Röder, Ferdinand (1807-1880)

Röder, Ferdinand

ACTOR, IMPRESSARIO, THEATRE MANAGER (GERMANY)

BORN 10 Apr 1807, Köln, Nordrhein-Westfalen - DIED 30 Jun 1880, Bad Honnef, Nordrhein-Westfalen
GRAVE LOCATION Bad Honnef, Nordrhein-Westfalen: Alter Friedhof, Am Wolfshof (Röder mausoleum)

Ferdinand Röder was the son of the wealthy cooper Jean Joseph Röder from Cologne. His mother was Anna Getrud Röder-Ophoven. He staeted as an actor on several smaller stages before he worked for the Königsstädter Theater in Berlin and the Theater an der Wien in Vienna (1837). His favourite part was that of Ferdinand in Schiller's "Kabale und Liebe" and some called him 'der schöne Ferdinand'.

From 1840 he worked as a theatre manager. From 1840 to 1843 he worked at the Theatre in Bamberg, from 1843 to 1844 in Regensburg, from 1844 to 1848 in Nuremberg, from 1850 to 1852 in Riga, from 1853 to 1855 in Cologne, from 1855 to 1856 in Poznan (then Posen). He was the technical manager of the Kroll'sche Bühne in Berlin from 1857 to 1858.

In 1856 he founded a theatre magazine and a theatre agency in Berlin. He became one of the most influential people in the German world of theatre and a large part of the contracts between theatres and actors were negotiated by him. He lost the fortune he made with his money several times by his speculations, but he ended up rich.

His first wife was the singer Bertha von Romani. He met his second wife Annette (Anna Elisabeth Schilling-Dubenowsky, 1827-04/10/1893) in 1851. She left her first husband for him and they marrried in 1859 in London. He adopted her daughter, who became well known as the soprano Mila Schröder. After a long illness he died at his country seat at Bad Honnef in 1880.

Related persons
• adopted Röder, Mila

Images
The mausoleum of Ferdinand Röder and Mila Röder at the Alter Friedhof in Bad Honnef, Nordrhein-Westfalen. Picture by Androom (18 Mar 2022)	The mausoleum of Ferdinand Röder and Mila Röder at the Alter Friedhof in Bad Honnef, Nordrhein-Westfalen. Picture by Androom (18 Mar 2022)