Karl Ludwig Costenoble, also ''Carl Ludwig Costenoble'', (25 December 1769 – 28 August 1837) was a German stage actor,

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 ...

and writer.

Life

Born in

Herford Herford (; ) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is situated in the cultural region of Ostwestfalen-Lippe (OWL) and the Detmold (administrat ...

, Costenoble was the son of a Reformed cathedral preacher. He eluded his planned appointment as clergyman by fleeing to

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

. He joined several travelling stages as an actor before he got firm engagements in

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

and finally

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 made his debut on 10 March 1801 and played until 1818 as audience favourite, occupying different fields from singer to character actor and comedian. Among his most famous roles were Shylock in Shakespeare's ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan taken out on behalf of his dear friend, Bassanio, and provided by a ...

'' and the monk in Lessings' ''

Nathan the Wise ''Nathan the Wise'' (original German title: , ) is a play by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing from 1779. It is a fervent plea for religious tolerance. It was never performed during Lessing's lifetime and was first performed in 1783 at the Döbbelinsches ...

''. In 1818, Costenoble was appointed to the

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 ...

in Vienna, whose ensemble he belonged to until his death. The celebrated actor was also active as a director here. Costenoble died on one of his numerous tours on his way home to Prague from a guest performance in Hamburg. He was first married with the actress Johanna Steinhäuser. The sculptor Karl Costenoble was a son from his second marriage. The Viennese folk actress

Mizzi Zwerenz Maria Anna "Mizzi" Zwerenz, married name ''Marie Guttmann'' (13 July 1876 in Piešťany – 14 June 1947 in Vienna) was an Austrian opera singer (soprano), theater and film actress. Biography Her father Karl Ludwig Zwerenz (30 September 1850 in ...

was his great-granddaughter. Costenoble was buried in Vienna by a memorial at 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 14A, Number 50), which the sculptor Parschalk executed in the form of an obelisk and which was unveiled in 1910.

Work

Costenoble was also active as a writer. Above all, he wrote numerous comedies and plays which enjoyed great popularity. He also wrote ''Almanac dramatischer Spiele'' (1810-16) and diaries, which were published in 1889 under the title ''Aus dem Burgtheater'' (1818-37).''Aus dem Burgtheater'' (1818-37)
on WWU Münster

Bibliography

BLKÖ:Costenoble, Karl Ludwig
*
''Großes biographisches Lexikon der Deutschen Bühne im XIX. Jahrhundert''
Ludwig Eisenberg: Edition 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, * Alexander von Weilen: ''Carl Ludwig Costenobles Tagebücher von seiner Jugend bis zur Übersiedlung nach Wien''. Gesellschaft für Theatergeschichte, Berlin 1912 * ''Costenoble über Grillparzer. Ungedruckte Notizen aus seinen Tagebüchern''. Selbstverlag Alexander von Weilen, Vienna 1915 * Eleonora Schneck: ''Karl Ludwig Costenobles Leben und Wirken am Wiener Hofburgtheater 1818−1837. Mit neuen Mitteilungen aus seinen Tagebüchern''. Dissertation. Vienna 1934 * * *

Felix Czeike Felix Czeike (21 August 1926 – 23 April 2006) was an Austrian historian and popular educator. He was an author and partly also editor of numerous publications on the history of Vienna and was the director of the . His main work is the six-volume ...

: ''Historisches Lexikon Wien Bd. 1''. Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1992

References

External links

*
Ludwig Costenoble
on Wien Geschichte Wiki *
Costenoble
on LexiconWestäliger Autorinnen und autoren {{DEFAULTSORT:Costenoble, Karl Ludwig 1769 births 1837 deaths People from Herford 19th-century German male actors German male stage actors 19th-century German dramatists and playwrights 19th-century German male writers 19th-century German writers Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery