Steinrück, Albert

(1872-1929)

   Actor. Steinrück is best recognized as a Kraftkerl, the soft-hearted, thickset strongman type much beloved of German audiences. His breakthrough came playing the title role of Georg Büchner's Woyzeck in 1913 at the Munich Court Theater, the first professional production of that play. Steinrück had begun his career 20 years earlier and had worked steadily since the mid-1890s; he was Max Reinhardt's first Dr. Schön in Frank Wedekind's Erdgeist (Earth Spirit) with Gertud Eysoldt as Lulu at the Kleines Theater in 1902. He remained with Reinhardt until 1908, when he began directing and acting in Munich at the Court Theater. Steinrück was also an accomplished film actor, appearing in more than 80 movies. Steinrück has the odd distinction of having one of the most lavish funeral services in the history of German theater. In fact, his was not a funeral service at all but rather a performance of Wedekind's Marquis of Keith to benefit Steinrück's widow and family, in which dozens of Berlin's greatest stars took part.