Josefine Gallmeyer

Josefine Gallmeyer (27 February 1838 – 3 February 1884) was an Austrian actress and theatre director of German origin.^[1]

Josefine Gallmeyer
Portrait by Friedrich Wendling
Born	(1838-02-27)27 February 1838 Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony
Died	3 February 1884(1884-02-03) (aged 45) Vienna, Austria-Hungary
Resting place	Vienna Central Cemetery
Occupations	Actress theatre director
Years active	1853–1884
Known for	Leading stage actress of 19th-century Vienna
Notable work	Aus purem Haß, Sarah und Bernhard

Josefine Gallmeyer's grave

Early life

Gallmeyer was born 27 February 1838 in Leipzig.

She was the illegitimate daughter of the actress Katharina Tomaselli [de] with opera singer Michael Greiner. In 1842, she took the surname of her stepfather, Christian Gallmeyer.

Career

In 1853, at the age of 15, Gallmeyer made her debut at the Brno City Theatre. Thereafter, she was employed by the United German Theatres theatre company in Budapest. However, her contract was terminated without notice after a short time because of disobedience and insubordination.^[2]

Back in Brno, she increasingly appeared as a parodist and was discovered by Johann Nepomuk Nestroy in 1856. After guesting at the Theater in der Josefstadt, Nestroy facilitated Gallmeyer's residency at the Carltheater in Vienna 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 and Timișoara. Friedrich Strampfer, the director of the German State Theatre Timișoara, engaged her there and further facilitated a tour of Germany. There, she guested at the Victoria-Theater in Berlin and at the Königliches Hoftheater in Dresden. 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. There, she achieved her breakthrough with the posse of Ottokar Franz Ebersberg and Karl Costa.

In 1865, she returned to the Carltheater. Jacques Offenbach, 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. In the following years, she performed at the Theater an der Wien, Carltheater, as well as venues in Hamburg, Berlin and Graz.^[2]

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 is located in the Vienna Central Cemetery (group 32 A, number 17).^[3] In 1928, the Gallmeyergasse in Döbling was named after her.

Selected roles

• Marion – Der preußische Landwehrmann und die französische Bäuerin (Karl Haffner)
• Sternenjungfrau – Die Sternenjungfrau (Karl Haffner).
• Therese – Therese Krones (Karl Haffner)
• Christina – La Vie parisienne (Jacques Offenbach)
• Lilly – Ihre Familie
• Desvarennes – Sergius Panin (Georges Ohnet)
• Rosa – Der Verschwender (Ferdinand Raimund).
• Tini – Die elegante Tini (Camillo Walzel)
• Agnes – Eine leichte Person (August Conradi)

Works

Novels

   Aus is’ (1982)

Parodies

   Die Schwestern (1982)

Dramas

   Aus purem Haß (1883)

   Sarah und Bernhard (1884)

Bibliography

• Constantin von Wurzbach: Gallmeyer, Josephine. In Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich. 28. Theil. Kaiserlich-königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1874, p. 340
• Adolph Kohut: Die größten und berühmtesten deutschen Soubretten des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts. Mit ungedruckten Briefen von Josephine Gallmeyer, Marie Geistinger, Ottilie Genée. Bagel, Düsseldorf 1890, 1885.
• Ludwig Eisenberg: Großes biographisches Lexikon der Deutschen Bühne im XIX. Jahrhundert. Published by Paul List, Leipzig 1903, p. 303, (Josephine Gallmeyer on Literature.at.
• Hermann Arthur Lier (1906). "Gallmeyer, Josephine". Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German). Vol. 51. Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot. pp. 739–742.
• E. Döbler: Josefine Gallmeyer. Thesis, University of Vienna 1935.
• Eduard P. Danzky: Die Gallmeyer: der Roman ihres Lebens. Wancura, Wien 1953.
• Blanka Glossy: Josefine Gallmeyer. Wiens größte Volksschauspielerin. Waldhein-Eberle, Vienna 1954.
• "Gallmeyer Josephine". In: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Vol. 1, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1957, p. 395 f. (Direct links to "p. 395", "p. 396")
• Gertrud Doublier (1964). "Gallmeyer, Josephine". Neue Deutsche Biographie (in German). Vol. 6. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot. pp. 53–54. (full text online).

Press reports

• † Josephine Gallmeyer.. In: Neue Freie Presse, 4 February 1884, p. 1 (Online at ANNO)Template:ANNO/Maintenance/nfp und die Folgeseiten 2 und 3
• "Die Auferstehung der 'feschen Pepi'". Die Wochenzeitschrift Wiener Bilder zur Exhumierung Gallmeyers im Oktober 1906
• Die Gallmeyer. Zum 50. Todestag der Künstlerin. In: Wiener Bilder, 4 February 1934, p. 10 (Online at ANNO)Template:ANNO/Maintenance/wrb