Friedrich Devrient

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Friedrich Philip Devrient

Friedrich Philip Devrient , or Fritz Devrient for short (born January 31, 1827 in Dresden ; died November 19, 1871 in St. Petersburg ) was a German theater actor .

Childhood and youth

Friedrich Philip Devrient was - after his brother Wilhelm, who was three years older than him - the second son of the theater actor Carl August Devrient and the theater actress and singer Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient . His childhood was overshadowed by his parents' conflict; because the year after his birth their marriage was divorced. Since the mother was found guilty, the upbringing of the children was the sole responsibility of the father. For a long time he refused Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient direct access to her children, with whom the worried mother stayed in touch at least by letter as soon as they could read.

Friedrich Devrient - called in the Fritz family - grew up with his father. When he first visited his mother at the age of eighteen, he revealed to her that he wanted to be an actor. Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient advised against it and advocated it in a letter of January 7, 1845 to Carl Devrient. Fritz is too superficial for a career as an actor, and he lacks the necessary endurance and strength of character. His voice, which she described as "only good", is not enough to become a successful singer. He also has a speech impediment. Carl Devrient turned down her suggestion that Friedrich initially apprenticed to her mother, the retired singer and actress Sophie Schröder .

Stage career - engagements and guest performances

Unlike his famous great-uncle Ludwig Devrient , his father Carl Devrient, his uncles Eduard and Emil Devrient and his half-brother Max Devrient , Friedrich Devrient did not stay connected to any stage for a long time. He was engaged at eight theaters between 1845 and his untimely death in 1871. Most of the time, debt drove him to move on. Guest performances, some of which are mentioned below, opened up other German-speaking stages for him. His career can be traced in many contemporary reviews. Julius Bab's standard work on the Devrient theater family from 1932 provides a comprehensive account of his life and artistic career .

Detmold

According to Carl Devrient's will, Friedrich Devrient came to the Detmold court theater in autumn 1845 as an actor and singer . As "Rudolf" he made his debut in the agriculture of the under pseudonym publishing Amalie of Saxony and achieved unusual success.

Already during this first engagement he traveled as a guest to other stages, on the one hand to earn additional money, on the other hand because of his career, namely to become known and to recommend himself for a future engagement at stages that seemed important to him. One such guest performance took him to Hanover together with his uncle Emil Devrient , where he appeared as Don Carlos and his uncle as Marquis von Posa .

Bremen

A guest performance arranged by his father in Hanover in the summer of 1847 as “Max Piccolomini” - alongside his father as “Wallenstein” - did not lead to any engagement there. But in the same year he was hired as the first youthful hero in Bremen , where he only stayed briefly. From here he gave a guest performance at the Dresden Court Theater on June 17, 1848, in which he appeared in two plays in one evening.

Vienna

Theater ticket from the Vienna Court and National Theater: Friedrich Devrient's first appearance as a committed member

On June 17, 1848, Friedrich Devrient first appeared at the Wiener k. k. Court and National Theater as a guest in the role of "Hans Sachs" in the play of the same name by Johann Ludwig Deinhardstein . In the press he was referred to as "an artist in the real sense of the word". "His lifelike playing, his beautiful and powerful organ, his correct perception, but especially his fiery enthusiasm in affects" met with lively approval from the audience. This was followed by guest appearances as "Schiller" in Die Karlsschüler by Heinrich Laube and as "Rudolph" in Der Landwirth by Amalie von Sachsen. His stage successes meant that he was engaged as a member of the court and national theater and made his debut on July 23, 1848 as Ferdinand in Friedrich Schiller's Kabale und Liebe . In Vienna his promising talent developed more and more. But he also showed negligence that Emperor Franz Joseph personally reprimanded. Due to personal circumstances - despite high salaries as a gambler , he got into debt - he was forced to flee Vienna and the National Theater.

Frankfurt

During guest performances in Frankfurt am Main he was so enthusiastically received that he was hired. He worked there for three years. Among the guest performances that he undertook from Frankfurt under the protest of the Frankfurt theaters, the one of February 1853 in Hamburg as “Schiller” in Laube's Karl students was praised in particular . The reviewer even recommended hiring him at the Stadttheater Hamburg:

"[...] besides the happy personality, besides the face and speech organ that are most beneficially shaped for every soulful and passionate expression [...], he was looking for a game of the best movement and a speech that had no flexible effect, no fine accent and still less important spiritual weight was lacking. If the conflict with Frankfurt could be resolved, we would [...] hopefully have to recommend a member to the stage later [...] "

Instead, shortly afterwards, he was arrested by the police in Altona . Back in Frankfurt he asked his parents for help, as he was beset by the old debts from Vienna as well as new debts in Frankfurt. With 400 thalers, which he received as a loan from Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient, he was able to settle debts with the director of the Frankfurt Theater. But he could hardly meet other demands. His grandmother Sophie Schröder said:

"[...] Fritz [...] will repel his horns; perhaps a few months in the debt tower will bring him to his senses completely. "

That did not happen, and through his father's mediation, Friedrich Devrient found refuge in Hanover.

Hanover

The Hoftheater in Hanover, venue for Friedrich, Carl and Emil Devrient. Friedrich lived in the row of houses visible to the right behind the theater (Theaterplatz 5 d).

In August 1855, Friedrich Devrient accepted a call to the court theater in Hanover, where he worked as an artist alongside his father for three years. For example, father and son appeared in Schiller's Don Carlos as Posa and Don Carlos , in his Maria Stuart as Leicester and Mortimer , in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet as Merkutio and Romeo, and in Goethe's Faust as Faust and Valentin . In the meantime, Friedrich Devrient went on trips, for example to Vienna in August 1857, where he was a guest at the Carltheater . On November 10, 1857, Schiller's birthday, he appeared in Hanover as Don Carlos together with his father as King Philip and his uncle Emil Devrient as Marquis of Posa . While Karl and Friedrich (Fritz) Devrient were permanent members of the ensemble, Emil Devrient traveled as a guest from Dresden. However, Friedrich Devrient wanted to escape his father's shadow after his first year on the stage and leave Hanover, which he only managed to do in February 1858. When he left he summed up:

"I had to give up my position in Hanover because I didn't manage to get my father's subject."

Other reasons, however, were Friedrich Devrient's dependence on gambling and the resulting debts that he wanted to escape. Several times the management did not want to extend his engagement. In a petition to King George V as the highest employer it says:

“With no member of the court theater did the directorship have so many negotiations with creditors as with Friedrich Devrient. And there is no telling how far his recklessness will lead him. "But the king refused a dismissal."

On February 4, 1858, Friedrich Devrient made a guest appearance in Budapest and never returned to Hanover.

Hamburg

During a guest performance at the Stadttheater Hamburg, costumes and role books that he had taken from Hanover were confiscated from him. It was not until April 1858 that he was released from the Hoftheater Hannover and, in spite of the promise to repay his advances from Hannover, he was permanently engaged in Hamburg. But there was not only a lot of disorder there, but also in the theater. He escaped this temporarily through guest performances, such as in Nuremberg in the summer of 1859, where he appeared in eight plays. He wrote to his friend Theodor Lebrun :

“My bad luck is really original. In the past, when everything came like snow from heaven, I spoiled everything myself through recklessness. Now that I am hardworking, ambitious and persevering, luck is failing me. "

Lebrun got him a guest performance in Frankfurt a. M., before there was a permanent contract in Wiesbaden .

Wiesbaden

On Court Theater Wiesbaden Friedrich Devrient was engaged from 1 September 1860 to 1 January. 1865 He got a good fee and never had to perform more than eight times a month. His roles included a. " Egmont ", " Posa ", " Hamlet ", " Tell " and " Othello ". His troubled private life made people happy to let him go.

St. Petersburg

Already sick and comfortable, Friedrich Devrient accepted a call to the court theater in St. Petersburg in 1865 , which enabled him to avoid pending monetary claims in Wiesbaden. In St. Petersburg he married a widow with two children who owned a boarding school in which he initially lived. He tried his hand at being a great gentleman with a sailing yacht and a generous lifestyle and fell into debt again. The marriage was unhappy and was soon separated.

Death in St. Petersburg, transfer to Wiesbaden and burial there

Only 44 years old, Friedrich Devrient died on November 19, 1871 of a liver disease made worse by too much alcohol consumption. Alexander Königk-Tollert , the artistic director of the St. Petersburg Theater, distributed the news of death, which was also reprinted in Vienna, via the St. Petersburg newspaper:

“After a long and severe suffering, the court spectator Friedrich Devrient is on the 6th of d. M. fell asleep gently and I have the honor to combine with this sad announcement the most devoted invitation for participating friends and acquaintances, the departed at his funeral on Tuesday 9th (22) d. M. To give a kind escort from St. Petri = Church to the Wolkowo cemetery at noon. "

The transfer of the body of Friedrich Devrient to Wiesbaden was done according to his wishes and against the resistance of the widow, who is said to have demanded a transfer fee of 10,000 rubles. He was buried in the Wiesbaden cemetery , which was converted into an amusement park in the 1970s.

See also

literature

  • Julius Bab: The Devrients. History of a German theater family . Verlag von Georg Stilke, Berlin 1932, pp. 225–246.
  • Ludwig Eisenberg : Friedrich Devrient . In: Large biographical lexicon of the German stage in the XIX. Century. Paul List, Leipzig 1903, p. 191–192 ( daten.digitale-sammlungen.de ).

Web links

Commons : Friedrich Devrient  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Baptism entry with date of birth and baptism from the church book of the evang.-ref. Church in Dresden
  2. ↑ Julius Bab: The Devrients. History of a German theater family . Published by Georg Stilke, Berlin 1932, p. 228.
  3. ↑ Julius Bab: The Devrients. History of a German theater family . Verlag von Georg Stilke, Berlin 1932, p. 84 fu 230 ff.
  4. ↑ Julius Bab: The Devrients. History of a German theater family . Verlag von Georg Stilke, Berlin 1932, pp. 232-234 u. 342-345.
  5. ^ For example, at ANNO, the digitally published collection of newspapers and magazines of the Austrian National Library. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  6. ↑ Julius Bab: The Devrients. History of a German theater family . Verlag von Georg Stilke, Berlin 1932, pp. 225–246.
  7. ↑ Julius Bab: The Devrients. History of a German theater family . Published by Georg Stilke, Berlin 1932, p. 234.
  8. ^ A b c d Ludwig Eisenberg : Friedrich Devrient . In: Large biographical lexicon of the German stage in the XIX. Century. Paul List, Leipzig 1903, p. 191–192 ( daten.digitale-sammlungen.de ).
  9. ^ Hermann Müller: Chronicle of the Royal Court Theater in Hanover . Hanover 1876, p. 240.
  10. ↑ Julius Bab: The Devrients. History of a German theater family . Published by Georg Stilke, Berlin 1932, p. 234 f.
  11. ↑ Dresden Journal. Herold for Saxon and German Interests , No. 68, June 7, 1848
  12. ↑ Theater bill of June 17, 1848 . Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  13. ^ The Viennese viewer . Vienna 1848, p. 782.
  14. ↑ List in the journal of the Imperial and Royal Court and National Theater in Vienna for the year 1849 . S. XXVIII.
  15. ↑ Theater bill of July 23, 1848 . Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  16. ^ Maria Preyer: On the regeneration period of the Burgtheater under Heinrich Laube. Edition of selected files 1850–1855 . Vienna 2012, pp. 43–46.
  17. ↑ Didaskalia , No. 44, February 21, 1853, p. 3; Text archive - Internet Archive
  18. ↑ Julius Bab: The Devrients. History of a German theater family . Published by Georg Stilke, Berlin 1932, p. 237.
  19. ↑ Julius Bab: The Devrients. History of a German theater family . Published by Georg Stilke, Berlin 1932, p. 238.
  20. ↑ a b Julius Bab: The Devrients. History of a German theater family . Published by Georg Stilke, Berlin 1932, p. 239.
  21. ^ Address book from Hanover 1856 . Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  22. ↑ Monthly for Theater and Music , Volume 3, p. 464 f .; Text archive - Internet Archive
  23. ↑ Julius Bab: The Devrients. History of a German theater family . Published by Georg Stilke, Berlin 1932, p. 240.
  24. ↑ Julius Bab: The Devrients. History of a German theater family . Published by Georg Stilke, Berlin 1932, p. 241.
  25. ↑ Julius Bab: The Devrients. History of a German theater family . Published by Georg Stilke, Berlin 1932, p. 242.
  26. ↑ Franz Eduard Hysel (ed.): The theater in Nuremberg from 1612 to 1863 . Nuremberg: self-published 1863, p. 451.
  27. ↑ Julius Bab: The Devrients. History of a German theater family . Published by Georg Stilke, Berlin 1932, pp. 241–243.
  28. ↑ Julius Bab: The Devrients. History of a German theater family . Published by Georg Stilke, Berlin 1932, p. 243.
  29. ^ Decree - published on February 7, 1865 in the Allgemeine Zeitung , Munich 1865. Retrieved on April 3, 2018.
  30. ↑ Julius Bab: The Devrients. History of a German theater family . Published by Georg Stilke, Berlin 1932, p. 243 f.
  31. ↑ Julius Bab: The Devrients. History of a German theater family . Published by Georg Stilke, Berlin 1932, p. 244.
  32. ↑ Foreign Gazette No. 326, XXV. Vintage, Vienna, November 24, 1871.
  33. ↑ Weilheimer Tagblatt für Stadt und Land. 1871.7 / 12. P. 1163.
  34. ^ Leisure area: Alter Friedhof on the website of the city of Wiesbaden; accessed on April 1, 2018.
personal data
SURNAME Devrient, Friedrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Devrient, Friedrich Philip (full name); Devrient, Fritz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German theater actor
DATE OF BIRTH January 31, 1827
PLACE OF BIRTH Dresden
DATE OF DEATH November 19, 1871
Place of death St. Petersburg