Gustav Friedrich Wohlbrück (27 September 1793, in Barth – 7 March 1849, in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

) was a German actor and

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

Biography

His father, Johann Gottfried Wohlbrück (1770-1822), was also an actor. He first performed on stage at the age of nineteen against his father's wishes. His initial attempts to play romantic leads was unsuccessful, so he turned to playing

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to Theoph ...

parts. His first major engagement was at Danzig, where he stayed for several years. After that, he was engaged in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

, and various places in Austria. He went to

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

in 1829; unfortunately, not long after his arrival, his wife, whom he had to leave in Königsberg, died suddenly. The following year, he was remarried, to Eleonore Dorothea Friederike Heß, the daughter of a teacher,Lutherische Kirchengemeinde Königsberg (Pr.), Altstadt, S. 47, Nr. 13, am 5. April 1830. and settled in St. Petersburg, where he worked for the

Imperial Theatres Imperial Theatres of Russian Empire () was a theatrical organization financed by the Imperial exchequer and managed by a single directorate headed with a director; was pertain to the Ministry of the Imperial Court from 1742. The system operated i ...

. In 1840, he returned to Königsberg, where he had been hired by Anton Hübsch, the Director of the Stadttheater. When Hübsch resigned in 1842, Wöhlbruck applied for his job, but the writer

Friedrich Tietz Friedrich Tietz (24 September 1803 – 6 July 1879) sometimes incorrectly called Friedrich von Tietz, was a German theatre director, publicist and writer. Life and career Born in Königsberg, Tietz first studied law and worked as a legal traine ...

(1803-1879), was chosen instead. Wöhlbruck was, however, able to obtain a prominent position at the Grand Ducal Theatre in Weimar (now the

Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar The (DNT), or German National Theater and Weimar State Orchestra, is the most significant arts organization in Weimar. The institution unites the (German National Theater) with the (Weimar State Orchestra). It plays on a total of six stages ...

). In 1847, he fell ill with stomach cancer and died from it two years later. Among his best known roles were "Franz Moor", in ''

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

'', and "Wurm", in ''

Intrigue and Love ''Intrigue and Love'', sometimes ''Love and Intrigue'', ''Love and Politics'', or ''Luise Miller'' (, ; literally "''Cabal and Love''") is a five-act Play (theatre), play written by the German dramatist Friedrich Schiller. His third play, it was ...

''; both plays by

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

. His brother, , was also an actor, as well as a

librettist A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major ...

. Of the four children he had with his first wife, the eldest, Ida (1817-1903), was the only one to enter the acting profession. She was also married twice; first to the actor, , whom she divorced after only a year, then to the journalist and politician, Franz Schuselka.

Biography

References

Further reading