University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Faculty Publications and Creative Activity, School Theatre and Film, Johnny Carson School of of Theatre and Film 2004 "Oskar Blumenthal and the Lessing Theater in Berlin, 1888-1904" William Grange Prof. Dr. University of Nebraska,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/theatrefacpub Part of the German Language and Literature Commons, and the Theatre History Commons Grange, William Prof. Dr., ""Oskar Blumenthal and the Lessing Theater in Berlin, 1888-1904"" (2004). Faculty Publications and Creative Activity, School of Theatre and Film. 11. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/theatrefacpub/11 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Theatre and Film, Johnny Carson School of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications and Creative Activity, School of Theatre and Film by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Oskar Blumenthal and the Lessing Theater in Berlin, 1888-1904 William Grange University of Nebraska Lincoln, Nebraska USA 2 Abstract Oskar Blumenthal (1852-1917) was Berlin’s most feared theatre critic in the early years of the new German Reich. He had the audacity of referring to Goethe as “an egghead” who had no understanding of what made plays effective for audiences, and in other critiques he ridiculed Kleist, Hebbel, and other “important” playwrights—prompting an adversary publicly to call him a “one-man lynch mob.” In the 1880s Blumenthal himself began writing plays, and he was so successful that many self-appointed cultural guardians accused him of damaging the German theatre beyond repair.