Carl Balthasar Malß (5 December 1792 – 3 June 1848) was a German poet, architect and

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

Life

Born in Frankfurt, Malß completed a commercial apprenticeship in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

and took part as military volunteer in the camp against France 1814/15. After his return, he became an architect, but then he turned to the theatre. In 1820, his comedy "Die Entführung oder der alte Bürger-Capitain, ein frankfurter Heroisch-Borjerlich Lustspiel in zwei Aufzügen" was printed for the first time and premiered on 13 August 1821 at the Frankfurt theatre with Samuel Friedrich Hassel in the title role. It was the first publicly performed play in Frankfurt dialect and was very successful with the audience. Hassel played the role for over 45 years until 26 March 1866 without the slightest change.

Johann Wolfgang 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 literary, political, and philosoph ...

"highly recommended" the play, which Malß expressed as follows in the preface to the fourth edition published in 1833. "To the hot mer from a reliable source that aach the old Mr. Geethé driwwer laughed". (?)

Ludwig Börne Karl Ludwig Börne (born Judah Löw Baruch; 6 May 1786 – 12 February 1837) was a German-Jewish political writer and satirist, who is considered part of the Young Germany movement. Early life Karl Ludwig Börne was born Loeb Baruch on 6 M ...

called the ' a true masterpiece; the faithfulness to nature cannot be taken any further". The ''Bürgerkapitän'' is still occasionally performed today. Of Malß' six other plays, the ''Frankfurter Lokal-Skizze in vier Bildern'' ''Herr Hampelmann'' oder ''Die Landpartie nach Königstein'', written in 1832, has remained on stage to this day. Both plays already belonged to the repertoire of the

Volkstheater Frankfurt The Volkstheater Frankfurt – Liesel Christ was founded in 1971 in Frankfurt by . In addition to dialectal plays in and classical entertainment plays, it also performed adaptations of classical dramas, contemporary plays and rediscoveries of o ...

which opened in 1971. Because of the great success of the ''Landpartie'', he had the plays ''Herr Hampelmann im Eilwagen'' (Hampelmanniade in Sechs Bilder) and "''Herr Hampelmann sucht ein Logis'' in 1833/34. (Local comedy in five pictures) will follow. They made the term

jumping jack A jumping jack, also known as a star jump and called a side-straddle hop in the US military, is a physical jumping exercise performed by jumping to a position with the legs spread wide. The hands go overhead, sometimes in a clap, and then return ...

proverbial, so that it soon became native to the rest of Germany. Together with Carl Guhr and , Malß was one of the tenants of the

Schauspiel Frankfurt The Schauspiel Frankfurt is the municipal theatre company for plays in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is part of Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt. History In the late 1770s the theatre principal Abel Seyler was based in Frankfurt, and established ...

. In desperation over the financial shortage of the theatre, he took his own life on 3 June 1848. According to other sources, he died of the consequences of his

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

. He was buried at the

Frankfurt Main Cemetery The Frankfurt Main Cemetery (German: ''Hauptfriedhof'') is the largest cemetery in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It was opened in 1828. The cemetery is located directly adjacent to two Jewish cemeteries—the Old Jewish Cemetery ( ...

. Carl Malß died in Frankfurt at the age of 55. A street in the ''Dichterviertel'' in the Frankfurt district Dornbusch was named after Malß. He was a member of the Frankfurt

masonic lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...

"Zur Einigkeit".

Work

* ''Die Entführung oder der alte Bürger-Capitain, ein frankfurter Heroisch-borgerlich Lustspiel in zwei Aufzügen. Nebst erläuterndem Anhang.'' Friedrich, Frankfurt, 1821.
Numerized der 3. Aufl. 1829
* ''Stelldichein im Tivoli, oder Schuster und Schneider als Nebenbuhler. Localposse mit Gesang in zwei Acten.'' Sauerländer, Frankfurt, 1832. Premiere: Frankfurt, 9 April 1832.
Numerized
* ''Herr Hampelmann oder Die Landparthie nach Königstein.'' Varrentrapp, Frankfurt, 1833. Uraufführung: Frankfurt, 26 November 1832.
Numerized der 3. Aufl. 1836
* ''Herr Hampelmann im Eilwagen.'' Hampelmanniade in 6 Bildern. Premiere: Frankfurt, 30 December 1833. * ''Herr Hampelmann sucht ein Logis. Lokal-Lustspiel in fünf Bildern.'' Varrentrapp, Frankfurt, 1834. premiere: Frankfurt, 2 February 1834.
Numerized
* ''Die Landparthie nach Königstein.'' Frankfurter Lokal-Skizze in Vier Bildern. Varrentrapp, Frankfurt, 1834.
Numerized
* ''Die Jungfern Köchinnen. Lokalpose in einem Act.'' Varrentrapp, Frankfurt,. 1837. Premiere: Frankfurt, 16 February 1835.
Numerized der 2. Aufl. 1837
The pieces appeared individually in several editions. A complete edition first appeared in Frankfurt in 1850, including a ''Wörterbuch der Frankfurter Mundart''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Malss, Carl 19th-century German poets 19th-century German male writers German Freemasons 1792 births 1848 deaths Suicides in Germany Writers from Frankfurt German male poets

Life

Further reading

Work

References

External links