Grab von Josefine Gallmeyer auf dem Wiener Zentralfriedhof

Josefine Gallmeyer (27 February 1838 – 3 February 1884) was an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

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 ...

of German origin.

Early life

Gallmeyer was born 27 February 1838 in Leipzig. She was the illegitimate daughter of the actress with opera singer Michael Greiner. In 1842, she took the

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

of her stepfather, Christian Gallmeyer.

Career

In 1853, at the age of 15, Gallmeyer made her debut at the

Brno City Theatre Brno City Theatre (Czech: Městské divadlo Brno; MdB) is a repertoire theatre in Brno, Czech Republic, that focuses on dramatic and music production, mainly musical theatre. The building of the theatre is located on Lidická street in town squar ...

. Thereafter, she was employed by the United German Theatres

theatre company Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

in Budapest. However, her contract was terminated without notice after a short time because of ''disobedience and insubordination''. Back in Brno, she increasingly appeared as a

parodist A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satirical or ironic imitation. Often its subject is an original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, etc), but a parody can also b ...

and was discovered by

Johann Nepomuk Nestroy Johann Nepomuk Eduard Ambrosius Nestroy (; 7 December 1801 – 25 May 1862) was a singer, actor and playwright in the popular Austrian tradition of the Biedermeier period and its immediate aftermath. He participated in the 1848 revolutions an ...

in 1856. After guesting at the

Theater in der Josefstadt The Theater in der Josefstadt is a theater in Vienna in the eighth district of Josefstadt. It was founded in 1788 and is the oldest still performing theater in Vienna. It is often referred to colloquially as simply ''Die Josefstadt''. Following ...

, Nestroy facilitated Gallmeyer's residency at the

Carltheater The Carltheater was a theatre in Vienna. It was in the suburbs in Leopoldstadt at Praterstraße 31 (at that time called Jägerzeile). It was the successor to the Leopoldstädter Theater. After a series of financial difficulties, that theater had ...

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1857. This collaboration proved unfruitful and Gallmeyer returned to her work in Brno. In addition to further performances in Brno, she gave guest performances in

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...

and

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

. Friedrich Strampfer, the director of the

German State Theatre Timișoara The German State Theatre Timișoara () is a publicly funded German-language theatre company in Timișoara, Romania, where a German-language theatre was first mentioned in 1753. The new theatre opened in 1875, but closed again in 1899 as a result o ...

, engaged her there and further facilitated a tour of Germany. There, she guested at the Victoria-Theater 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 ...

and at the Königliches Hoftheater in

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 ...

. In Dresden, her work was cut short after one performance due to erratic behavior. In 1862, Gallmeyer joined Strampfer in Vienna as he became director of the

Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prim ...

. There, she achieved her breakthrough with the

posse Posse is a shortened form of posse comitatus, a group of people summoned to assist law enforcement. The term is also used colloquially to mean a group of friends or associates. Posse may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Posse'' (1975 ...

of Ottokar Franz Ebersberg and Karl Costa. In 1865, she returned to the

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ''The Tales of Hoffmann''. He was a p ...

, from whom she expected a part, refused to write even one line for her. In 1875, she began to direct the Strampfer-Theater with writer Julius Rosen, which closed due to insolvency in 1884. From 1882 to 1883, she managed to rehabilitate her image with a tour of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In the following years, she performed at the

, as well as venues in

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 ...

and

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

Death and legacy

Gallmeyer died on 3 February 1884 in Vienna at the age of 45. She was known for her countless affairs and her extravagance. At times, she was considered very wealthy, but due to her immense charity she was impoverished when she died. Her

grave of honor An ''Ehrengrab'' ( English: 'grave of honor') is a distinction granted by certain German, Swiss and Austrian cities to some of their citizens for extraordinary services or achievements in their lifetimes. If there are no descendants or institut ...

is located in the

Vienna Central Cemetery The Vienna Central Cemetery () is one of the largest Cemetery, cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its significance as Vienna's big ...

(group 32 A, number 17). In 1928, the Gallmeyergasse in

Döbling Döbling () is the 19th Districts of Vienna, district in the city of Vienna, Austria (). It is located in the north of Vienna, north of the districts Alsergrund and Währing. Döbling has some heavily populated urban areas with many residential bui ...

was named after her.

Selected roles

* Marion – ''Der preußische Landwehrmann und die französische Bäuerin'' (

Karl Haffner Karl Haffner (pseudonym), real name Karl Schlechter, (8 November 1804 – 29 February 1876) was a German dramaturge. Life and work Born in Königsberg, Haffner attended the Collegium Fridericianum. Already at the age of 16 he joined a travelli ...

) * Sternenjungfrau – ''Die Sternenjungfrau'' (Karl Haffner). * Therese – '' Therese Krones'' (Karl Haffner) * Christina – '' La Vie parisienne'' (

) * Lilly – ''Ihre Familie'' * Desvarennes – ''Sergius Panin'' (

Georges Ohnet Georges Ohnet (3 April 1848, in Paris – 5 May 1918) was a French novelist. Life and career Ohnet was educated at the Collège Sainte-Barbe and the Lycée Henri-IV, Lycée Napoléon. After the Franco-Prussian War he became editor of the magazi ...

) * Rosa – '' Der Verschwender'' (

Ferdinand Raimund Ferdinand Raimund (born Ferdinand Jakob Raimann; 1 June 1790 – 5 September 1836, Pottenstein, Austria, Pottenstein, Lower Austria) was an Austrian actor and playwright. Life and work Raimund was born in Vienna as a son of Bohemian woodturn ...

). * Tini – ''Die elegante Tini'' (

Camillo Walzel Camillo Walzel (11 February 1829 –17 March 1895) was a German librettist and theatre director, who wrote under the pseudonym F Zell. Life and work Walzel was born in Magdeburg. In his early years, he worked in his father's lithographic factory, ...

) * Agnes – ''Eine leichte Person'' (

August Conradi August Conradi (27 June 1821 – 26 May 1873) was a German organist and composer. Life Born in Berlin, Conradi was originally intended by his father to study theology. Instead, he was enrolled at the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin. There he ...

)

Works

Novels ''Aus is’'' (1982) Parodies ''Die Schwestern'' (1982) Dramas ''Aus purem Haß'' (1883) ''Sarah und Bernhard'' (1884)

Bibliography

Constantin von Wurzbach Constantin Wurzbach Ritter von Tannenberg (11 April 1818 – 17 August 1893) was an Austrian biographer, lexicographer and author. Biography He was born in Laibach, Carniola (present-day Ljubljana, Slovenia).He later went on to complete a cou ...

Gallmeyer, Josephine
In ''

Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich ''Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich'' (English, ''Biographical Encyclopedia of the Austrian Empire'') (abbreviated ''Wurzbach'' from the author's surname) is a 60-volume work, edited and published by Constantin von Wurzbach, cont ...

''. 28. Theil. Kaiserlich-königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1874, * Adolph Kohut: ''Die größten und berühmtesten deutschen Soubretten des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts. Mit ungedruckten Briefen von Josephine Gallmeyer, Marie Geistinger,

Ottilie Genée Ottilie Genée, also Ottilie Fritzsch (4 August 1834 − 14 November 1911), was a German stage actress and operatic soprano. Life Born in Dreden, the sister of Richard Genée and Rudolph Genée made her debut as a child at the Gdańsk City Th ...

''. Bagel, Düsseldorf 1890, 1885. * Ludwig Eisenberg: ''Großes biographisches Lexikon der Deutschen Bühne im XIX. Jahrhundert''. Published by

Paul List Pawel M. List (, ; Odesa, 9 September 1887 – London? 1954) was a Russian Jewish chess player, who emigrated to Britain in 1937 but never took British citizenship. He was born in Odesa, Ukraine (then Russian Empire). He had a separate chess ...

, Leipzig 1903, ,
Josephine Gallmeyer
on Literature.at. * * E. Döbler: ''Josefine Gallmeyer''. Thesis,

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

1935. * Eduard P. Danzky: ''Die Gallmeyer: der Roman ihres Lebens''. Wancura, Wien 1953. * Blanka Glossy: ''Josefine Gallmeyer. Wiens größte Volksschauspielerin''. Waldhein-Eberle, Vienna 1954. * * ; Press reports * und die Folgeseite
2
un
3
* "Die Auferstehung der 'feschen Pepi'". Die Wochenzeitschrift ''Wiener Bilder'' zur Exhumierung Gallmeyers im Oktober 190

*