Friederike Caroline Neuber, née Friederike Caroline Weissenborn, also
known as Friedericke Karoline Neuber, Frederika Neuber, Karoline
Neuber, Carolina Neuber, Frau Neuber, and Die Neuberin (9 March 1697
â€" 30 November 1760), was a German actress and theatre director. She
is considered one of the most famous actresses and actor-managers in
the history of the German theatre, "influential in the development of
modern German theatre." Neuber also worked to improve the social and
artistic status of German actors and actresses, emphasizing
naturalistic technique. During a time when theatrical managers in
Germany were predominantly men, Caroline Neuber stands out in history
as a remarkably ambitious woman who, during her 25-year career, was
able to alter theatrical history, elevating the status of German
theatre alongside of Germany's most important male theatrical leaders
at the time, such as "her actor-manager husband Johann, the popular
stage fool Johann Müller, the major actor of the next generation
Johann Schönemann, the multi-talented newcomer Gotthold Ephraim
Lessing, and principally, their de facto Dramaturg, Johann
Gottsched."Friederike Caroline Weissenborn was born 9 March 1697 in
Reichenbach im Vogtland to Daniel Weissenborn and his wife Anna Rosine
Weissenborn, née Anna Rosine Wihelmine. Her father was a legal court
inspector and her mother was very well-educated. From her mother,
Caroline learned reading, writing, and French. Her tyrannical father
beat her mother until her mother's early death in 1705. Caroline spent
the rest of her childhood with her father in Zwickau where she lived
from 1702â€"1717. Allegedly, Caroline was unloved and neglected by her
father who may have also beaten her; she had a scar on her face
attributed to her father's beatings. Reportedly, she attempted to
escape her home as early as age 15. However, it was not until age 20,
in 1717, that Caroline successfully ran away from home with Johann
Neuber, a clerk who had worked for her father. The couple married one
year later in 1718. Together the Neubers "served their theatrical
apprenticeship in the traveling companies of Christian Spiegelberg
(1717â€"22) and Karl Caspar Haack (1722â€"25)."In 1727, she and her
husband founded their own acting troupe which became a "training
ground for some of the great actor-managers to come†. That same year
their company was "granted a patent by the elector of Saxony,
Frederick Augustus I, to perform at the Leipzig Easter Fair." The
troupe is recorded to have played in nineteen towns and cities as
spread out as Warsaw, Kiel, and Strasburg, most often in Dresden,
Hamburg, and Leipzig. Although no complete repertoire for the company
exists there is an existing "detailed account of eight months in 1735,
8 April to 5 December" in which the troupe is listed to have performed
"seventy-five 'Schauspiele' (a mixture of 'Tragödien' and
'Cömodien') in 203 performances." Additionally, they are recorded to
have performed ninety-three Nachspiele (a short play usually following
a longer comedy or tragedy) in 107 performances during these eight
months. The Neuber troupe has been described by historians as "a
training ground for later principles" such as Heinrich Koch and
Friedrich Schönemann, "each of whom founded his own troupe afterwards
and enjoyed far more success than his mentor."As early as 1725,
Neuber's acting technique had "attracted the attention of Johann
Christoph Gottsched, the critic and drama reformer who modeled his
work on classical French tragedy and comedy." Throughout her career,
she was active in the introduction of the French theatre in Germany,
and worked closely with Gottsched and his wife, Luise Gottsched, to
elevate the status of German theatre. Gottsched was the first to call
her "Die Neuberin." Gottsched was important to the Neubers' company
for he initiated in their company a "careful learning of parts and
rehearsal for the heavily improvised farces and harlequinades that
then dominated the German stage." The theatrical partnership between
Caroline Neuber and Johann Gottsched lasted until 1739 and is "usually
regarded as the turning point in the history of German theatre and the
start of modern German acting."
known as Friedericke Karoline Neuber, Frederika Neuber, Karoline
Neuber, Carolina Neuber, Frau Neuber, and Die Neuberin (9 March 1697
â€" 30 November 1760), was a German actress and theatre director. She
is considered one of the most famous actresses and actor-managers in
the history of the German theatre, "influential in the development of
modern German theatre." Neuber also worked to improve the social and
artistic status of German actors and actresses, emphasizing
naturalistic technique. During a time when theatrical managers in
Germany were predominantly men, Caroline Neuber stands out in history
as a remarkably ambitious woman who, during her 25-year career, was
able to alter theatrical history, elevating the status of German
theatre alongside of Germany's most important male theatrical leaders
at the time, such as "her actor-manager husband Johann, the popular
stage fool Johann Müller, the major actor of the next generation
Johann Schönemann, the multi-talented newcomer Gotthold Ephraim
Lessing, and principally, their de facto Dramaturg, Johann
Gottsched."Friederike Caroline Weissenborn was born 9 March 1697 in
Reichenbach im Vogtland to Daniel Weissenborn and his wife Anna Rosine
Weissenborn, née Anna Rosine Wihelmine. Her father was a legal court
inspector and her mother was very well-educated. From her mother,
Caroline learned reading, writing, and French. Her tyrannical father
beat her mother until her mother's early death in 1705. Caroline spent
the rest of her childhood with her father in Zwickau where she lived
from 1702â€"1717. Allegedly, Caroline was unloved and neglected by her
father who may have also beaten her; she had a scar on her face
attributed to her father's beatings. Reportedly, she attempted to
escape her home as early as age 15. However, it was not until age 20,
in 1717, that Caroline successfully ran away from home with Johann
Neuber, a clerk who had worked for her father. The couple married one
year later in 1718. Together the Neubers "served their theatrical
apprenticeship in the traveling companies of Christian Spiegelberg
(1717â€"22) and Karl Caspar Haack (1722â€"25)."In 1727, she and her
husband founded their own acting troupe which became a "training
ground for some of the great actor-managers to come†. That same year
their company was "granted a patent by the elector of Saxony,
Frederick Augustus I, to perform at the Leipzig Easter Fair." The
troupe is recorded to have played in nineteen towns and cities as
spread out as Warsaw, Kiel, and Strasburg, most often in Dresden,
Hamburg, and Leipzig. Although no complete repertoire for the company
exists there is an existing "detailed account of eight months in 1735,
8 April to 5 December" in which the troupe is listed to have performed
"seventy-five 'Schauspiele' (a mixture of 'Tragödien' and
'Cömodien') in 203 performances." Additionally, they are recorded to
have performed ninety-three Nachspiele (a short play usually following
a longer comedy or tragedy) in 107 performances during these eight
months. The Neuber troupe has been described by historians as "a
training ground for later principles" such as Heinrich Koch and
Friedrich Schönemann, "each of whom founded his own troupe afterwards
and enjoyed far more success than his mentor."As early as 1725,
Neuber's acting technique had "attracted the attention of Johann
Christoph Gottsched, the critic and drama reformer who modeled his
work on classical French tragedy and comedy." Throughout her career,
she was active in the introduction of the French theatre in Germany,
and worked closely with Gottsched and his wife, Luise Gottsched, to
elevate the status of German theatre. Gottsched was the first to call
her "Die Neuberin." Gottsched was important to the Neubers' company
for he initiated in their company a "careful learning of parts and
rehearsal for the heavily improvised farces and harlequinades that
then dominated the German stage." The theatrical partnership between
Caroline Neuber and Johann Gottsched lasted until 1739 and is "usually
regarded as the turning point in the history of German theatre and the
start of modern German acting."
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