Ackermann, Konrad Ernst

Ackermann, Konrad Ernst (1712–71), German actor, who in about 1742 joined a travelling company. A handsome man, with a restless vagabond temperament well suited to the life of a strolling player, he played mainly in comedy, and was much admired in such parts as Tellheim in Lessing's Minna von Barnhelm. After a few years he formed his own company, taking with him as his leading lady Sophie Schröder, whom he married after the death of her husband. Together they toured Europe, being joined eventually by Ekhof and by Sophie's son F. L. Schröder, and in 1767 they opened the first and short-lived German National Theatre in Hamburg, the inspiration behind Lessing's Hamburgische Dramaturgie. Schröder left the company, but returned to it shortly before Ackermann's death, after which he took complete control. Ackermann's daughters Dorothea (1752–1821) and Charlotte (1757–75) both played leading roles in his productions. Dorothea retired on her marriage in 1778, but Charlotte committed suicide at 17, reputedly driven to it by the strain of too many new and taxing roles and constant public appearances, for which Schröder was blamed.