Ziegler, Klara

(1844-1909)

   Actress. One of the last exemplars of an antiquated "heroic" acting style by the 1890s, Ziegler ironically began her career in private theaters. Her first "classical" role was Joan of Arc in Friedrich Schiller's Die Jungfrau von Orleans (The Maid of Orleans) in Bamberg, but from there she worked for the private Gärtnerplatz Theater in Munich in soubrette roles. At the Leipzig City Theater in the late 1860s, however, she began to cultivate the orotund, declamatory style for which she became known. Her career reached its peak at the Court Theater of Munich, where she lived for the rest of her life. She amassed a sizable fortune, which she bequeathed to a foundation that opened a theater museum in 1910.