Karl Lindau (also Carl Lindau, born Karl Gemperle; 26 November 1853 – 15 January 1934) 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 ...

actor and writer. He excelled in comic roles at 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 ...

, and wrote several plays, librettos for operettas and songs.

Career

Karl Gemperle was born in

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. ...

, the son of Anton Gemperle, a

coffee substitute Coffee substitutes are non-coffee products, usually without caffeine, that are used to imitate coffee. Coffee substitutes can be used for medical, economic and religious reasons, or simply because coffee is not readily available. Roasted grain ...

manufacturer. His grandfather, the Swiss Johann Baptist Gemperle, had founded the first Viennese surrogate coffee factory. After a technical school education Lindau turned to theatre and made his debut on 20 October 1870 in

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 ...

in the title role of Schiller's ''

Don Carlos ''Don Carlos'' is an 1867 five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the 1787 play '' Don Karlos, Infant von Spanien'' (''Don Carlos, Infante of Spain'') by Fried ...

''. Engagements followed at the ''Deutsches Theater'' in Pest, in

Frankfurt am Main 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 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 1879 again in Graz and in 1880 briefly in

Olomouc Olomouc (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants, making it the Statutory city (Czech Republic), sixth largest city in the country. It is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region. Located on the Morava (rive ...

. During this time, Lindau slowly turned from classical roles to comic roles. In 1880, he toured successfully through the United States and Canada with Josefine Gallmeyer, Wilhelm Knaack and Franz Tewele. In 1881, he was finally engaged by director

Franz Steiner Franz Baermann Steiner (12 October 1909 – 27 November 1952) was an ethnologist, polymath, essayist, aphorist, and poet. He was familiar, apart from German, Yiddish, Czech, Greek and Latin, with both classical and modern Arabic, Hebrew, Tu ...

as a comedian at the

and was a member of the ensemble until 1901. His roles in operettes and Wiener Possen made him a darling of the audience. He played Süffle in the premiere of Zeller's ''

Der Vogelhändler ' (''The Bird Seller'') is an operetta in three acts by Carl Zeller with a libretto by Moritz West and Ludwig Held based on Victor Varin's and de Biéville's ' (1857). In 1891, Helen Tretbar translated the original German libretto into English an ...

'' on 10 January 1891. From 1876, Lindau was also active as a writer for the stage. In total he wrote more than 100 full-length plays, including ''s'', farces and

libretti A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major l ...

for operettas, some of which became very popular. Together with Leopold Krenn (1850–1930), he wrote farces (') such as ''Heißes Blut'' (''Hot Blood'', 1892), ''Ein armes Mädel'' (''A Poor Girl'', 1893) and ''Der Nazi'' (1895). In their operettas, Krenn and Lindau provided parade roles for Alexander Girardi, such as Korporal Kratz in ''Der Fremdenführer'', with music by

Carl Michael Ziehrer Carl Michael Ziehrer (more rarely spelled Karl Michael Ziehrer) (2 May 1843 – 14 November 1922) In the 8th edition the article title changed without comment to Ziehrer, Carl Michael. was an Austrian composer. In his lifetime, he was one of the ...

. Lindau also translated French comedies into German. Lindau died in Vienna.

Works

Lindau wrote several librettos for operettas: * 1899: '' Die Landstreicher, Operette in zwei Akten und einem Vorspiele''. Libretto with Leopold Krenn. Music by

. (premiere 26 July 1899) * 1900: ''Der Schelm von Bergen. Komisch-romantische Operette in 3 Akten''. Libretto with Konrad Loewe. Music by Alfred Oelschlegel. * 1902: ''Der Fremdenführer. Operette in einem Vorspiel und drei Akten''. Libretto with Leopold Krenn. Music by Carl Michael Ziehrer. * 1903: ''. Operette in drei Akten''. Libretto with . Music by Ernst Reiterer "after

Josef Strauss Josef Strauss (20 August 1827 – 22 July 1870) was an Austrian composer. He was born in Mariahilf (now Vienna), the son of Johann Strauss I and Maria Anna Streim, and brother of Johann Strauss II and Eduard Strauss. His father wanted him to cho ...

motives". (premiere: 9 May 1903) * 1904: ''Die Eisjungfrau. Operette in 2 Akten''. Libretto with Julius Wilhelm. Music by Josef Hellmesberger (after Gustave Adolph Kerker). * 1904: ''Wien bei Nacht. Burleske in 1 Akt''. Libretto with Julius Wilhelm. Music by Josef Hellmesberger. * 1904: ''Jung Heidelberg. Operette in 3 Akten''. Libretto with Leopold Krenn. Music by Ernst Reiterer nach Motiven von

Karl Millöcker Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl of Austria, last Austrian Emperor * Karl (footballer) (born 1993), Karl Cach ...

. (UA: 9 July 1904) * 1905: ''Frauenherz. Operette in 3 Akten''. Libretto (after the French). Music by Josef Strauss, arranged by Ernst Reiterer. * 1905: ''Die Schützenliesel. Operette in 3 Acten''. Libretto with

Leo Stein Leo Stein (May 11, 1872 – July 29, 1947) was an American art collector and critic. He was born in Allegheny City (now in Pittsburgh), the older brother of Gertrude Stein. He became an influential promoter of 20th-century paintings. Educatio ...

. Music by

Edmund Eysler Edmund Samuel Eysler (12 March 1874 – 4 October 1949), was an Austrian composer. Biography Edmund Eysler was born in Vienna to a merchant family. He was supposed to enter the engineering profession, but his acquaintance with Leo Fall led h ...

. * 1905: ''Der Schnurrbart. Operette in 3 Akten''. Libretto with Leo Stein. Music by . * 1906: ''1001 Nacht. Fantastische Operette in einem Vorspiel und zwei Akten''. Libretto with Leo Stein. Music by

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an List of Austrian composers, Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well ...

, edited by Ernst Reiterer. (UA: 27 October 1907) * 1906: ''Künstlerblut. Operette in 1 Vorspiel und 2 Akten''. Libretto with Leo Stein. Music by Edmund Eysler. * 1907: ''Monte Carlo. Operette in 3 Akten''. Libretto with F. Antony (nach einem Stoff von Heribert Hülgerth). Music by Ludwig Roman Chmel. * 1910: '' Lord Piccolo'' (with Carl Lindau),

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

in 2 acts composed by Henri Berény; premiered Vienna, Johann Strauss Theater, 9 January 1910 * 1911: ''Die romantische Frau. Operette in 3 Akten''. Libretto with Bela Jenbach (after a comedy by Ernst Wichert). Music by Charles Weinberger. * 1911: ''Vielliebchen. Operette in drei Akten''. Libretto with

Rudolf Österreicher Rudolf Österreicher, also ''Rudolf Oesterreicher'', (19 July 1881 in Vienna – 23 October 1966 in idem) was an Austrian writer, librettist, comedy author, author of cabaret texts and biographer. From 1945 to 1947 he was director of the . ...

and . Music by Ludwig Engländer. * 1911: ''Das geborgte Schloß. Operette in 3 Akten''. Libretto with Verő György. Music by Hermann Dostal. * 1911: ''Der Frauenfresser. Operette in 3 Akten''. Libretto with Leo Stein and Eugen Spero. Music by Edmund Eysler. * 1915: ''Der Weltenbummler. Operette in einem Vorspiel und 2 Akten''. Libretto with

Fritz Löhner-Beda Fritz Löhner-Beda (24 June 1883 – 4 December 1942), born Bedřich Löwy, was an Austrian librettist, lyricist and writer. Once nearly forgotten, many of his songs and tunes remain popular today. He was murdered in Auschwitz III Monowitz conce ...

. Music by Richard Fall. * ''Graf Sandor. Operette in 3 Akten''. Libretto with Leopold Krenn. Music by Hermann Dostal.

Filmography

*'' The Vagabonds'', directed by

Luise Fleck Luise Fleck, also known as Luise Kolm or Luise Kolm-Fleck, née Louise or Luise Veltée (1 August 1873–15 March 1950), was an Austrian film director, and has been considered the second ever female feature film director in the world, after Al ...

and

Jacob Fleck Jacob Fleck (8 November 1881 in Vienna as Jacob Julius Fleck – 19 September 1953, also in Vienna) was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, film producer and cameraman. He is noted for his long-standing professional partnership with his wife ...

(Austria, 1916) *''Schützenliesel'', directed by

Rudolf Walther-Fein Rudolf Walther-Fein (20 November 1875 – 1 May 1933) was an Austrian film director and film producer, producer of the Silent era, silent and Sound film, early sound era. He directed the first full sound film to be released in Germany ''It's You I ...

and Rudolf Dworsky (Germany, 1926) *'' The Vagabonds'', directed by

Karel Lamač Karel Lamač (27 January 1897 – 2 August 1952) was a Czech film director, actor, screenwriter, producer and singer. He directed more than 100 films in Czechoslovakia, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Life Lama� ...

(Germany, 1937) *''Frühlingsluft'', directed by

(Germany, 1938) *''Schützenliesel'', directed by

Rudolf Schündler Rudolf Ernst Paul Schündler (17 April 1906, in Leipzig – 12 December 1988, in Munich) was a German actor and director. He played "Karl" in ''The Exorcist'' (1973). After finishing the film ''The Nasty Girl'', Schündler died of a heart attac ...

(West Germany, 1954) *''Die Landstreicher'', directed by Peter Dörre (West Germany, 1968, TV film)

Notes

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lindau, Karl 1853 births 1934 deaths Writers from Vienna Austrian stage actors Austrian male writers Austrian operetta librettists