August Wilhelm Iffland (19 April 175922 September 1814) was a German actor and dramatic author.

Life

Born in Hanover, his father intended him to be a clergyman, but Iffland preferred the stage, and at eighteen ran away to Gotha in order to prepare himself for a theatrical career. He received instruction from Hans Ekhof, and made such rapid progress that he was able to accept an engagement at the theater in Mannheim in 1779, beginning his rise into prominence. In Mannheim, he played the lead role ''Franz Moor'' in the acclaimed premiere of Friedrich Schiller's The Robbers in 1782. He soon stood high in his profession, and enhanced his reputation by frequently playing in other towns. In 1796 he settled in Berlin, where he became director of the national theater of Prussia, and in 1811 he was made general director of all presentations before royalty. Iffland produced the classical works of Goethe and

Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendsh ...

with conscientious care, but he had little understanding for the drama of the

romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...

writers. As an actor, he was conspicuous for his comedy parts: fine gentlemen, polished men of the world, and distinguished princes. Iffland died in Berlin on 22 September 1814. He is buried in the ''Jerusalems- und Neue Kirche Friedhof II'' (Cemetery No. II of the

Jerusalem's Church Jerusalem Church (german: Jerusalem(s)kirche, Jerusalemer Kirche) is one of the churches of the Evangelical Congregation in the Friedrichstadt (under this name since 2001), a member of the Protestant umbrella organisation Evangelical Church of ...

and New Church) in Berlin-Kreuzberg. A bronze portrait statue of him was erected in front of the Mannheim theater in 1864. A street in Berlin is named after him. The

Iffland-Ring The Iffland-Ring is a diamond-studded ring with a picture of August Wilhelm Iffland, a prominent German actor, dramatist and theatre director of the late 18th and early 19th century. The holder, or bearer, of the Iffland-Ring is considered to be t ...

bears Iffland's likeness, and is borne by the most important German-speaking actor, as decided by his predecessor.

Works

The form of play in which Iffland was most at home, both as an actor and playwright, was the domestic drama, the sentimental play of everyday life. His works show little imagination, but they display a thorough mastery of the technical necessities of the stage, and a remarkable power of devising effective situations. His best characters are simple and natural, fond of domestic life, but too much given the utterance of commonplace sentimentality. His best-known plays are ''Die Jäger'', ''Dienstpflicht'', ''Die Advokaten'', ''Die Mündel'' and ''Die Hagstolzen''. Iffland was also a dramatic critic, and German actors placed high value on his reasonings and hints about their works in his ''Almanach für Theater und Theaterfreunde''. During 1798–1802 he issued his ''Dramatischen Werke'' in sixteen volumes, to which he added an autobiography (''Meine theatralische Laufbahn''). During 1807–1809 Iffland put out two volumes of ''Neue dramatische Werke''. Selections from his writings were later published, one in two volumes, the other in ten volumes.

References

External links

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Ifflands Archiv
by Klaus Gerlach {{DEFAULTSORT:Iffland, August Wilhelm 1759 births 1814 deaths German Protestants German male stage actors Iffland-Ring General directors of the Berlin State Opera 18th-century German male actors 19th-century German male actors German male dramatists and playwrights 18th-century German dramatists and playwrights 19th-century German dramatists and playwrights 19th-century German male writers