KADELBURG, GUSTAV

(1851-1925)

Playwright, actor. Kadelburg was a native Hungarian who began his acting career in Leipzig but by age 20 was engaged at the Wallner Theater inBerlinto play bon vivant roles. He then worked inHamburgfor a decade before returning to Berlin at theDeutsches Theaterin 1884 underAdolph L'Arronge, for whom he began directing plays. At the Deutsches, Kadelburg metOskar Blumenthal, who was then a theater critic but was also writing comedies under a pen name. They began a collaboration that resulted in some of the most popular fare to appear on Wilhelmine stages, includingDas zweite Gesicht(Two-Faced, 1890),Die Grossstadtluft(Big City Airs, 1891),Die Orientreise(A Trip to the Orient, 1892), and most popular of all,Im weiss'n Rossi(The White Horse Inn, 1898). Kadelburg brought to the comedies they wrote a sure sense of comic structure and effective timing. Kadelburg's collaboration withFranz von Schönthanwas less extensive but no less successful; theirDie Goldfische(The Goldfish) remained one of the most frequently performed comedies through the Wilhelmine years.