Iffland Ring

   A diamond-studded finger ring with the likeness of August Wilhelm Iffland in the center. It first graced the hand of Ludwig Devrient, whom colleagues wanted to designate as the German's theater's foremost actor. Devrient in 1832 bestowed the ring upon the successor he personally designated, who happened to be his nephew Emil Devrient; Emil wore it for the next 30 years. Successors have included Theodor Döring, 1872-1878; Friedrich Haase, 1878-1911; and Albert Bassermann, 1911-1952. Bassermann failed to bestow it before his death, because three men whom he had designated as recipients died soon after he had announced them as his successor. In 1954 the Austrian Educational Ministry took responsibility for and ownership of the ring, naming Werner Krauss the ring's bearer. Krauss likewise was reluctant to name a successor as he approached death in 1959, so the Ministry took on the additional responsibility of designating subsequent recipients. In that year the Ministry named Josef Meinrad its recipient, and in 1996 awarded it to Bruno Ganz.