Döbbelin, Carl Theophil

(1727-1793)

   Actor, manager. Döbbelin had a substantial career with Caroline Neuber and her troupe, playing the title role in the premiere of Johann Christof Gottsched 's ill-fated The Dying Cato. Döbbelin thereafter formed his own troupe, with which he toured until 1769 when he purchased the Theater am Monjoubiplatz in Berlin. He bought the Theater in der Behrend Strasse in 1775 and in that venue both staged and played the title role in the 1783 premiere of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's Nathan der Weise (Nathan the Wise). Döbbelin's became the first troupe to establish itself permanently in Berlin under a royal concession from the Prussian king in 1786, when the crown designated Döbbelin's troupe the königliche preussische allergnädigste general-priviligierte National-Schauspieler (Royal Prussian and All-Gra-ciously Granted Holders of the National Concession for Acting) and permitted them to perform under court sponsorship at the Französiches Komödienhaus (French Comedy Theater) in Berlin on Gendarme Square.