Caroline Friederike Wilhelmine Demmer (''

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

'' Krüger; 12 February 1764 – 14 April 1813) was a German-

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

actress and singer.

Life

Born in Berlin, Krüger was the sister of 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 ...

(1765–1828) and began her theater career in 1779 at the age of 15. In 1786–87 she was engaged by Joseph Bellomo in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

, in 1788–89 by Gustav Friedrich Wilhelm Großmann, then by the Dietrichsche Gesellschaft, where she married the singer and actor from Cologne Carl Demmer. On 16 November 1790 she wrote an invitation tender to

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

to Hofkammerrat Franz Kirms in Weimar and applied again for a position there. She mentioned: "But I must tell you beforehand that I... changed and married Mr. Demmer' brother who was with me in Weimar at the time. My husband is the first tenorist and plays the first also second young lovers in the comedy..., he has a very pleasant voice and is firmly musical." On the same day she applied again to Großmann, to whom she also told: "I have married myself meanwhile. My husband is the first tenorist, and also plays lovers in the comedy; my brother is also with us". Together with her husband she came to the Weimar court theatre on 4 February 1791, where she was supported by

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 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 ...

. In April–May 1794 both went to

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, where Demmer in particular enjoyed great popularity. Goethe's mother mentions him in several letters to her son. In spring 1804 both finally accepted an engagement at the

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 ...

, and travelled from Frankfurt via

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

, where they arrived on 7 March to Vienna. Demmer made his debut there on 8 August 1804 at the

Theater am Kärntnertor or (Carinthian Gate Theatre) was a prestigious theatre in Vienna during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Its official title was (Imperial and Royal Court Theatre of Vienna). History The theatre was built in 1709 to designs by Ant ...

as wife of Duval in the comedy ''Viktorine oder Wohlthun trägt Zinsen'' by

Friedrich Ludwig Schröder Friedrich Ludwig Schröder (3 November 1744 – 3 September 1816) was a German actor, manager, dramatist and prominent masonic leader. He was born in Schwerin. Shortly after his birth, his mother, Sophie Charlotte Bierreichel (1714&nda ...

. In 1813 the family lived on No 26, thus in an official residence of the Theater an der Wien, where Demmer died on 14 April 1813 at the age of 49 "from a lung addiction" (tuberculosis).

Family

The marriage of Carl and Caroline Demmer gave birth to numerous important Viennese actresses and actors, among them * Friedrich Demmer (1785 in Berlin – 15 April 1838 in Mariahilf near Vienna), from September 1829 to 1834 as singer, then until his death as chief director of the

Imperial and Royal The phrase Imperial and Royal (German: ''kaiserlich und königlich'', ), typically abbreviated as ''k. u. k.'', ''k. und k.'', ''k. & k.'' in German (the "und" is always spoken unabbreviated), ''cs. és k. (császári és királyi)'' in Hungari ...

Court Opera Theatre, * Jeannette Schmidt ''née'' Demmer (5 April 1794 in Weimar – 14 March 1862 in Vienna). * Josefine Scutta born Demmer (19 September 1795 in Frankfurt – 22 December 1863 in Vienna), wife of Andreas Scutta, both spouses known as stage colleagues of

Johann Nestroy Johann Nepomuk Eduard Ambrosius Nestroy (; 7 December 1801 – 25 May 1862) was a singer, actor and playwright in the popular Austrian tradition of the Biedermeier period and its immediate aftermath. He participated in the 1848 revolutions an ...

and

Wenzel Scholz Wenzel Johann Scholz (Wenzislaus Johann, real name Wenzel von Plümeke) (28 March 1787 in Innsbruck, according to other sources Brixen – 5 October 1857 in Vienna) was an Austrian actor in Ljubljana, Laibach, Klagenfurt, Graz and in Vienna abov ...

, * Thekla Demmer, married Kneisel (1802 in Frankfurt – 23 August 1832 in Vienna), also stage partner of Nestroy as well as

Ferdinand Raimund Ferdinand Raimund (born Ferdinand Jakob Raimann; 1 June 1790 – 5 September 1836, Pottenstein, Lower Austria) was an Austrian actor and dramatist. Life and work He was born in Vienna as a son of Bohemian woodturning master craftsman Jako ...

's.

Life

Family

References

Further reading