Abel Seyler
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Abel Seyler (23 August 1730,
Liestal Liestal (, Standard ), formerly spelled Liesthal, is the capital of Liestal District and the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland, south of Basel. Liestal is an industrial town with a Cobbled street, cobbled-street ...
– 25 April 1800, Rellingen) was a Swiss-born theatre director and former merchant banker, who was regarded as one of the great theatre principals of 18th century Europe. He played a pivotal role in the development of German theatre and opera, and was considered "the leading patron of German theatre" in his lifetime.
Wilhelm Kosch Wilhelm Franz Josef Kosch (2 October 1879 – 20 December 1960) was an Austrian historian of literature and theatre and lexicographer. The lexicon that he conceived and later revised several times, the ''Deutsches Literatur-Lexikon'' is a refere ...
, "Seyler, Abel", in '' Dictionary of German Biography'', eds. Walther Killy and Rudolf Vierhaus, Vol. 9,
Walter de Gruyter Walter de Gruyter GmbH, known as De Gruyter (), is a German scholarly publishing house specializing in academic literature. History The roots of the company go back to 1749 when Frederick the Great granted the Königliche Realschule in Be ...
, 2005, , p. 308
He supported the development of new works and experimental productions, helping to establish
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
as a center of theatrical innovation and to establish a publicly funded theater system in Germany. Working with some of Germany's foremost actors and playwrights of his era, he is credited with pioneering a new more realist style of acting, introducing
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
to a German language audience, and with promoting the concept of a national theatre in the tradition of
Ludvig Holberg Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg (3 December 1684 – 28 January 1754) was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Denmark–Norway, Dano–Norwegian dual monarchy. He was infl ...
, the ''
Sturm und Drang (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto-Romanticism, Romantic movement in German literature and Music of Germany, music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity an ...
'' playwrights, and serious German opera, becoming the "primary agent for change in the German opera scene" in the late 18th century. Already in his lifetime, he was described as "one of German art's most meritorious men." The son of a
Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...
priest, Seyler moved to
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and then to
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
as a young adult, and established himself as a merchant banker in the 1750s. During the
Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
and its immediate aftermath his bank Seyler & Tillemann engaged in an ever-increasing and complex, "malicious" speculation with
financial instruments Financial instruments are monetary contracts between parties. They can be created, traded, modified and settled. They can be cash (currency), evidence of an ownership, interest in an entity or a contractual right to receive or deliver in the form ...
and went spectacularly bankrupt with enormous debts in the wake of the Amsterdam banking crisis of 1763, resulting in a decade of expansive litigation. Although they were wealthy bankers, Seyler and his business partner were "in no way representatives of the Hamburg bourgeoisie." A flamboyant ''bon vivant'' who was regarded with suspicion in Hamburg, Seyler symbolized a new and more aggressive form of capitalism. Seyler's admiration for the tragic actress Sophie Hensel (Seyler), who later became his second wife, led him to devote himself entirely to theatre from 1767 onwards. He used his remaining funds to become the main shareholder, benefactor and effective leader of the
idealistic Idealism in philosophy, also known as philosophical realism or metaphysical idealism, is the set of metaphysical perspectives asserting that, most fundamentally, reality is equivalent to mind, spirit, or consciousness; that reality is entir ...
Hamburg National Theatre, that became a leading cultural institution in Germany. His theatre employed Lessing as the world's first
dramaturg A dramaturge or dramaturg (from Ancient Greek δραματουργός – dramatourgós) is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and pr ...
, culminating in the work ''
Hamburg Dramaturgy The ''Hamburg Dramaturgy'' () is a highly influential work on drama by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, written between 1767 and 1769 when he worked as a dramaturg for Abel Seyler's Hamburg National Theatre. It was not originally conceived as a unified ...
'' that defined the field and gave it its name. In 1769, Seyler founded the travelling Seyler Theatre Company, which became one of the most famous theatre companies of Europe during the period 1769–79 and regarded as "the best theatre company in Germany at that time.""Herzogin Anna Amalie von Weimar und ihr Theater," in Robert Keil (ed.), ''Goethe's Tagebuch aus den Jahren 1776–1782'', Veit, 1875, p. 69 The company was to a large degree centered around his would-be wife and his close collaborator Konrad Ekhof, Germany's most famous actress and actor at the time, respectively. He initially held the Hanoverian privilege as theatre director and his company later stayed for three years at the court of Duchess Anna Amalia 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 ...
and for a year at the ducal court in
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 ...
. His company's arrival in Weimar is regarded as the earliest starting point of
Weimar Classicism Weimar Classicism () was a German literary and cultural movement, whose practitioners established a new humanism from the synthesis of ideas from Romanticism, Classicism, and the Age of Enlightenment. It was named after the city of Weimar in th ...
. From 1779 to 1781 he was the founding artistic director of the Mannheim National Theatre. He commissioned works such as ''
Sturm und Drang (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto-Romanticism, Romantic movement in German literature and Music of Germany, music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity an ...
'' by Klinger (which gave its name to the era), ''
Ariadne auf Naxos (''Ariadne on Naxos''), Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one of the work's ...
'' by Benda and '' Alceste'' by
Schweitzer Schweitzer is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965), German theologian, musician, physician, and medical missionary, winner of the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize * Anton Schweitzer (1735–1787), German op ...
, considered "the first serious German opera." Seyler mostly focused on the artistic, economic and administrative management of his theatrical company; his own lack of a background as an actor and his former profession as a merchant banker, made him stand out among the theatre principals of his era in a profession that was just starting to gain respectability. His wife's 1789 ''Singspiel'' '' Huon and Amanda'' (or ''Oberon''), set to new music by Paul Wranitzky, was performed by Emanuel Schikaneder's theater troupe and by the Weimar court theater under the direction of
Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
, and was a major influence on ''
The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...
'', establishing the Schikaneder theatre's tradition of fairy tale operas. The principal founder of biochemistry and molecular biology,
Felix Hoppe-Seyler Ernst Felix Immanuel Hoppe-Seyler (''né'' Felix Hoppe; 26 December 1825 – 10 August 1895) was a German physiologist and chemist, and the principal founder of the disciplines of biochemistry and molecular biology. He had discovered Yeast nuclei ...
, was an adopted son of his grandson.


Background and childhood

Abel Seyler was born in 1730 in
Liestal Liestal (, Standard ), formerly spelled Liesthal, is the capital of Liestal District and the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Basel-Landschaft in Switzerland, south of Basel. Liestal is an industrial town with a Cobbled street, cobbled-street ...
outside
Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
in
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
. He was the son of the
Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...
clergyman, Dr.theol. Abel Seyler (Seiler) (the elder) (1684–1767), who was parish priest of Frenkendorf-Munzach in Liestal from 1714 to 1763, and Anna Katharina Burckhardt (1694–1773). He grew up in a learned and pious Reformed family and was descended from or closely related to all of the most prominent patrician families of Basel on both his parents' sides. His mother belonged to the noted Burckhardt family, that was considered the most powerful family in the canton of Basel during the 17th and early 18th century. He was a paternal grandson of the theologian Friedrich Seyler and Elisabeth Socin, a member of an Italian-origined noble family, and he was named for his great-grandfather, the Basel judge and envoy to the French court Abel Socin (1632–1695). He was also descended from the Merian and
Faesch The Faesch family, also spelled Fesch, is a prominent Swiss, French, Belgian, Corsican and Italian noble family, originally a patrician family of Basel. Known since the early 15th century, the family received a confirmation of nobility from the ...
families. He was a
matrilineal Matrilineality, at times called matriliny, is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which people identify with their matriline, their mother's lineage, and which can involve the inheritan ...
descendant of Justina Froben, daughter of the humanist
Johann Froben Johann Froben, in Latin: Johannes Frobenius (and combinations), (c. 1460 – 27 October 1527) was a famous printer, publisher and learned Renaissance humanist in Basel. He was a close friend of Erasmus and cooperated closely with Hans Holbein t ...
; he thus belonged to the same matriline as Anna Catharina Bischoff. He had a sister, Elisabeth Seiler (1715–1798), married to parish priest Daniel Merian. He was distantly related to Cardinal
Joseph Fesch Joseph Cardinal Fesch, Prince of the Empire (3 January 1763 – 13 May 1839) was a French priest and diplomat, who was the maternal half-uncle of Napoleon Bonaparte (half-brother of Letizia Ramolino, Napoleon's mother Laetitia). In the wake of h ...
,
Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...
's uncle; they were both descended from the Basel silk merchant, politician and diplomat Johann Rudolf Faesch (died 1659), who was Burgomaster of Basel and led the city's pro-French faction. Although his parents belonged to families that were highly respected in Basel, Abel Seyler grew up in rather modest material circumstances. His father's congregation was small, and the parish church and rectory were in poor condition. His father also failed in his attempt to have the church restored. As a parish priest, his father did not have a fixed income but presumably lived off payments for church services, gifts and occasional government contributions. It was only when he retired in 1763 that his father received a fixed income, a pension of 600 pounds.


Seyler as a merchant banker

As a young man, Seyler left Basel first for
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and then for
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
, where he was active as a merchant banker until 1766. At the time Hamburg was emerging as one of the world's foremost centres of trade and finance, a position it would retain until the end of the 18th century. With his business partners Johann Martin Tillemann and Edwin Müller, he founded the related companies Seyler & Tillemann and Müller & Seyler, which engaged in an ever-increasing and complex speculation with
financial instrument Financial instruments are monetary contracts between parties. They can be created, traded, modified and settled. They can be cash (currency), evidence of an ownership, interest in an entity or a contractual right to receive or deliver in the form ...
s during the
Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
in the 1750s and early 1760s. Seyler & Tillemann had close ties to the bank of the brothers De Neufville in Amsterdam, and has been considered one of the most speculative and immoral banks of the era. In 1761 Seyler & Tillemann, acting as agents for their close business associate Heinrich Carl von Schimmelmann, leased the mint factory in Rethwisch from the impoverished Frederick Charles, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön, a member of a cadet branch of the Danish royal family, to produce debased coins in the final years of the Seven Years' War. Seyler & Tillemann went bankrupt in the wake of the Amsterdam banking crisis of 1763 with 3–4 million Mark Banco in debts, an enormous sum. Expansive civil litigation relating to the bankruptcy was initiated in 1763 and went on until 1773, and the case reached the Imperial Cameral Tribunal. Much criticism was directed at Seyler and Tillemann's business ethics and extravagant lifestyle. Mary Lindemann notes, quoting from the 1765–1773 Imperial Cameral Tribunal proceedings and the memoirs of John Parish: : nimportant case against several business partners reached the Imperial Cameral Tribunal (Reichskammergericht) in 1765. It offers an excellent perspective on "deceitful schemes" and especially on the bill-jobbing of two companies: Müller & Seyler and Seyler & Tillemann. Although the voices presented here are those of their creditors, the documents nonetheless reveal how contemporaries viewed the business practices of "malicious bankrupts" and how these practices assumed particularly baleful shapes in their minds. The creditors’ lawyers laid out the background to the case in considerable detail. Müller and Seyler were new men; Edwin Müller had come from Hanover several years before and Abel Seyler had been born in one of the Swiss cantons. Both had, however, "learned their business" and married in Hamburg.Seyler had in fact married in Hanover, although he either already lived in Hamburg or settled there shortly afterwards "If one could trust their books," their actual starting capital amounted to no more than thirty-eight thousand Mk. Bco., "of which, however, well over half had been frittered away through the acquisition of furniture for two households, or the purchase ofclothes, jewels, silver plate, and other needs for themselves, their wives, and their children, nd also forcarriages, horses, and so on." Their business was undercapitalized from the beginning. In the 1750s, this seemed a minor problem because credit was easy to obtain. When the cash flow failed, they tried to acquire money quickly through bill-jobbing. Because their ready funds could not cover their expenses and debts, theirs became "the most audacious orm of''Windhandel''." As their business increased—as they took on ever more commissions in goods for import and export, invested in a sugar refinery, and lent money to several people—they simultaneously pursued their bill-jobbing and expanded it markedly. :In 1757, they acquired a new partner, named Tillemann, who, however, contributed "not one Creutzer" to their capital, but that did not stop them from vigorously extending their business. Although their enterprises seemed to prosper in the late 1750s, they did so only "at the expense of others ..because they always lacked adequate funds.” Bill-jobbing was a dangerous game “in which even the most careful ractitionerusually loses about 10% and sometimes even 12–14%.” The partners then conjured up a fictive company under Erwin Müller’s signature “and informed the world that he had thus established his own firm.” Certainly, commented the lawyer drily, “that was a fine business that honored its inventor, which, however, no one who values truth and honesty could condone!” :They were effectively bankrupt by August 1762, long before the “great crash” of 1763. Yet they did not stop, but plunged forward (as Parish wrote), cooking more deals as the kitchen got hotter. Seyler & Tillemann continued their trade in worthless paper and bought up large quantities of silver and coin on commission. Müller, by now separated from the firm, was up to his ears in this “windy-business” (“he had strewn into the world some one-and-a-half million Mk. Bco. in bills”). He was brought to such “despair” that Seyler & Tillemann, as well as several other local and foreign banks and businesses (principally in Braunschweig and Amsterdam), all of which were mutually involved in bill-jobbing and bill-discounting, had to come to his rescue. For their own preservation, they simply could not afford to let him fall. Still, by late 1762 they, too, were “completely insolvent.” :When the Amsterdam house of De Neufville collapsed, so, too, tumbled Seyler & Tillemann. The common cause of the bankruptcies, from the giant De Neufville to less-famed partnerships like Seyler & Tillemann, lay, it was argued, in “an exaggerated trade in bills of exchange, in bill-jobbing, and—particularly—in the criminal “‘windy trade’ that uch likeSeyler & Tillemann had engaged in.” The “wind trade” of these years—and the bankruptcies that resulted—shook the major commercial centers to the core, “and many a capitalist who sought to profit from the high discount rate and who changed his money into paper, was plucked bare.” Mary Lindemann, "The Anxious Merchant, the Bold Speculator, and the Malicious Bankrupt: Doing Business in Eighteenth-Century Hamburg," in Margaret C. Jacob and Catherine Secretan (eds.), ''The Self-Perception of Early Modern Capitalists'', Palgrave Macmillan, 2009 Seyler was described as "a handsome ''bon vivant''." Despite suffering "a sensational bankruptcy for an enormous sum ..neither of them eyler and Tillemannhad lost his good humour or his taste for light living." Although they were wealthy bankers, Seyler and Tillemann were "in no way representatives of the Hamburg bourgeoisie, but were rather seen with suspicion for different reasons" by the local Hamburg elite.Michael Rüppel, ''"Nur zwei Jahre Theater, und alles ist zerrüttet": Bremer Theatergeschichte von den Anfängen bis zum Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts'', p. 127, C. Winter, 1996 In strictly Lutheran Hamburg,
Calvinists Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...
such as Seyler were viewed with as much suspicion as Catholics at the time. Seyler and his friends were also self-made men, immigrants to Hamburg and showed little regard for the values and conventions of the conservative Hamburg bourgeoisie; they symbolized a new form of capitalism.


Seyler as a theatre principal


Hamburg National Theatre (1767–1769)

After the bankruptcy of his bank, Seyler devoted himself to theatre and became the main shareholder, benefactor and effective leader of the Hamburg National Theatre, an idealistic attempt to establish a national theatre based on the ideas of
Ludvig Holberg Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg (3 December 1684 – 28 January 1754) was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Denmark–Norway, Dano–Norwegian dual monarchy. He was infl ...
. The theatre was owned by "a consortium of twelve businessmen of the city, with a triumvirate of Seyler, Bubbers and Johann Martin Tillemann, Seyler's business partner. But in practice, it was a one man affair, as Seyler dominated all." It leased the Comödienhaus building and was largely a successor institution of Konrad Ernst Ackermann's theatre company. The National Theatre employed
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (; ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a German philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the dev ...
as the world's first
dramaturg A dramaturge or dramaturg (from Ancient Greek δραματουργός – dramatourgós) is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and pr ...
, and attracted eminent actors such as Konrad Ekhof and Friedrich Ludwig Schröder; Germany's most famous actress of the late 18th century Friederike Sophie Hensel (Seyler), who later became Seyler's second wife, was the theatre's lead actress. She was regarded as "a very fine actress, as Lessing admitted, but she was a troublesome and tempestuous character," always at the centre of intrigue."Abel Seyler," in
Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was a British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was published as the first edition ...
(ed.), ''
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...
'', vol. 17, p. 209, 1980
It was largely Seyler's admiration for Friederike Sophie Hensel, by then 29, that led him to devote himself to theatre; as a result of Hensel's rivalry with Karoline Schulze, she was at the centre of an intrigue that led her admirer Seyler to "establish a theatre for her, where she could reign undisputed without fearing any rivalry." Karl Mantzius noted: :Seyler's admiration for the fine actress was easily transferred to the theatre in general, the theatre, that is, which formed a frame round his favourite. Thus a coalition of commerce, letters, and art was formed in which each party had his own personal interests, but which outwardly was working towards the sublime goal of abolishing the business-like leadership that was detrimental to true art. Nominally Johann Friedrich Löwen served as theatre director, but he had little influence, as Seyler as main shareholder and head of a three-member "administrative committee" (''Verwaltungsausschuß'') took all managerial decisions while Ekhof in practice assumed the artistic leadership. The new Seyler regime suited Ekhof well, and he became a lifelong friend and collaborator of Seyler. The Hamburg National Theatre was immortalized by Lessing's influential book ''
Hamburg Dramaturgy The ''Hamburg Dramaturgy'' () is a highly influential work on drama by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, written between 1767 and 1769 when he worked as a dramaturg for Abel Seyler's Hamburg National Theatre. It was not originally conceived as a unified ...
'', a collection of essays that reflected on the Hamburg National Theatre's efforts, and which defined the field of
dramaturgy Dramaturgy is the study of dramatic composition and the representation of the main elements of drama on the stage. The role of a dramaturg in the field of modern dramaturgy is to help realize the multifaceted world of the play for a production u ...
and gave it its name. The idea of a journal with Lessing as a dramatic critic was conceived by Löwen, and Seyler, "the power behind the throne," at first reluctantly agreed, but was eventually won over by the journal's success. The theatre had to close after two years after Seyler had spent the rest of his fortune on it.


Seyler Theatre Company (1769–1779)

In 1769 Seyler founded the National Theatre's effective successor, the Seyler Theatre Company, together with Konrad Ekhof, Sophie Hensel and some other actors. The Seyler Company became one of the most famous theatre companies of Europe during the period 1769–79 and was regarded as "the best theatre company in Germany at that time." While the National Theatre had avoided musical theatre, Seyler appointed
Anton Schweitzer Anton Schweitzer (6 June 1735 in Coburg – 23 November 1787 in Gotha (town), Gotha) was a German composer of operas, who was affiliated with Abel Seyler's Seyler theatrical company, theatrical company. He was a child prodigy who obtained the pat ...
as music director, charged with adding
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
to the spoken repertory, and the Seyler Company came to play a major role both in the development of a German opera tradition and in the promotion and popularisation of the ''
Sturm und Drang (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto-Romanticism, Romantic movement in German literature and Music of Germany, music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity an ...
'' dramas. For most of its existence, the Seyler Company comprised around 60 members, and included an orchestra, a ballet, house dramatists and set designers. The company was one of the first theatre companies to maintain a permanent orchestra. Over the next ten years the company travelled extensively, and stayed for longer periods at several courts of Europe. Theatre companies of the era, especially travelling ones, thought of themselves as extended "families."


Hanover years (1769–1771)

George III of Hanover and the United Kingdom contracted Seyler in 1769 with performing at Hanover and other cities of the
Electorate of Hanover The Electorate of Hanover ( or simply ''Kurhannover'') was an Prince-elector, electorate of the Holy Roman Empire located in northwestern Germany that arose from the Principality of Calenberg. Although formally known as the Electorate of Brun ...
, appointing him as "Director of the Royal and Electoral German Court Actors," a privilege he held until relinquishing it in 1772. During the Hanover years the company performed in Hanover itself and in
Lüneburg Lüneburg, officially the Hanseatic City of Lüneburg and also known in English as Lunenburg, is a town in the German Bundesland (Germany), state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of another Hanseatic League, Hanseatic city, Hambur ...
, Celle,
Osnabrück Osnabrück (; ; archaic English: ''Osnaburg'') is a city in Lower Saxony in western Germany. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population of 168 ...
,
Hildesheim Hildesheim (; or ; ) is a city in Lower Saxony, in north-central Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim (district), Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of t ...
und
Wetzlar Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...
between September 1769 and October 1771. Initially the new company struggled and Seyler failed to replicate the old success of the Hamburg National Theatre. The lack of public interest in Hanover led to financial problems and when Ekhof in May 1770 also became seriously ill and unable to perform for some time, the situation worsened dramatically. Seyler's brother-in-law, the court pharmacist J.G.R. Andreae from Hanover, who also raised Seyler's children from his first marriage, saved the Seyler Company by the assumption of all debts before the impending ruin; Andreae however demanded that Ekhof replaced his brother-in-law as head of the company.


At the court of Duchess Anna Amalia (1771–1774)

In 1771 the Seyler Company was invited to the ducal court 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 ...
by Duchess Anna Amalia, the composer and noted patron of the arts, and Seyler again became the company's principal. They were warmly welcomed by Anna Amalia and her court in October 1771, and were generously paid; the company performed three times a week for select guests at the Weimar ducal court. In 1771 Anna Amalia was a 32-year old widow who reigned as regent on behalf of her young son. The Seyler Company's arrival in Weimar marked the infancy of the cultural era known as the
Weimar Classicism Weimar Classicism () was a German literary and cultural movement, whose practitioners established a new humanism from the synthesis of ideas from Romanticism, Classicism, and the Age of Enlightenment. It was named after the city of Weimar in th ...
, when the Duchess invited many of the most eminent men in Germany to her court in Weimar, including
Herder A herder is a pastoralism, pastoral worker responsible for the care and management of a herd or flock of domestic animals, usually on extensive management, open pasture. It is particularly associated with nomadic pastoralism, nomadic or transhuma ...
,
Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
and Schiller. The year after Seyler's company arrived in Weimar, the Duchess invited
Christoph Martin Wieland Christoph Martin Wieland (; ; 5 September 1733 – 20 January 1813) was a German poet and writer, representative of literary Rococo. He is best-remembered for having written the first ''Bildungsroman'' (''Geschichte des Agathon''), as well as the ...
to Weimar to educate her two sons. Wieland had just published his modern and ironic mirror-for-princes work, ''Der goldne Spiegel oder die Könige von Scheschian''. Wieland became an important friend and collaborator of both Seyler, and later Goethe. Adam Shoaff notes, :While in Weimar, the Seyler troupe established a reputation as one of the most formidable companies in Germany, thanks to its composer,
Anton Schweitzer Anton Schweitzer (6 June 1735 in Coburg – 23 November 1787 in Gotha (town), Gotha) was a German composer of operas, who was affiliated with Abel Seyler's Seyler theatrical company, theatrical company. He was a child prodigy who obtained the pat ...
(1735–87); their leading soprano, Franziska Koch; ..and two other talented singers, Josepha and Friedrich Hellmuth. Its production of Schweitzer’s '' Alceste'' (1773), with a libretto by
Christoph Martin Wieland Christoph Martin Wieland (; ; 5 September 1733 – 20 January 1813) was a German poet and writer, representative of literary Rococo. He is best-remembered for having written the first ''Bildungsroman'' (''Geschichte des Agathon''), as well as the ...
(1733–1813), marked a significant moment in German opera history: ''Alceste'' was the first full-length serious opera in German. In 1772 he reunited with his love interest Friederike Sophie Hensel, who had stayed at the Vienna
Burgtheater The Burgtheater (; literally: "Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater", originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in ...
for the past year, and they finally married in November 1772 in Oßmannstedt just outside Weimar.


At the Gotha court (1774–1775)

After the palace fire in Weimar in May 1774, Anna Amalia was forced to dismiss the Seyler Company, and they left with a quarter year's wages and a letter of recommendation to Duke Ernest II in
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 ...
. Seyler thus missed
Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...
's arrival at the Weimar court a year later. The Seyler Company remained for one year at the ducal court in Gotha, where Seyler and other of the troupe's members also involved themselves in the broader cultural and social life, and in freemasonry. In Gotha Seyler met the Bohemian composer Georg Anton Benda and commissioned him to write several successful operas, including ''
Ariadne auf Naxos (''Ariadne on Naxos''), Op. 60, is a 1912 opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. The opera's unusual combination of elements of low commedia dell'arte with those of high opera seria points up one of the work's ...
'', ''Medea'' and ''Pygmalion''. At its debut in 1775, ''Ariadne auf Naxos'' received enthusiastic reviews in Germany and afterwards, in the whole of Europe, with music critics calling attention to its originality, sweetness, and ingenious execution. It is widely considered Benda's best work, and inspired
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
.


Leipzig and Dresden (1775–1777)

In 1775 Seyler received the Electoral Saxon privilege as theatre director and performed in
Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
and
Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
, and in 1776 he opened a newly built summer theatre in Dresden. In 1776 Seyler also employed Goethe's close friend Friedrich Maximilian Klinger as a playwright and secretary, and he remained with the company for two years. Klinger had followed Goethe to Weimar earlier in the same year, and at the time he joined the Seyler Company he had just broken with Goethe under unclear circumstances. He brought with him the manuscript of his recently finished play ''
Sturm und Drang (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto-Romanticism, Romantic movement in German literature and Music of Germany, music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity an ...
'', which was first performed by the Seyler Company on 1 April 1777 in Leipzig; the play gave its name to the artistic movement ''
Sturm und Drang (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto-Romanticism, Romantic movement in German literature and Music of Germany, music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity an ...
''.


On the road again (1777–1779)

In 1777 Seyler relinquished the Electoral Saxon privilege and his company took to the road again. Over the next two years the Seyler Company was primarily based in
Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
and
Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
and travelled extensively to
Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
,
Hanau Hanau () is a city in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is 25 km east of Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main and part of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main, Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Its railway Hanau Hauptbahnhof, station is a ma ...
,
Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...
,
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...
and
Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
. On 17 June 1777 Seyler became director of the electoral Komödienhaus at Große Bleiche in Mainz; his ensemble then consisted of around 200 members, including his wife Sophie. Frankfurt became the Seyler Company’s final stop. Reinhard Frost writes that the Seyler Company, with its literarily ambitious program, did not reach the broad audience in Frankfurt, which was accustomed to more popular entertainment. Seyler is nevertheless regarded as the founder of a serious theater tradition in Frankfurt.


Mannheim National Theatre (1779–1781)

When Charles Theodore, the Prince-Elector of the
Electoral Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate was a constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire until it was annexed by the Electorate of Baden in 1803. From the end of the 13th century, its ruler was one of the Prince-electors who elected the Holy Roman Empero ...
, additionally became the Duke of Bavaria in 1777, he moved his court from the Palatine capital of
Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...
to
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
and brought the theatre company of Theobald Marchand with him. In 1778 he instructed the courtier Wolfgang Heribert von Dalberg—the brother of Prince-Elector and Grand Duke
Karl Theodor von Dalberg Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg (8 February 1744 – 10 February 1817) was a Catholic German bishop and statesman. In various capacities, he served as Archbishop of Mainz, Prince of Regensburg, Arch-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire, ...
—to establish a new theatre in Mannheim. At first Dalberg contracted Abel Seyler's theatre company with performing in Mannheim on an occasional basis from 1778 to 1779. In the autumn of 1779 Seyler moved permanently to Mannheim with the remaining members of his theatre company. Several actors who had been affiliated with the Gotha Court Theatre under Konrad Ekhof's direction in the past few years—essentially an offshoot of the Seyler Theatre Company—also joined him; Ekhof himself had died the previous year. The Mannheim National Theatre opened in October 1779 with Seyler as its first artistic directorHis formal title was ''Direktor'', but he was also referred to as ''Regisseur'' and Dalberg as its general administrator.''Intendant'' Some of the actors who worked under Seyler's direction at Mannheim were August Wilhelm Iffland, Johann David Beil and Heinrich Beck. At Mannheim Seyler directed several
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
productions, and left a lasting legacy. His "repertoire in the early Mannheim years still shows the influence of his Hamburg period as well as the legacy of the Weimar/Gotha years." In cooperation with Dalberg he developed the theatre's characteristic style, based on a belief in the need to achieve a balance between a more natural style of playing and a certain nobility and idealisation. In 1778
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
visited the Mannheim theatre, where Dalberg asked him to write a
duodrama A duodrama is a theatrical melodrama for two actors or singers, in which the spoken voice is used with a musical accompaniment for heightened dramatic effect. It was popular at the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th. Closely rela ...
for the Seyler company. Mozart wrote enthusiastically to his father
Leopold Mozart Johann Georg Leopold Mozart (November 14, 1719 – May 28, 1787) was a German composer, violinist, and music theorist. He is best known today as the father and teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and for his violin textbook ''Versuch einer grün ...
: Abel Seyler was forced to leave his position as director of the Mannheim National Theatre in 1781, "after his wife's jealousy had provoked an unfortunate incident;" during a quarrel with his wife's "scheming" student, the 20-year old actress Elisabeth Toscani, the usually level-headed Seyler lost his temper and gave her a slap in the face in response to repeated insolent remarks during theatre rehearsals. A report commissioned by Dalberg noted that Toscani belonged to "the weaker sex" and that Seyler was the director of a theatre company and should be held to a higher standard. In order to "restore the peace" of the theatre Dalberg decided to retire Seyler with a pension. The first performance of
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 ...
's '' The Robbers''—itself inspired by the play '' Julius of Taranto'' by Seyler's son-in-law Johann Anton Leisewitz—took place at the Mannheim National Theatre the year after Seyler left as director.


Final years (1781–1800)

From 1781 to 1783 Seyler was artistic director of the Schleswig Court Theatre, which also performed in
Flensburg Flensburg (; Danish language, Danish and ; ; ) is an independent city, independent town in the far north of the Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. After Kiel and Lübeck, it is the third-largest city in Schleswig-Holstein. Flensburg's ...
,
Husum Husum (, ) is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The town was the birthplace of the novelist Theodor Storm, who coined the epithet "the grey town by the sea". It is also the home of the annual i ...
and
Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...
. In 1783 he established his own troupe based in Altona near Hamburg. From 1 September 1783 to Easter 1784 he was again director of the Comödienhaus theatre in Hamburg; he continued to live in Hamburg until 1787 and was at times a prompter at the theatre, where his wife performed under the direction of Friedrich Ludwig Schröder. From 1787 to 1792 he was again artistic director of the Schleswig Court Theatre. His wife Sophie Seyler died in 1789. Earlier in that year she had published the romantic ''
Singspiel A Singspiel (; plural: ; ) is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera. It is characterized by spoken dialogue, which is alternated with ensembles, songs, ballads, and arias which were often strophic, or folk- ...
'' or opera '' Huon and Amanda'' (or ''Oberon''), inspired by a poem by their friend and collaborator
Christoph Martin Wieland Christoph Martin Wieland (; ; 5 September 1733 – 20 January 1813) was a German poet and writer, representative of literary Rococo. He is best-remembered for having written the first ''Bildungsroman'' (''Geschichte des Agathon''), as well as the ...
. The play, with original music by Carl Hanke, became a success in Hamburg; Hanke had been recruited by Abel Seyler as music director at the Comödienhaus in Hamburg in 1783. A lightly adapted version of Seyler's opera with new music by Paul Wranitzky became the first opera performed by Emanuel Schikaneder's troupe at the Theater auf der Wieden, and established a tradition within Schikaneder's company of fairy-tale operas that was to culminate two years later in
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
's and Schikaneder's opera ''
The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...
''; Sophie Seyler's ''Oberon'' is regarded as one of the primary influences on the plot and characters of ''The Magic Flute''. Musicologist Thomas Bauman describes ''Oberon'' as "an important impulse for the creation of a generation of popular spectacles trading in magic and the exotic. ''
Die Zauberflöte ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...
'' he Magic Flutein particular shares many features with Oberon, musical as well as textual." In 1792 Abel Seyler retired with a pension from
Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel Prince Charles of Hesse-Kassel (, German and ; 19 December 1744 – 17 August 1836) was a cadet member of the house of Hesse-Kassel and a Danish general field marshal. Brought up with relatives at the Danish court, he spent most of his life in ...
, the royal governor of the twin duchies of Schleswig-Holstein. From 1798 he lived as a guest on the estate of the actor, his long-time friend and fellow prominent freemason Friedrich Ludwig Schröder in Rellingen in the
Duchy of Holstein The Duchy of Holstein (; ) was the northernmost state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It originated when King Christian I of Denmark had his County of Holstein-Rendsburg elevated to a duchy ...
, where he died on 25 April 1800 at the age of 69. He was interred in Rellingen on 1 May 1800.


Legacy

Seyler is widely regarded as one of the great theatre principals of 18th century Europe and has been described as "the leading patron of German theatre" in his lifetime. He is credited with introducing
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
to a German language audience, and with promoting the concept of a national theatre in the tradition of
Ludvig Holberg Ludvig Holberg, Baron of Holberg (3 December 1684 – 28 January 1754) was a writer, essayist, philosopher, historian and playwright born in Bergen, Norway, during the time of the Denmark–Norway, Dano–Norwegian dual monarchy. He was infl ...
, the ''
Sturm und Drang (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto-Romanticism, Romantic movement in German literature and Music of Germany, music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity an ...
'' playwrights, and the development of a serious German opera tradition. Already in his lifetime, he was described as "one of German art's most meritorious men." Ludwig Wollrabe called him "a man who made an immortal contribution to Germany's theater and its improvement." He was lauded by contemporaries such as
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (; ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a German philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the dev ...
and
Christoph Martin Wieland Christoph Martin Wieland (; ; 5 September 1733 – 20 January 1813) was a German poet and writer, representative of literary Rococo. He is best-remembered for having written the first ''Bildungsroman'' (''Geschichte des Agathon''), as well as the ...
, who described him as a "man of perception and insight." After his death his daughter Sophie Leisewitz, the wife of the poet Johann Anton Leisewitz, wrote: "It was my happy fortune, out of childish duty, to worship the man whom thousands can only admire." Seyler mostly focused on the artistic, economic and administrative management of his theatrical company; his own lack of a background as an actor, his patrician family and his former profession as a merchant banker, made him stand out among the theatre principals of his era, in a profession that was just starting to gain respectability.
John Warrack John Hamilton Warrack (born 9 February 1928) is an English music critic, writer on music, and oboist. Career Born in London, Warrack is the son of Scottish conductor and composer Guy Warrack and Jacynth Mary Ellerton. He was educated at Winches ...
noted that: :The success of Abel Seyler's company in the post-war years was rooted in his business acumen, coupled with a flair for attracting talent, but he would not have flourished without the greater respect beginning to be accorded the travelling theatre companies in the new climate of interest in drama and hence in dramatic music. The Danish critic Knud Lyne Rahbek highlighted the fact that while he had never been an actor himself, he demonstrated a great enthusiasm for and refined knowledge of the arts. The actor August Wilhelm Iffland who worked under Seyler's direction said: :His experience, his knowledge guided and shaped many artists. We learned much from his directing, his fine, conscientious, honest but never bitter criticism. Unwavering was his place between the
proscenium A proscenium (, ) is the virtual vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor itself, which serves as the frame ...
and the first coulisse. It was praise, encouragement, reward seeing him there, a warning censure when he pocketed his lorgnette, a punishment when he left his place. His theatrical legacy eventually overshadowed the dubious reputation he had earned as a banker in his younger years.


Freemasonry

Like many of his collaborators, Seyler was a
freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
. He joined freemasonry in London in 1753, became a member of the Absalom lodge in Hamburg in May 1755, and was involved with freemasonry until his death. Abel Seyler and Konrad Ekhof, along with other members of the Seyler Company, founded the first masonic lodge in
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 ...
. The founding took place on 25 June 1774 in the Gasthof Zum Mohren, on the occasion of the Nativity of St John the Baptist, and Ekhof became the first
Worshipful Master In Craft Freemasonry, sometimes known as Blue Lodge Freemasonry, every Masonic lodge elects or appoints Masonic lodge officers to execute the necessary functions of the lodge's life and work. The precise list of such offices may vary between the j ...
and Seyler the First Warden. The lodge was originally named ''Cosmopolit'', but was renamed ''Zum Rautenkranz'' in honour of the ducal family shortly after. Its members included several members of the Seyler Company, such as Seyler, Ekhof and the composer Georg Anton Benda; the reigning Duke Ernest II of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and the Duke's brother, Prince August of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg joined shortly after its establishment, as did many members of the nobility and local elite of Gotha. The lodge became a centre of the spiritual and cultural life of Gotha, and a stronghold of enlightenment and
philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...
. Many members of Seyler's lodge, notably the Duke and his brother, also became members of the Illuminati, and the Duke later offered that society's founder
Adam Weishaupt Johann Adam Weishaupt (; 6 February 1748 – 18 November 1830)''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'Vol. 41, p. 539van Dülmen, Richard. ''Der Geheimbund der Illuminaten''. Stuttgart: Frommann-Holzboog, 1975.Stauffer, Vernon. '' ew Englandand the B ...
asylum in Gotha.


Personal life

Abel Seyler was married in his first marriage from 1754 to Sophie Elisabeth Andreae (1730–1764), the daughter of the wealthy Hanoverian court pharmacist Leopold Andreae (1686–1730) and Katharina Elisabeth Rosenhagen (died 1752). Her parents were already deceased and her only close relative was her older brother and only sibling, the court pharmacist J.G.R. Andreae, who became a noted Enlightenment natural scientist. The wedding took place in Hanover and Abel and Sophie Elisabeth had two sons and a daughter: Abel Seyler (the Younger), who became court pharmacist in Celle and who was a member of the Illuminati; L.E. Seyler, a prominent Hamburg banker and politician; and Sophie Seyler, who married the ''Sturm und Drang'' poet Johann Anton Leisewitz, the author of '' Julius of Taranto''. After the death of his first wife in 1764, their children were raised in Hanover by their maternal uncle. By several accounts J.G.R. Andreae was a highly erudite, generous and kind man who became a loving father figure to his sister's children; he had no children of his own. The children since had limited or no contact with their father, and all lived more conventional lives than him. They inherited the Andreae pharmacy from their uncle on his death in 1793. In 1772 Abel Seyler married the actress Friederike Sophie Seyler (formerly married Hensel). They had no children. The principal founder of biochemistry and molecular biology,
Felix Hoppe-Seyler Ernst Felix Immanuel Hoppe-Seyler (''né'' Felix Hoppe; 26 December 1825 – 10 August 1895) was a German physiologist and chemist, and the principal founder of the disciplines of biochemistry and molecular biology. He had discovered Yeast nuclei ...
, was an adopted son of his grandson. Seyler was a godfather of Jacob Herzfeld (born 1763), known as the first Jewish stage actor in Germany, when the latter converted to Christianity in 1796.


Notes


References


Literature

*Paul Schlenther:
Abel Seyler
" In: ''
Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB; ) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences between 1875 and 1912 in 56 volumes, printed in Lei ...
'' (ADB). Vol. 34, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1892, pp. 778–782. *Andrea Heinz:
Seyler, Abel
" In: ''
Neue Deutsche Biographie (''NDB''; Literal translation, literally ''New German Biography'') is a Biography, biographical reference work. It is the successor to the ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, Universal German Biography). The 27 volumes published thus far co ...
'' (NDB). Vol. 24, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2010, , p. 300. * William Grange,
Seyler, Abel
," ''Historical Dictionary of German Theater'',
Scarecrow Press Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an American independent academic publishing company founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns ...
, 2006, *Wilhelm Kosch, "Seyler, Abel", in ''Dictionary of German Biography'', eds. Walther Killy and Rudolf Vierhaus, Vol. 9, Walter de Gruyter, 2005, , p. 308 *"Abel Seyler," in
Stanley Sadie Stanley John Sadie (; 30 October 1930 – 21 March 2005) was a British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1980), which was published as the first edition ...
(ed.), ''
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...
'', vol. 17, p. 209, 1980 * Dirk Böttcher, ''Hannoversches Biographisches Lexikon: Von den Anfängen bis in die Gegenwart'' * Thomas Bauman, "New directions: the Seyler Company" (pp. 91–131), in ''North German Opera in the Age of Goethe'',
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...
, 1985 * Thomas Bauman, ''Music and Drama in Germany: A Traveling Company and Its Repertory, 1767–1781'', PhD dissertation on the Seyler Theatre Company,
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, 1977 *''Magazin zur Geschichte des deutschen Theaters'', 1773, VI, *Rudolf Schlösser: ''Vom Hamburger Nationaltheater zur Gothaer Hofbühne''. Nendeln/Liechtenstein: Kraus, 1978. Originally published in Hamburg, 1895. *Adrian Kuhl: "Abel Seyler." In Silke Leopold (ed.), ''Lexikon Oper'', J.B. Metzler, 2017, * * * *"Seyler." In:
Allgemeines Theater-Lexikon oder Encyklopädie alles Wissenswerthen für Bühnenkünstler, Dilettanten und Theaterfreunde
', Vol. 6, pp. 338–339 * Gustav Friedrich Wilhelm Großmann:
Briefe an Hrn K ..... in L ..... die Seilerische Bühne in Dresden betreffend
', Gerlach, 1775 *''Friedrichs Theaterlexikon'' *''Deutsches Theater-Lexikon'' *Pies, Eike: ''Prinzipale: Zur Genealogie des deutschsprachigen Berufstheaters vom 17. bis 19. Jahrhundert''. Ratingen/Kastellaun/Düsseldorf 1973. *''Lexikon der deutschen Schauspieler'', Vol. 8, No. 2 *C. Bernd Sucher: ''Theaterlexikon'' *Trilse: ''Theaterlexikon''


External links

*

in the ''Weber Gesamtausgabe'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Seyler, Abel Swiss theatre directors German theatre directors Swiss bankers Merchant bankers 18th-century Swiss businesspeople 18th-century German businesspeople German Freemasons People from Liestal Sturm und Drang Opera in Germany Seyler theatrical company Swiss people of Italian descent 1730 births 1800 deaths
Abel Abel ( ''Hébel'', in pausa ''Hā́ḇel''; ''Hábel''; , ''Hābēl'') is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within the Abrahamic religions. Born as the second son of Adam and Eve, the first two humans created by God in Judaism, God, he ...