Ellen Franz
Ellen Franz ( * May 30, 1839 in Naumburg ( Saale), † March 24, 1923 in Meiningen ), later Baroness Helene von Heldburg, was a pianist, actress and instructor of theater -Eleven.
Life
Ellen Francis was born in 1839 as the daughter of a trade school principal and a Scottish nobleman in Naumburg an der Saale. She grew up in Berlin, where she took piano lessons with Hans von Bülow. By the well-known conductor Cosima Liszt she learned (later Cosima Wagner ), and be both closed and a lifelong close friendship. Then she took acting classes with Frieb Blumauerstraße and Heinrich Marr. Her debut as an actress had Ellen in 1860 in Gotha, then it was in Szczecin, engaged Frankfurt on the Oder, Oldenburg and in Mannheim. Through the Shakespeare translator and director Friedrich von Franz Bodenstedtstraße Ellen came in 1867 at the court theater at Meiningen. There they joined up in 1873 in supporting roles in adolescent specialist. As early as 1868 she became the mistress of Duke Georg II of Saxe -Meiningen, who was also artistic director of the theater and worked on a reform of director's theater. As a celebrated actress Ellen was able to bring a decisive impetus to the reform work of Georg.
On March 18, 1873 she married Duke George II at the Villa Feodora in Bad Love Stone. Because of their bourgeois origin ennobled them the Duke shortly before her marriage to the name and title of Baroness Helene von Heldburg, she no longer wore. She was the third wife of the Duke. In 1878 she was the marriage of George Bernard son -in-law of Charlotte of Prussia, the eldest sister of the later German Emperor William II of the morganatic marriage between Helen and George II William II was so upset that he did not even Meiningen the summer residence palace Altenstein visited.
George II and Helene led together with the director and director Ludwig Chronegk with the " Meininger principles " a profound reform through theater and made the Meiningen Court Theatre world famous. Helene made doing great work in the dramaturgy and was responsible for engagement and recruitment decisions and the training of young Eleven. Her husband, George II led together with Chronegk directed and designed sets and costumes appropriate (see article: Meininger ). Through the friendship of Helene with Cosima Wagner a collaboration of the Meiningen Court Orchestra with Richard Wagner and Johannes Brahms, as well as the commitment of Hans von Bülow was as Kapellmeister.
After the death of George II in 1914, she spent a lot of time on her country estate, the Heldburg castle. From 1918 she lived in the palace " Helen pen", one built for her 1891/92 widow's residence (now the Palais am Prinzenberg ). Helene was buried after her death adjacent to Duke Georg II in a common grave system on the Meininger Park Cemetery. Her estate is located in the State Archives Meiningen.
Works
- Else von Hase- Koehler (Ed.): Fifty years of happiness and suffering. A life in letters from the years 1873 to 1923. 2nd Ed Koehler & Amelang, Leipzig 1926.