Max Martersteig (11 February 1853 – 3 November 1926) was a German actor, theatre director and writer.
Life
Born in Weimar, Martersteig began his acting training with Otto Devrient. He made his stage debut in 1873 as Charles VII in The Maid of Orleans. This was followed by engagements in Rostock, Frankfurt an der Oder (1875-1876), Weimar (1876–1879), Mainz (1879-1880), Aachen (1880-1881) and Kassel (1882-1885). In 1885, he became head director and artistic director of the theatre in Mannheim. In 1890, he left Mannheim and went to Riga where he was theatre director until 1896. In 1905, he was director of the Stadttheater (state theatre) in Cologne and then in Leipzig until 1918.[1]
He was also active as a playwright and theatre historian. In 1904, his work The German Theatre in the 19th Century was published, which is considered fundamental.[2]
Martersteig was married to the actress Gertrud Eysoldt, and their son was the conductor and composer Leo Eysoldt.[3]
Martersteig died in Cologne at the age of 73. His gravesite is in Cologne's Melaten Cemetery. The barely legible gravestone features a depiction of a Death Genius and bears a dedicatory inscription.[4]
In 1968, Martersteigstraße was named after him in Köln-Seeberg.[5]
Works
Im Pavillon 1878
Jelta u. Ruben 1881
Aus Hessens Vorzeit 1884
Der Schauspieler, ein künstlerisches Problem[6] 1893 (new edition 1900)
Giovanni Segantini. Bard, Marquardt & Co., Berlin 1903
Das deutsche Theater im neunzehnten Jahrhundert. Eine kulturgeschichtliche Darstellung 1904, 2nd edition 1924
Das Abendbuch 1927
Werner von Kuonefalk, A.G. Liebeskind publisher, Leipzig, 1886
