Wilhelm Kunst (actor)
Wilhelm Kunst (2 February 1799 in Hamburg - 16 or 17 November 1859 in Vienna) was a German actor. He provoked varied reactions. He played heroic roles, roles that required subtlety and excellence in acting produced varied reactions. He did better in lower-rated versions of a particular plot, for example lesser translations of Shakespeare. In the plays he excelled at, for example Otto von Wittelsbach, he was stunned audiences. He first played major roles in Lübeck and worked his way up to the Viennese stage. During his heyday, he did well economically, but ended his career in poverty. In 1825, he married actress Sophie Schröder.
Wilhelm Kunst | |
|---|---|
 Wilhelm Kunst ca. 1850, lithograph by Faustin Herr | |
| Born | 2 February 1799 |
| Died | 17 November 1859 (aged 60) |
| Nationality | German |
| Occupation | Actor |
Sources
- Joseph Kürschner (1883), "Kunst, Wilhelm", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB) (in German), vol. 17, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 389–390
- Carl Schurz, Lebenserinnerungen bis zum Jahre 1852, Berlin: Georg Reimer, 1906 and 1911. (in German) As a student in a gymnasium in Cologne (Chapter 3), Schurz was in the care of a locksmith who took him to plays occasionally. Schurz writes: “The taste of my friend the locksmith ran to knight dramas, and in his eyes there was no greater actor than Wilhelm Kunst who occasionally played guest roles in Cologne. Kunst belonged to that class of muscular actors — a giant of a figure gifted with a powerful body and the voice of a lion. But this voice was capable of more beautiful modulations, and he used his abilities with so much moderation and judgment that, as I believe, he had the reputation of a not insignificant, even a very noteworthy, player. The first piece I saw at the side of my locksmith was Otto von Wittelsbach,[1] at that time a famous knight play in which the hero meets King Philipp of Swabia, who cheats him in a chess game. With an armored fist, the hero strikes the chess board so the pieces fly over the stage, and then strikes the king down with a blow from his sword. Here Kunst was in his element, and his achievement inspired me to the utmost. I also saw him as Wetter vom Strahl in Käthchen von Heilbronn[2] and as Wallenstein in Wallensteins Tod.[3]”
Notes
- A play written in 1781 by Joseph Marius Babo (1756-1822).
- Käthchen von Heilbronn or The Test of Fire was written by Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist (1777-1811).
- The Death of Wallenstein was written in 1798 and 1799, is the third play in Friedrich Schiller's Wallenstein trilogy.
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