KLINGEMANN, AUGUST ERNST

(1777-1831)

Manager, director. Klingemann sought to imitateJohann Wolfgang Goetheby 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 anddramaturg. When he became manager of the Braunschweig National Theater in 1818 Klingemann began building an outstanding ensemble, which by 1821 includedEmil Devrient. Klingemann's interest in and productions ofHeinrich von Kleistmarked 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'sFaust, Part 1in its entirety.