Anna Feodorowna Krüger (born Anna Feodorowna Spengler: 28 February 1792 - 4 August 1814) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

stage actress of great promise who died young.

Life

Anna Feodorowna Spengler was born in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

which at that time was home to a large and apparently permanent German expatriate community. Her mother, Karoline Spengler, was a stage actress. Her father, Franz Spengler, was a theatre director from

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. However, he died while she was still young. When the child was ten her mother married a third husband, the actor

Karl Friedrich Krüger Karl Friedrich Krüger (18 December 1765 – 21 April 1828) was a German actor and the brother of actress Caroline Demmer. Life Krüger was born in Berlin. His father was a musician in the royal chapel in Berlin. He himself made his debut on ...

: he adopted Anna. Mother and daughter now became respectively Karoline Krüger and Anna Krüger: these are the names by which they are normally identified in sources. Her parents recognised and encouraged her talent as an actress. She made her stage debut as "Amalie" in Schickaneder's ''Hauer in Österreich'' at Schickaneder's recently opened and lavishly appointed

Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prima ...

(in Vienna) on 1 September 1804. The play appears not to have survived, but Schickaneder's new theatre prospered and Anna Krüger remained there as part of the company till 1808 or 1809. In 1808

Emanuel Schikaneder Emanuel Schikaneder (born Johann Joseph Schickeneder; 1 September 1751 – 21 September 1812) was a German impresario, dramatist, actor, singer, and composer. He wrote the libretto of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera ''The Magic Flute'' and was t ...

took a position as director at the

Reduta Theatre The Reduta Theatre is a theatre in Brno, Czech Republic. It was built on the city's oldest square, Zelný trh) and began its life in Renaissance times as the Taverna (Tavern) Theatre. In 1767, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart performed with his sister ...

in Brünn (as the city was known to German speakers at the time). Anna Feodorowna was among those who went with him, and it was here that she took her first major stage roles. However, by 1809 she was back in Vienna where at Easter of that year she made her debut at the Hofbühne Theater, where her (adoptive) father was already an established member of the company. It was here that she came to the fore as a performer. In 1814 she enjoyed great success appearing for a season of guest performances down-

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

Pest Pest or The Pest may refer to: Science and medicine * Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns ** Weed, a plant considered undesirable * Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection ** ...

. On 19 July 1814 she made her last stage appearance, taking the part of "Afanasia" in "Benjowsky". By this time she had developed what were probably complications from

Typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

(''"Nervenfieber"''). She had evidently been infected - seemingly without taking time out for proper treatment - for some time. She died on 4 August 1814 and was buried amidst much ceremony on the part of theatre friends and colleagues on the section reserved for artists who had died young in the cemetery at

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krüger, Anna Feodorowna 1792 births 1814 deaths Actresses from Saint Petersburg 19th-century German actors 19th-century German actresses German stage actresses