Klingemann, August Ernst

(1777-1831)

   Manager, director. Klingemann sought to imitate Johann Wolfgang Goethe by becoming a theater manager with intellectual aspirations. He studied at Jena under Friedrich von Schlegel and other esteemed professors, working periodically in his native Braunschweig as a teacher and dramaturg. When he became manager of the Braunschweig National Theater in 1818 Klingemann began building an outstanding ensemble, which by 1821 included Emil Devrient. Klingemann's interest in and productions of Heinrich von Kleist marked him as a unique manager in the 1820s, though his enterprise went bankrupt in 1826. When the Braunschweig theater was reconstituted in 1828, he was hired to direct, and in 1829 he staged the first production of Goethe's Faust, Part 1 in its entirety.