Jacobsohn, Siegfried

(1881-1926)

   Critic. Jacobsohn began his career as principal theater critic for Berlin's Welt am Montag newspaper in 1901, and in that capacity became a vociferous Max Reinhardt supporter. Concomitant with his support for Reinhardt was his founding of the theater weekly Die Schaubühne on 1905, which became one of the most influential theater publications of the late Wilhelmine era. After the collapse of the Wilhelmine Reich in 1918, Die Schaubühne became Die Weltbühne, which expanded its purview to include not only theater but also German politics and culture, with a decidedly left-wing viewpoint. According to Günther Rühle, Jacobsohn in the capacity of editor for that publication continued the critical tradition of Otto Brahm, with an extraordinary gift for written German that combined "insightful passion and arduous wit" (Rühle, Theater für die Republik [Frankfurt: Fischer, 1967], 1169).