Lindemann, Gustav (1872-1960)

Lindemann, Gustav

ACTOR, DIRECTOR, THEATRE MANAGER (GERMANY)

BORN 24 Aug 1872, Danzig - DIED 6 May 1960, Stephanskirchen-Sonnenholz, Bayern
GRAVE LOCATION Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen: Nordfriedhof, Danziger Strasse (Feld 27, Grab 1-2)

Gustav Lidemann's parents died early and he attended a boarding school in Braunschweig. When he was seventeen years old he joined relatives in Berlin and he completed a business apprenticeship. But he had decided to try his luck as an actor and he was engaged in Tilsit, Oldenburg, Braunschweig and Berlin. When he was 28 years old he became theatre manager in Graudenz and after that in Marienwerder.

In 1903 he met the successful actress Louise Dumont and together they planned planned theatre reforms and they wanted to start their own theate. Attempts in Weimar and Darmstadt failed but the succeeded in Düsseldorf where they opened the Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf on 28 October 1905. In 1907 they married. Their private theatre was a success. They had to close it from 1922 to 1924 but were able to restart it. In the early 1930s they stared cooperations with other theatres. Louise died in 1932 and Lindemann started a cooperation with the Städtischen Schauspiel in Cologne. But the project ended after the nazis came to power.

In 1933 he successfully appeared in "Faust II" in Berlin, but his Jewish origins forced him to retire from the theatre. From 1936 onwards he lived in retirement at his property in Sonnenholz in Bavaria. After the war he returned to Düsseldorf where he participated in cultural life. He died in 1960 in Sonnenholz.

Family
• Wife: Dumont-Lindemann, Louise (1907-1932)

Events

10/5/1928

Kolbenheyer's "Heroische Leidenschaften" is staged at tge Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf. It was a new adaption of the play "Giordano Bruno" that was first performed in 1926. Gustav Lindemann was the director and the scenery was created by Eduard Sturm. The cast included Peter Esser, Ewald Balser, Eleonora von Mendelssohn and Gustav Lindemann. [Balser, Ewald]