Hrosvitha—(935-973) Hrosvitha, a canoness at a German monastery, was the first known female dramatist. Her plays give us the first feminist perspective in drama.

Her works, all in Latin, comprise eight religious poems; two historical chronicles in verse, one on the deeds of Holy Roman Emperor Otto I and the other a history of the convent of Gandersheim; and six moral comedies written in imitation of the six comedies of the Roman dramatist Terence. These plays are unique in the literature of the Middle Ages, representing a link between classical drama and the medieval mystery play. In place of the love adventures recounted by Terence, Hrosvitha substituted religious themes, treated with humor, portraying the victory of Christian virtues over paganism.

Johannes Velten—(1640-1695) One of the first German acting troupes of significance was lead by Johannes Velten. He sought to raise the level of German theater by adopting plays by Corneille, Moliere… His biggest problem was the lack of sizeable cities in his country. Troupes were forced to travel in search of new audiences. Travelling troupes were required to donate ¼ of their proceeds to local charities. Since there were no permanent theaters, actors set up stages in town squares, riding schools, inns, fencing grounds, rooms above markets, and tennis courts. Velten’s troupe usually had around 90 plays in its repertory.

Hanswurst—During this time, the clown was probably the most prominent figure in the theater, no matter how serious the play. By 1707, earlier clowns were melded into the character called Hanswurst. This clown consisted of many elements: Harlequin (from commedia dell’arte), the medieval fool, and various English clowns.

Joseph Anton Stranitzky—(1676-1726) Hanswurst distinctive traits were first established by Stranitzky. His Hanswurst was a beer-drinking peasant with a Bavarian accent. His costume was comprised of a green pointed hat, red jacket, long yellow pants, and white neck ruff. Hanswurst attributes may have varied from region to region, but the broad outlines of Stranitzky’s character were retained.

Stranitzky worked primarily in Vienna, where he created the first permanent public theater. The town council built the Karntnertor in 1708 and Stranitzky’s improvisational theater was so popular, written drama made little headway until after 1750.

Johann Christoph Gottsched—(1700-1766) Gottsched, an intellectual leader, was of the first to reform the state of the theater in Germany. After studying at Königsberg, Gottsched was appointed professor of poetry at the University of Leipzig in 1730. He became a professor of logic and metaphysics. Above all, he was very interested in raising the moral level and refining the artistic taste of Germans, not only of the educated and aristocratic but also of the common people. He was particularly interested in theatre as a way to reach the larger population, which was unable to read. His most enduring achievement resulted in his collaboration with actress Caroline Neuber. Until he teamed up with her, his attempts at reform were not successful.

Gottsched wished to eliminate Haupt-und-Staatsaktion plays, improvisation, burlesque afterpieces, and Hanswurst. He, instead, wanted to emulate the French Neo-classical plays. The most famous of his new works was The Dying Cato. Though Gottsched and Neuber were satirized and made fun of later, their efforts made future gains possible.

Caroline Friederike Neuber—(1697-1760) Rebelling against her tyrannical father, Caroline Neuber ran away from home, married a young clerk, Johann Neuber and joined an acting troupe. After a time, she and her husband formed there own company and acquired the title "Royal Polish and Electoral Saxon Court Comedians." This earned them the right to play at the annual fair in Leipzig, the intellectual capital of Germany and Gottsched’s home. In 1727, the Neubers and Gottsched agreed to work together to reform German theatre. Their alliance is very significant because it is the first time a leading literary figure teamed up with an acting troupe.

Neuber sought to raise the level of theatrical performance. She insisted upon careful rehearsals and the abandonment of improvisation. She also assigned actors other duties, such as painting, making handbills or sewing costumes. She even policed her actors’ personal lives to overcome the prejudices about actors. They found it very difficult to find new audiences as this new drama alienated audiences. The collaboration of Gottsched and Neuber, which lasted until 1739, is usually regarded as the turning point in the history of German theatre and the start of modern German acting.

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing—(1729-1781) The finest German playwright and perhaps the most significant dramatist of this time is Lessing. He debuted when Neuber’s troupe produced his play, The Young Scholar and he went on to win widespread fame with Miss Sara Sampson. This domestic tragedy created a sweeping public acceptance for sentimental drama. The play draws upon the Medea myth and places it in contemporary England. This very popular play is about a naïve, loving girl who is persuaded by a dashing young man to run away with him. His mistress finds out and plans to poison Sara and then escape across the English Channel.

Lessing came to believe that English drama was the most suitable model for German writers. Around 1760, he broke completely with Gottsched’s emphasis and the French neoclassicists. Instead, he sought to elevate English drama through his plays and criticism. His plays although representing a freer structure are still considered merely a "revised classicism". However, his works profoundly influenced future German dramatists.

His play Minna von Barnhelm, considered the first national comedy, uses symbolism to illustrate the divisions within Germany. Like some of his other plays its popularity lead to many imitations.

Sturm und Drang—(Storm-and-Stress) By the late 18th century in France and Germany, literary taste began to turn from classical and neoclassical conventions. Sturm und Drang, also know as Romanticism, was the movement created by writers to rebel against the rigid rules of earlier styles. While Neo Classicism is about the mind, reason and rules (Man controls nature), the Romantic Movement was about the heart, emotion and no rules (nature is in control of Man.) Inspiration for the romantic approach initially came from two great shapers of thought, French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau and German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Rousseau established the cult of the individual and championed the freedom of the human spirit; his famous announcement was "I felt before I thought."

Ideas behind Romanticism:

1. Faith in the emotions of Man: Man has instincts and feelings. (Anti-intellectual)
2. Faith in the individual: Every man has a right to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness…value is placed on the individual.
3. Freedom from all restraint: No rules or restraints on Imagination.
4. Faith in nature and the natural world
5. Human nature is basically good.
6. Value is placed on the Supernatural
7. The distant past of mysterious past holds secrets to be explored.

Gotha Court Theatre—Established in 1775, The Gotha Court Theatre was the first state theatre. This nonprofit organization’s members were state employees with pension rights. Konrad Ekhof, a most respected actor of his time, was responsible for staging plays. He was known for finding and training talented young actors like Iffland.

Friedrich L. Schroder—(1744-1816) German actor, theatrical manager, and playwright, the first to bring the plays of William Shakespeare to the German stage. Schröder began his career as a child actor in the company of his stepfather, Konrad Ernst Ackermann, learning what he could from his stepfather, who was a remarkable comedian, and from his mother, actress Sophie Schröder. His decisive inspiration, however, came from Konrad Ekhof, who had joined Ackermann's company in 1764. With Ekhof, Schroder discovered what great acting might be. He eventually became the Hamburg National Theatre’s artistic director where he became a firm disciplinarian who insisted upon perfection in every detail. He was perhaps the first to realize a truly integrated ensemble. He was known for his productions of Lessing, Shakespeare and Sturm-und-Drang writers.

August W. Iffland —(1759-1814) Iffland, a German actor, dramatist, and manager, was a major influence on German theatre. He was considered by many to be Schroder’s equal or superior in acting. His voice was weak and relied on his expressive body and face. He began his acting career in the Gotha company under Ekhof and joined the newly created Mannheim state theatre in 1779. He was one of Germany’s most vital theater managers during this time; Shakespeare was introduced into the repertory, Schiller (a resident dramatist) had his first three plays produced there, and Dalberg made numerous innovations in theatrical practice. The Mannheim company produced thirty-seven of his own plays, including Crimes of Ambition.

In 1796, on J.W. von Goethe's invitation, Iffland appeared as guest star on the Weimar court stage, charming his audiences with truthful and yet stylized portraits of pathetic and comic middle-class characters. His major appeal was his ability to humanize all roles, making his characters seem naturally noble but average human beings. His flights into tragedy (Lear, Wallenstein, Egmont) were less successful. As an author, Iffland achieved comparable fame in the fields of domestic drama and sentimental comedy. In 1798 he was appointed manager of the Berlin National Theatre, and in 1811 he became director-general of all the royal theatres in Prussia. His autobiography was Meine theatralische Laufbahn (1798 "My Career in the Theatre").

August Friedrich von Kotzebue—(1761-1819) German playwright and opera librettist born in Weimar. From about 1787 until his death, Kotzebue was probably the most popular playwright in the world. With over 200 plays, he wrote domestic drama, historical spectacle, verse plays and farce. Because he was able to adapt to new trends, Kotzebue was able to use the themes and devices of Sturm und Drang more successfully than the original creators of the form. He knew how to titillate the audience without shocking them and was therefore able to depart from more accepted conventions without confusing his audiences.

In 1801, when he returned to Weimar, he was not on good terms with Johann Wolfgang von Goethe or with the Romantics; he went back to Russia in 1806. In 1817 he was again sent abroad by the emperor Alexander to report on current Western ideas in politics, finance, and education. Execrated by political radicals as a spy in the pay of a reactionary power, Kotzebue was assassinated by Karl Sand, a member of a radical student association. The assassin was executed and the universities placed under strict control as a result.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe—(1749-1832) Iffland and Kotzebue raised the popularity of German drama with the theatre going public, Goethe and Schiller became Germany’s greatest playwrights. Goethe is considered the greatest literary figure Germany has known. A "universal genius", Goethe’s interest was quite divers. His first play (Goetz von Berlichingen) and first novel (The Sorrows of Young Werther) made him the most famous young writer of his time. Throughout Europe, Goethe’s Werther came to represent the longings of the new generation.

In 1775, Goethe was invited to visit Charles Augustus, duke of Saxe-Weimar, at whose court he was to spend the rest of his life. For ten years Goethe was chief minister of state at Weimar, where he helped to create one of the major culture centers of Germany. He later retained only the directorship of the state theater and the scientific institutions.

After studying the classical past while in Italy, Goethe rejected his former Storm-and-Stress ideals. His play, Iphigenia in Tauris (written in the classical style) is often considered one of his greatest achievements.

His most enduring work is the dramatic poem Faust. The first part was published in 1808, the second shortly after Goethe's death. He recast the traditional Faust legend and made it one of the greatest poetic and philosophic creations the world possesses.

Friedrich Schiller—(1759-1805) German poet, dramatist, philosopher, and historian, who is regarded as the greatest dramatist in the history of the German theater and one of the greatest in European literature. Schiller was the son of an army officer and estate manager for the duke of Württemberg. He was educated at the duke's military school and then studied law and medicine. In 1780 he was appointed physician to a military regiment stationed in Stuttgart. As a student, Schiller wrote poetry and finished his first play, The Robbers, which was successfully presented in 1782 at the National Theater in Mannheim. Arrested by the duke for leaving Württemberg without permission in order to witness the production, Schiller was forbidden to publish further dramatic works, but in September 1782, he escaped from prison and moved to Mannheim where he became the resident dramatist for the state theatre.

Like Goethe, Schiller underwent a significant change during the 1780’s and he began to reassess his values in light of all his historical studies. He stopped writing plays for almost ten years to become an historian. Later in his life, he wrote complex plays about turning points in history. Philosophical, Historical and individual conflicts were interwoven.

Schiller’s impact spread through many Western art forms. Like Hugo, Goethe and Pushkin he is not only remembered for what he wrote, but also for what he inspired, most notably the films and operas that grew out of his dramas. Rossini's William Tell, Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, Tchaikovsky's Maid of Orleans and a total of four Verdi operas (I Masnadieri, based on Die Rauber; Luisa Miller, based on Kabale und Liebe; Giovanna D'Arco, based on Die Jungfrau von Orleans; and Don Carlos) were all drawn from Schiller originals.

Weimar Classicism—Goethe and Schiller became close friends and began to exert a strong influence on one another. Although the two men were quite the opposite in temperament, they shared an artistic view. Goethe, under the impact of his trip to Italy, and Schiller, after his study of history and philosophy, sought to counter the dramatic trends of their day. They were both attracted to classicism but felt that the formal conventions of Greek tragedy would often "distance" the audience from the play’s events. They sought to create drama that could transform ordinary experience, rather than create an illusion of real life. They adopted verse, conventionalized structural patterns, simple but harmonious settings and costumes, and precise rhythmic speech in an attempt to lead spectators beyond their normal perception into the ream of ideal truth. Together, they created "Weimar Classicism."

Ludwig Holberg (detailed part of a portrait that was destroyed)

Ludwig Holberg—(1684-1754) Ludwig Holberg is considered to be the founder of Danish literature. Inspired by the best theatre companies of France, England and Italy, He became the first Danish dramatist to write plays in his native vernacular. Since he was the only writer who was able to successfully write in the vernacular, he was commissioned by Montaigu and Capion to write dramas suitable to Danish audience. Many of his plays resemble medieval farces, although he always added a moral lesson. In Jeppe of the Hill, he tells the story of a henpecked peasant who is kidnapped while in a drunken stupor and is then led to believe that he is a great lord before being returned to his village. The comic story ends with the argument that class barriers must be maintained because the lower classes would become tyrannical if given power. Holberg fashioned some other plays after Plautus, Moliere and Commedia Dell’arte, although he always recast his stories to seem native in origin. His dramas were the backbone of the Danish theatre and they were extremely popular.

Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov—(1717-1777) He was a poet, critic, historian, publisher, playwright, director, producer and teacher at the first public Russian theatre. Sumarokov was also the first editor and publisher of a private Russian magazine. By 1750, The Russian court had become aware of the latest Western trends in opera, dance, and theatre, however there was neither a public theatre nor a native Russian repertory. Alexander Sumarokov, a talented dramatist, began to write plays about Russian subjects but cast in French neoclassical form. His tragedies and satirical comedies mark the beginning of the Russian classical school. In 1759, for the first time in history, he presented a (ballet of Russian men and women) and thus established the dancing of the Russian people as part of theatrical performances.

Portrait of Fyodor Volkov

Fyodor Volkov—(1729-1763) Fyodor Volkov is considered to be the founder of Russian professional theatre. This simple son of a merchant was so inspired by theatrical performances of foreign companies in St. Petersburg, that he created his own troupe of actors (friends and family.) Originally he turned a barn into a theatre, but his productions became so popular, he moved into more adequate quarters. Impressed by their work, the Empress sent Volkov and others to study at the Academy of the Nobility.

Konrad Ekhof—(1720-1778) Ekhof was an actor and director who, with Caroline Neuber and Friedrich Schröder, was a major influence in the development of a German theatrical tradition.

Ekhof, who was short and homely, had to work hard to win acceptance. In 1752, he became the leading man of Schönemann’s troupe and he remained there for 17 years. He became the first important theorist of the German stage and he sought to establish a school in Schwerin to train actors. His attempt failed after indifference and mockery of fellow actors. He later became the most respected actor in Germany and his prestige lent dignity to the short-lived but important Hamburg National Theatre. He spent the last three years of his life in Gotha in charge of the new court theatre. Ekhof was among the earliest theorists on German drama and was responsible for a freer, more natural style of acting.

Heinrich Koch—(1703-1775) Heinrich Koch is, perhaps, the first German manager to fully achieve Neuber’s ideals. Paying careful attention to both staging and public taste, he was eventually able to stop touring and establish a company at one location. He began his career in Neuber’s troupe, where he remained until she left. With Ekhof’s recommendation, Koch took over Schonemann’s troupe. While all previous public theatres were temporary, he was able to play mostly at one location.

Johann Friedrich Lowen—(1729-1771) Lowen was Schonemann’s son-in-law and author of the first history book about German theatre and his ideas led to establishing The Hamburg National Theatre. He found that German theatre was not doing well because of uncultivated managers and actors, greed, lack of state support, the need to tour, and the lack of German dramatists. To remedy this, he proposed to create a permanent, subsidized, non-profit theatre, run by a salaried manager. He also advocated the creation of schools to train actors, high salaries and pensions to attract quality performers, and prizes to encourage dramatists.

Although The Hamburg National Theatre opened with these lofty goals, Lowen was not able to retain authority over his actors. He needed Ekhof to maintain discipline. While trying to maintain a higher quality of drama than previously seen, he was forced to bring in variety acts in order to keep up attendance. This whole venture accomplished very little, except that it stands as a landmark in German theatre. The Hamburg National Theatre (not truly national) popularized the idea for German’s to have a "national" theatre.

Exterior of the Drottingholm Theatre Museum

Drottingholm—Designed by Carlo Bibiena, The Drottingholm Theatre was built between 1764 and1766. The theatre was used extensively during the late 18^th century nut was closed upon Gustav’s death. In 1921, the theatre was rediscovered, untouched and virtually forgotten. It stands as an authentic example of theatre during this time. The theatre, near Stockholm is one of the world’s major theatrical museums and features period stage, thirty stage settings, machinery, and auditorium.

Prachtsaal—(a.k.a. palais a volonte) Prachtsaal was one of the stock settings used after 1750. It was the stately room used in tragedy or serious drama.

Ritterstucke—Goetz von Berlichingen’s concern for historical accuracy inspired chivalric plays called Ritterstucke. The production of Goetz, in Hamburg was perhaps the first to use scenery and costumes to insinuate historical spectacle standard for plays in the Ritterstucke tradition.

Schouwburg—Schouwburg playhouse, in Amsterdam, was the first permanent theatre in Holland. Dutch architect Jacob van Campen, who had studied in Italy, built the theatre along the Keizergracht ("Emperor’s Canal") in 1637. The design is a cross between the native "Chambers of Rhetoric" and the Italian stage. It opened on Jan. 3, 1638, with a production of Gysbrecht van Aemstel, a historical tragedy about Amsterdam by Joost van den Vondel; the play is still performed annually in The Netherlands. The stage, raised about seven feet above the floor, had no proscenium arch or front curtain. A permanent, two-level stage facade consisted of pillars between which were set painted flat panels to indicate different settings. (Some of the flats were double sided to permit quick changes. Two balcony stages were positioned over the side pillars. The elliptical auditorium was provided with two tiers of boxes and an upper gallery with a sloped floor and rows of benches. The flat timber roof supported a barrel vault. The central portion of the rear façade could be used as an inner stage and the main stage was split into two parts by a curtain hung about halfwas back; the curtain could be used for quick changes or indicate a shift in locale.

In 1664-65 the old theatre was demolished and a new one built by Jan Vos in the Italian Baroque style with a proscenium and an elaborate system of wings, traps, flies, and machines. It was closed by the Puritans between 1747 and 1749 and was completely destroyed by fire in 1772. A new Schouwburg (Nieuwe Schouwburg) was built by V.E. Witte at a location near the city walls on the Leidseplein in 1774. It was in use until 1890, when it, too, burned to the ground.

Yusupov—During the late 18^th century, many nobles in Russia began to select serfs and train them as performers. Prince Yusupov, owner of 21,000 serfs, established separate ballet, opera, and dramatic companies and a training school. Sometimes these landowners sold entire companies or rented them out for public performances.