Page:The Cambridge History of American Literature, v4.djvu/175

 The German Theatre 587 Frau aus dem badisch-pfdlzischen Feldzuge by Mathilde Giesler-Anneke, the ardent woman suffragist ; Ldnger als ein Menschenleben in Missouri, by Gert Gobel ; and similarly auto- biographical writings of Friedrich Munch, Philip Schaff, H. Bornstein, and Carl Heinzen. Pioneers in the search for his- torical records of the Germans in the United States were Fried- rich Kapp, Oswald Seidensticker, and H. A. Rattermann, the authors of many instructive monographs. A concluding paragraph may well be devoted to the in- stitution which in German-speaking communities upholds the standard of the spoken language — the theatre. The German drama has been performed in the original language continuously in New York City since 1853, though the beginnings go back as far as 1840 or earlier. When in 1866 Dawison, the greatest German actor of his day, came to the United States he received offers from two rival German theatres in New York. He accepted an extraordinarily liberal inducement from the manager of the Stadttheater, Otto Hoym, who for ten years was the leader in German theatrical ventures. Dawison's great rdles were Wallenstein, Franz Moor, OtheUo, Shylock, and Hamlet, and the reputation that he established was not clouded by the successes of many subsequent visiting stars. After Hoym's retirement Adolf Neuendorff, a man of high ideals, founded the Germania Theater, beginning in 1872. He im- ported a stock company of superior talent, including Heinrich Conried, Leon Wachsner, and Mathilde Cottrelly, all three destined to become prominent also as managers. Conried had a period of very great popularity in the rdles of Franz Moor, Mor- timer, Just, Gringoire, and Dr. Klaus. In 1 879-1 880 the Thalia Theater was opened as a rival to the Germania, and for a number of years both theatres played to crowded houses, thanks to the high tide of German immigration in the early eighties. No expense was spared by the rivals in their efforts to offer superior attractions. Karl Sontag was the star of first magnitude at the Germania, Marie Geistinger at the Thalia. At this period the classical German drama, the comedy, the farce, the operetta were all performed with popular and artistic success. Then Neuendorff ventured too far. He left a theatre with a seating capacity of three thousand and leased Wallack's on Broadway, then the largest and finest theatre available.