Burckhard, Max

(1854-1912)

   Intendant. Burckhard was a talented lawyer and imperial administrator who became one of the most important managers in the long history of the Burgtheater in Vienna. Under his administration there (1890-1898), he opened the Burg's repertoire to the work of several playwrights the Burg had neglected or shunned, including Henrik Ibsen, Gerhart Hauptmann, Arthur Schnitzler, and Hugo von Hofmannsthal; Frank Wedekind and Carl Sternheim, however, remained largely unperformed. Burckhard was also responsible for luring some of the best Austrian performers of the era back to Austria after they had been working for lengthy periods elsewhere, including Josef Kainz, Hedwig Bleibtreu, Adele Sandrock, and Friedrich Mitterwurzer. Schnitzler based the likable character of Dr. Winckler in Professor Bernhardt largely on Burckhard.