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“Ein Geschöpf der Einbildung unseres Herrn Leßing”: Fictions of Acting and Virtue in the Postmortem Reception of Charlotte Ackermann (1757–1775)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2013

Daniel Purdy
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
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Summary

Da liegt sie nun, verloren unter Hundert Lebloser Staub, noch jüngst von Tausenden bewundert!

THE SUDDEN DEATH OF A SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD Hamburg actress in May of 1775 inspired a series of elaborate, public mourning rituals that drew the attention of the entire city. An anonymous observer describes the events of these days as follows:

Kürzlich starb hier eine junge Schauspielerin, welche eben sowohl wegen ihrer Talente, als wegen einer seltenen Tugend verehrt wurde. Sie starb plötzlich, und hatte noch den Tag vorher mit vieler Anmuth gespielt. Dieser Fall hat eine allgemeine Traurigkeit veranlaßt. Als ihr entseelter Körper nach hießiger Gewohnheit im Sarge zur Schau gestellt wurde, war der Zulauf, sie zu sehen, unbeschreiblich. Viele, selbst Personen von gesetzten Jahren, bestreuten sie mit Blumen und Lobgedichten. An dem Tage ihrer Beerdigung war der Zulauf noch größer. Der Weg von dem Schauspielhause bis St. Petri war mit vielen tausend Menschen bedeckt, und es herrschte darunter eine außerordentliche Stille. In dem Augenblicke, da man sie einsenkte, wurde ihr Grab fast mit Blumenkränzen beschüttelt. Eine Subscription wurde eröfnet, um ihr ein Monument zu setzen, und sie hatte schleunigen Fortgang.

For a brief time, the loss of an actress unleashed a powerful emotional response in Hamburg, bringing the city's busy commercial life to a temporary halt. This was the first and possibly last time that a German actress was memorialized in this way; several decades later, the German theater historian Eduard Devrient wrote that the fervor with which Hamburg mourned this actress was unrivalled in theater history.

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Goethe Yearbook 16 , pp. 135 - 160
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2009

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