Karl Friedrich Baudius

Karl Friedrich Baudius , also Carl Friedrich Baudius (born November 20, 1796 in Berlin , † March 19, 1860 in Leipzig ) was a German actor.

Baudius was the son of an evangelical pastor and, at his father's request, was also to become a theologian. Baudius strictly refused and was then allowed to learn a commercial profession; but which didn't really interest him either.

On April 5, 1815, Baudius left Leipzig to join the “new ruler of Europe” - Napoleon Bonaparte . He reached the imperial army on the day of the Battle of Waterloo and saw its downfall. He returned to Leipzig as a beggar and - in the absence of other options - allowed himself to be involved in the theater there . On November 20, 1815 he made his successful debut there as "Niklas".

The actress Auguste Wilbrandt-Baudius is his adopted daughter.

Roles (selection)

• Niklas - The Count of Burgundy ( August von Kotzebue )
• Matz - The Intermezzo or the Squire for the first time in the Residenz (August von Kotzebue)
• Alter Klingsberg - The two Klingsberg (August von Kotzebue)
• Kalinsky - Humorous Studies ( Karl August Lebrun )
• Marinelli - Emilia Galotti ( Gotthold Ephraim Lessing )
• Muley Hassan - The Fiesco Conspiracy to Genoa ( Friedrich Schiller )
• Malvolio- What You Will ( William Shakespeare )
• Ambrosio - Le Barbier de Séville ( Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais )

Quote

Heinrich Anschütz reports in his "Memories":

Baudius had the rare perseverance of sitting down in the cloakroom four to five hours before the start of an important performance, preparing and discarding a series of face masks until he liked one. To please this hobby, he even decided to the victim to pickle his eyebrows in order to attach them artificially at will.

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : Baudius, Karl Friedrich (in the article of his adopted daughter) . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 56th part. Imperial-Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1888, p. 109 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Ludwig Eisenberg: Large biographical lexicon of the German stage of the 19th century . List Verlag, Leipzig 1903, pp. 56–57.
• Baudius Karl Friedrich. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 1, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1957, p. 54.