Baroness Karoline Jagemann von Heygendorff (25 January 1777, in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

– 10 July 1848, 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 ...

) was a major German tragedienne and singer. Her great roles included Elizabeth in '' Mary Stuart'' (1800) and Beatrice in ''

The Bride of Messina ''The Bride of Messina'' (, ) is a tragedy by Friedrich Schiller; it premiered on 19 March 1803 in Weimar. It is one of the most controversial works by Schiller, due to his use of elements from Greek tragedies (which were considered obsolete at t ...

'' (1803). She is also notable as a

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a female lover of a married man ** Royal mistress * Maîtresse-en-titre, official mistress of a ...

Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Karl August, sometimes anglicised as Charles Augustus (3 September 1757 – 14 June 1828), was the sovereign Duke of Saxe-Weimar and of Saxe-Eisenach (in personal union) from 1758, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach from its creation (as a political u ...

, the father of her three children. Both she and Karl August had their portraits painted by

Heinrich Christoph Kolbe Heinrich Christoph Kolbe (2 April 1771 – 16 January 1836) was a German painter. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. Life Kolbe was born and died in Düsseldorf. After his education at the 'old' Kunstakademie Düssel ...

Life

Henriette Karoline Friedericke Jagemann was the daughter of the scholar and librarian

Christian Joseph Jagemann Christian Joseph Jagemann (1735, Dingelstädt – 5 February 1804, Weimar) was a German scholar, court-advisor and librarian. Life Against his parents' wishes Christian became a monk, entering the Augustinian monastery at Erfurt in 1752. However ...

(1735–1804), and sister of the painter Ferdinand Jagemann (1780–1820). She studied first at the Weimar Princely Free Zeichenschule, where her brother was later a lecturer. From 1790 she trained in acting and singing in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

under August Iffland and Heinrich Beck. She made her debut in 1792 in the title role of the opera ''Oberon – The Fairy King'' by

Paul Wranitzky Paul Wranitzky (Czech: Pavel Vranický; 30 December 1756 – 29 September 1808) was a Moravian-Austrian classical composer. His half brother, Antonín, was also a composer. Life Wranitzky was born in Neureisch ( Nová Říše) in Habsburg Mora ...

at Mannheim's Nationaltheater and was engaged as a court-singer in Weimar in 1797. She and the soprano Henriette Eberwein (1790 - 1849), the tenor Carl Melchior Jakob Moltke, and the bass Karl Stromeier collectively made up the "Weimar

Quartet In music, a quartet (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations of four instruments in chamber music is the string quartet. String quar ...

". She was guest-singer in 1798 at

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 ...

, in 1800 at

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. ...

, and later in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

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

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. In 1809 her lover, Grand Duke Karl August, made her "'' Freifrau'' (Baroness) ''von Heygendorff''" and left her

Heygendorf Heygendorf () is a village and a former municipality in the district Kyffhäuserkreis, in Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it is part of the town Artern Artern () is a town in the Kyffhäuserkreis district, Thuringia, Germany. The for ...

manor. Witnessed by the Grand Duke, their son

Karl 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 Cac ...

was officially granted the Heygendorff title on 16 May 1809 and he and his children entered the Saxon grand-ducal nobility. In the same year Karoline von Heygendorff was made director of the opera and – after

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 Western literature, literary, Polit ...

's retirement from theatre – took over as sole director of the court theatre, from 1824 as ''Oberdirektor''. After Karl August's death in 1828, Karoline retired from the stage and lived out her last years with her son in

Issue with Karl August

# Karl Wolfgang Freiherr von Heygendorff (Weimar, 25 December 1806 – Dresden, 17 February 1895) #August von Heygendorff (Weimar, 10 August 1810 – Dresden, 23 January 1874) #Mariana von Heygendorff (Weimar, 8 April 1812 – 's Gravenhage, 10 August 1836), married on 15 October 1835 to Daniel, Baron Tindal

Bibliography

Karoline Jagemann
in the ''

Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB; ) is one of the most important and comprehensive biographical reference works in the German language. It was published by the Historical Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences between 1875 and 1912 in 56 volumes, printed in Lei ...

'' (Wikisource) * Hans Wahl, Anton Kippenberg, ''Goethe und seine Welt'', Insel-Verlag, Leipzig 1932

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jagemann, Karoline 1777 births 1848 deaths 18th-century German actresses 18th-century German women opera singers 19th-century German actresses German stage actresses German baronesses German opera directors Female opera directors German women singers Mistresses of German royalty Actors from Weimar 19th-century German women opera singers Jagemann family Musicians from Weimar Actresses from Thuringia