Karl Michel (actor)

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Karl Michel (by Ignaz Eigner , 1891)

Karl Michel (born September 1, 1843 in Stolberg (Rhld.) , † July 23, 1930 in Berlin ) was a German ear, nose and throat doctor, actor and writer.

life and work

Portrait plaque Karl Michel on the old cemetery in Bonn

Karl Michel grew up as the ninth of ten children of the glass manufacturer Johann Philipp Michel and his wife Sibilla Maria geb. Cudell in Stolberg in the Rhineland. The boy was supposed to become a Catholic clergyman and gave sermons to his siblings from a self-made pulpit. In Aachen he attended high school. A grandfather and an uncle were doctors, so he began studying medicine in Würzburg in 1862 and joined the Arminia Würzburg fraternity in 1863 . From 1864 to 1865 he continued his medical studies in Greifswald and also joined the Greifswald fraternity Rugia . He was in 1866 with a thesis at the University of Greifswald De favo ( "On Honeycomb") doctorate .

When a cholera epidemic broke out in Szczecin , he volunteered to treat the sick. After his military service in Arolsen and Koblenz , he worked as a doctor in Eltville in 1869 and made a name for himself there with successful blood transfusions , which were still rare at the time . In 1870 he settled in Cologne as an ear, nose and throat doctor . In the war of 1870/71, Michel took part as a one-year volunteer doctor and was released in 1871 as an assistant doctor in the reserve in Landwehr battalion No. 40 (Cologne). In 1871, in addition to his ENT practice, he also worked as a theater doctor in Cologne. Michel later became known as a “specialist in laryngo-rhino surgery and otology” through his highly developed surgical methods on the larynx from the mouth (see publications).

In his spare time, Karl Michel began studying classical theater roles at an early age and has occasionally appeared in smaller roles at city theaters. In 1891 - after his first official appearance as an actor in Brno - he joined the Cooperative of German Stage Members . Michel was still running his increasingly successful practice in Cologne until 1892, had achieved considerable prosperity and decided to devote himself entirely to the acting profession. He moved to Brno to initially work as a director at the Municipal Theater. After that he could be seen, probably with touring theaters, in St. Gallen and Dortmund . In 1897 he appeared at the Magdeburg City Theater and in Dresden in 1898.

In 1899 Michel settled in Steglitz , initially to work at the Thalia Theater . Afterwards he was a member of the Berlin Rudolf Hock Ensemble. Engagements and guest performances followed: 1904 at the Stadttheater Spandau , 1905 at the Princely Playhouse Putbus , 1906 at the Theater des Westens , the Belle Alliance Theater and the Free Volksbühne .

In 1910, rapid photography made another textbook possible: The language of the body , in which his daughters were also allowed to depict a variety of comedic poses. Soon he also began to give acting lessons, so Matthieu Lützenkirchen (1863-1924) learned from him.

He retired around 1922. In 1930 Karl Michel died with his daughters and grandchildren in Berlin-Friedenau.

roll

In his later years under the name of Dr. Karl Meil known, he played a. a. the following roles: Iago in Othello , Polonius in Hamlet , Attinghausen in Wilhelm Tell , Riccaut in Minna von Barnhelm , the valet in Kabale und Liebe , Schmock in Die Journalisten , Camillo in Ein Wintermärchen , the murderer in Macbeth , Harpagon in Der Geizige , Wagner or Mephisto in Faust , Crusius in Großstadtluft , the main role in Nathan der Weise a . v. a.

Publications

  • The diseases of the nasal cavity and the nasopharynx . According to my own observations. 1876.
  • For the treatment of diseases of the oropharynx and larynx: practical contributions. 1880.
  • The sign language: represented for actors as well as for painters and sculptors. 1886 (part 1: physical eloquence: gestures, mental states, voice, role studies, games; part 2: facial expressions in 94 photographs).
  • Lessing and today's actors. 1888.
  • The language of the body; Represented in 721 images by Karl Michel, Dr. med. 1910.
  • Body language and the dead point of acting. 1921.

family

In 1869 he married Anna Triacca from Mayen, who came from an Italian immigrant family. In 1888 the couple separated by mutual agreement and Karl Michel entered into a second marriage with Anna's sister Maria Triacca. The marriage resulted in three daughters: Christel (* 1887, later pianist), Elfriede (* 1889, later gymnastics teacher) and Eleonore (* 1890, later art teacher).

literature

  • Unpublished Family manuscripts and letters
  • Wilhelm Kosch: German Theater Lexicon. Volume 2: Hurka - Pallenberg. Kleinmayr, Klagenfurt 1960
  • Heinrich Hagemann: Technical lexicon of the German stage members. Berlin 1915, p. 73.
  • Helge Dvorak: Biographical Lexicon of the German Burschenschaft. Volume II: Artists. Winter, Heidelberg 2018, ISBN 978-3-8253-6813-5 , pp. 490-492.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ernst Elsheimer (ed.): Directory of the old fraternity members according to the status of the winter semester 1927/28. Frankfurt am Main 1928, p. 338.
  2. ↑ Digitalisat of "De favo. Greifswald 1866." (in the digital library Mecklenburg-Vorpommern)
  3. ↑ Membership number 1617
personal data
SURNAME Michel, Karl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Michel, Carl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German ear, nose and throat doctor, actor and writer
DATE OF BIRTH September 1, 1843
PLACE OF BIRTH Stolberg (Rhld.)
DATE OF DEATH July 23, 1930
Place of death Berlin