Josefine Gallmeyer

Josefine Gallmeyer (27 February 1838 in Leipzig – 3 February 1884 in Vienna) was an Austrian actress and theatre director of German origin.

Josefine Gallmeyer, photo by Friedrich Wendling
Bust of Josefine Gallmeyer on her tombstone
Josefine Gallmeyer's grave

Life

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

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.

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.

Gallmeyer was known 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 in Vienna on 3 February 1884 at the age of 46.

Her grave of honor is located in the Vienna Central Cemetery (group 32 A, number 17). In 1928, the Gallmeyergasse in Döbling was named after her.

Selected roles
Josefine Gallmeyer
Josefine Gallmeyer

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 (ADB) (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
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