Johann La Roche

Johann Joseph La Roche , also Johann Laroche (born April 1, 1745 in Pressburg , † June 8, 1806 in Vienna ) was an Austrian theater actor , comedian and playwright .

Johann la Roche (silhouette of Hieronymus Löschenkohl )

Life

Johann La Roche was supposed to become a barber at the request of the family , but at the age of 19 he joined Johann Joseph Brunian and his group of actors in Graz in 1764 . He moved around with this troupe for four years and in 1768 switched to Johann Matthias Menninger , who was just making a guest appearance in Baden near Vienna .

"Kasperl '" (Viennese theater almanac for the year 1804)

Together with Menninger, La Roche created the figure of "Kasperle" (also "Kasperl '") (with a large red heart sewn onto the chest patch).

La Roche represented the same position with his puppet figure as his predecessor “ Hanswurst ” and his successors “ Thaddädl ” and “ Staberl ”.

From 1781 until his death, La Roche played together with Karl von Marinelli in Vienna at the Leopoldstädter Theater . Many roles were tailor-made for La Roche and are important components of the Alt-Wiener Volkstheater .

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : Laroche, Johann . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 14th part. Imperial-Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1865, pp. 161–163 ( digitized version ).
• Joseph Kürschner :  Johann Laroche . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 17, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1883, p. 717.
• Ludwig Eisenberg : Large biographical lexicon of the German stage in the XIX. Century . Verlag von Paul List , Leipzig 1903, p. 576, ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
• Gustav Gugitz : The former Kasperl (Johann La Roche). A contribution to the theater and moral history of old Vienna . Ed. Strache, Vienna 1920.
• Otto Rommel : The great characters of the old Viennese folk comedy. Hanswurst, Kasperl, Thaddädl and Staberl, Raimund and Nestroy . Bindenschild-Verlag, Vienna 1946.