Franz Carl Weidmann

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Franz Carl Weidmann lithograph by Gabriel Decker , 1842

Franz Carl Weidmann (* 1787 or 1788 , in Vienna ; † January 28, 1867 there ) was an Austrian writer, actor and journalist.

life and work

Franz Carl Weidmann was the son of the actor and writer Joseph Weidmann (1742-1810) and nephew of the playwright Paul Weidmann (1746-1810). Since he was not particularly talented as an actor, he voluntarily ended his father-initiated engagement at the Vienna Court Theater and received a small pension for the rest of his life. As a freelance writer, he achieved some recognition because of his modest, unobtrusive manner, among other things for his Complete Works , which appeared from 1821 to 1822 , the 1st volume with four historical dramas, the 2nd volume with poetry, the 3rd volume with the memorabilia from mine Travel bag .

From this 3rd volume onwards, thanks to the support of Archduke Johann , he wrote descriptions of the surroundings of Vienna and the Austrian Alpine landscapes, Dalmatia and Montenegro with a mixture of topographical information and his own inventions. His good friend Adolf Bäuerle , in whose Viennese theater newspaper he wrote some theater reviews, however, noted that Weidmann had never got out of the Austrian hereditary lands , so that many of his travel reports were only based on the imagination, namely the announced descriptions of Egypt and Syria. Bäuerle put this in a nutshell:

“He has traveled all over the world in the seven-league boots of lies. When he talks about his travels and goes beyond Austria and Styria , he cannot believe a syllable "

He had more success as a Viennese chronicler, reporter, necrologist , theater and art critic who had worked for decades . As a journalistic “girl for everything”, so his contemporary nickname, he published the Austrian viewer in 1854 after the death of Josef Sigmund Ebersberg , even if only for a short time. Mainly, however, he wrote reviews for the aforementioned Wiener Theaterzeitung , for Johann Schickh's Viennese magazine for art, literature, theater and fashion and other magazines. As a reviewer, he developed astonishingly fruitfulness; in addition to writing about theater and opera performances, he also wrote about painting, sculpture, fashion, and industrial architecture. Nevertheless, there was no financial success in his life, so he had to live on his small actor's pension. In old age he claimed to be born six to seven years earlier and correspondingly older. His funeral expenses were paid for by a high-ranking figure who had remained unknown at his letter request.

Franz Carl Weidmann was a member of the Vienna-famous artist society “The Knights of the Green Island”, which, under the direction of the playwright Johann Prechtler, included the composer Franz von Suppè , the painter Eduard Swoboda and the castle actor Konrad Adolf Hallenstein .

The Weidmanngasse in Vienna- Hernals is named after him.

Pieces (excerpt)

  • Victory, freedom and peace. An allegorical scene (1815), a festival piece on the occasion of the wars of liberation 1813/15
  • Clementine von Aubigny (1817), dramatic poem, debut performance by Sophie Schröder
  • Die Scharfenecker , also The Banished (1821), play ( performed at the Munich Isartortheater in October 1823 )
  • The Outlaws (1823), drama ( performed in Prague in 1824 )
  • The Pilgrim's House on the Bernhardsberge (1826), drama (performed in the Theater an der Wien )
  • The Enduring in Change (1828), Drama (performed in the Theater in der Josefstadt )
  • The ring of luck (1833), magic game with song and dance (performed in the theater in der Josefstadt)
  • Till Eulenspiegel , comedy in 5 acts based on Karl August Lebrun ( published in print in Mainz in 1837 )
  • Maximilian Korn. His life and artistic work (1857), biography of this actor from the castle
  • Moriz Count Dietrichstein . His life and work depicted from the papers he left behind (1867), biography of the officer and court official - this was Weidmann's last literary work before his death

literature

Web links

(all accessed on September 15, 2014)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ in the Allgemeine Theaterlexikon 1787; with Joseph Kehrein : Biographical-literary lexicon of the Catholic poets 1788; with Franz Brümmer : Lexicon of German poets and prose writers 1788; from Constantin von Wurzbach : Biographical Lexicon of the Kaiserthums Oesterreich February 11 or 14, 1787; also in the Wiener Theaterzeitung from 1841 (p. 168)
  2. ^ Frankfurter Conversationsblatt from November 1844
  3. ^ Franz Wallner: The green island in Vienna
personal data
SURNAME Weidmann, Franz Carl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Weidmann, Franz Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian writer, journalist and actor
DATE OF BIRTH 1787 or 1788
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna , Habsburg Monarchy
DATE OF DEATH January 28, 1867
Place of death Vienna , Austrian Empire