutored by a private tutor and the Battenberg pastor. From 1821 to spring 1824 he attended grammar school in Darmstadt and, due to the transfer of his father, switched to grammar school in Gießen , where he passed the Abitur in 1826.

He then started studying law at Giessen University . During his studies in 1826 he became a member of the old Gießen fraternity Germania . His membership in the fraternity, which was forbidden by the Karlovy Vary resolutions , led to his relegation in 1826/27, while Gall continued to study in Heidelberg . On April 6, 1830, he passed the legal exam in Giessen and became assessor at the court in Giessen and, in 1835, chamberlain in Oldenburg. On June 7, 1842, Gall was appointed artistic director of the Grand Ducal Court Theater in Oldenburg and succeeded Ludwig Starklof .

Under his directorship, the Oldenburg court theater became known throughout Germany and became a role model, albeit not undisputed. Gall emphasized his view of the theater as a public art institute and strove to raise the level and a proper place in the civil society for his theater. This becomes clear through his instructions for the conduct and behavior of the actors on stage, in which he forbids anything that could violate “fine custom” or “scenic decendency”. Gall also pushed through for life engagements, the establishment of a pension fund and the employment of a theater doctor. Together with the writer and theater critic Adolf Stahr and the writer and dramaturge Julius Mosen , Gall opened up a new approach to the classical drama for the audience by bringing the classical and contemporary drama of the Vormärz to the stage and giving the audience their own present under the aspect of Made history conscious. Gall not only met with approval with his ideas. He had to give up both his position in Oldenburg and his later position in Stuttgart because of public attacks and because of "press scandals" and intrigues.

Ferdinand von Gall's memorandum, Proposals for a German Theater Cartel from 1842, as well as his lectures The stage board of 1844 laid the foundation stone for the German Stage Association, which he initiated alongside Theodor von Küstner in 1846. In 1853, Gall succeeded Küstner as chairman of the stage association. From 1846 to 1869, Ferdinand von Gall was the successor to Wilhelm von Taubenheim, director of the Royal Württemberg Court Theater . Here Gall worked with Giacomo Meyerbeer and Friedrich Kücken , among others . His portrayal of the Parisian salon culture at the time of the French restoration in Paris and his salons is still receiving cultural and historical attention today. In this work, Gall expressed his sympathy for the French Revolution and argued in the appendix against the French hostility of many Germans at the time. His other literary work includes an account of a trip in the summer of 1836 that took him via Denmark to Sweden . Because of its numerous pieces of advice for tourists, the book has the character of a travel guide. His collection of letters shows his connection to the literature of Young German poetry and his inclination towards liberalism .

In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71 he headed a hospital of the Order of St. John .

He was the master of ceremonies of Wilhelm I von Würtemberg and was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Württemberg Crown in 1852 .

family

On January 13, 1835, Gall married his cousin Leonore von Gall (1806–1878), a daughter of the Oldenburg court marshal Friedrich Wilhelm von Gall (1770–1838) and his first wife Eleonore nee. from Linstow .

Ferdinand von Gall is the great-grandfather of the British composer and former President of the Performing Rights Society Sir Lennox Berkeley . He is the cousin of Louise von Gall .

Publications

  • The stage board. Lecture given in the sociable literary association in Oldenburg on February 23, 1844. (Oldenburg 1844)
  • Proposals for a German Theater Cartel. A memorandum. (Oldenburg 1845)
  • Journey through Sweden in the summer of 1836. Volumes I and II; (Bremen 1838)
  • Paris and its salons. Volume I and II; (Oldenburg 1844)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul Wentzcke : Fraternity lists. Second volume: Hans Schneider and Georg Lehnert: Gießen - The Gießener Burschenschaft 1814 to 1936. Görlitz 1942, F. Germania. # 172.
  2. ↑ Hof- und Staatshandbuch Württemberg 1866, page 42
  3. ^ The Lennox Berkeley Society
personal data
SURNAME Gall, Ferdinand von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gall, Ferdinand Wilhelm Adam Freiherr von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Director of the court theaters in Oldenburg and Stuttgart
DATE OF BIRTH October 13, 1809
PLACE OF BIRTH Battenberg
DATE OF DEATH November 30, 1872
Place of death Stuttgart