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

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

tic author.

Life

Born in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, his father intended him to be a

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

man, but Iffland preferred the stage, and at eighteen ran away to

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

in order to prepare himself for a

theatrical Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

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 Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

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 ''The Robbers'' (', ) is the first drama by German playwright Friedrich Schiller. The play was published in 1781 and premiered on 13 January 1782 in Mannheim, Germany, and was inspired by Leisewitz' earlier play ''Julius of Taranto''. It wa ...

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 Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, where he became director of the national theater of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

, and in 1811 he was made general director of all presentations before royalty. Iffland produced the classical works of

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...

and Schiller with conscientious care, but he had little understanding for the drama of the romantic 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 Kreuzberg () is a district of Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg borough located south of Mitte. During the Cold War era, it was one of the poorest areas of West Berlin, but since German reunification in 1990 it has ...

. 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