Friedrich Dahn (born 18 April 1811 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

– 9 December 1889 in

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 ...

) was a German actor and director.

Early life

At the request of his family, Dahn began to study theology at the university of his hometown. Already during his studies, he was interested in the stage and occasionally appeared on private amateur stages. After he had finished his studies without a degree he made his debut in 1829 under

Karl Friedrich Cerf Karl Friedrich Cerf (27 February 1771, Unter-Eisenheim-on-the-Main, Landkreis Würzburg, Germany - 6 November 1845, Berlin) was a German theatrical manager. Cerf was born Jewish but embraced Christianity when very young. He had to support his ...

at the Royal City Theatre. Later he was engaged as a "youthful lover" at the

Municipal Theatre Wroclaw A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

Personal life

When in 1831 the actor

Gustav Emil Devrient Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

moved from

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 ...

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 ...

, Dahn was appointed successor to the Hamburg City Theatre. In Hamburg, Dahn married on 15 April 1833, the actress

Constanze Le Gaye Constanze is a feminine given name related to Constance (given name), Constance. It is borne by: * Constanze Backes, German opera and concert soprano * Constanze Blum (born 1972), German cross-country skier * Constanze Engelbrecht (1950–2000), Ge ...

and had with her two sons, Felix (1834–1912) and

Ludwig Ludwig may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ludwig (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Ludwig (surname), including a list of people * Ludwig von Koopa, a character in Mario (the game) Arts and entertai ...

(1843–1898) and a daughter. The marriage was quite unhappy and the two divorced in 1850 again. In 1834, Dahn was brought to the Royal Court Theatre in Munich, where he remained engaged until the end of his life. There he married his second wife, the actress and colleague Marie Dahn-Hausmann.

Death

At the age of 78, Friedrich Dahn died in Munich on 9 December 1889, where he found his final resting place.

References

* * Ludwig Eisenberg: ''Großes biographisches Lexikon der deutschen Bühne des 19. Jahrhunderts''. List, Leipzig 1903, S. 173. * Rolf Grashey: ''Die Familie Dahn und das Münchner Hofschauspiel (1833–1899)''. Voß, Leipzig 1932. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dahn, Friedrich 1811 births 1889 deaths German male actors German directors Male actors from Berlin