Hagemann, Carl Christian

Intendant

Born: 22.09.1871 in Harburg (Elbe)

died: 24.12.1945 in Wiesbaden

Hagemann studied civil engineering at the Technical University of Hanover, then theater studies and philosophy in Rostock and Berlin and German studies in Heidelberg. He received his doctorate in 1900 and became a feature editor at the "Rheinisch-Westfälische Zeitung" in Essen in 1901. Hagemann published biographies on Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient (1804-1860) and Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) as well as works on directing, acting and opera, which he later compiled into a handbook on modern stagecraft. Due to his highly acclaimed theater criticism and books, he was appointed director of the Mannheim National Theater in 1906 despite his lack of stage experience. In 1910, he took over the management of the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg. In 1913, he went on a world tour to get to know the theater of foreign peoples, about which he wrote the book "Games of the Peoples". In 1915, he once again became artistic director in Mannheim.

In 1920, the Prussian Minister of Culture Konrad Haenisch appointed him to the Prussian State Theater in Wiesbaden. Hagemann was to turn the former court stage into a "popular and cultural theater". He implemented the staging principles inspired by Max Reinhardt, Gustav Mahler and Alfred Roller: The peep-box stage was replaced by a circular horizon with succinct depictions of the action location, and the stage space was designed using color and light. Hagemann thus had a great influence on German theater. In Wiesbaden, he included poets such as Strindberg, Wedekind and Sternheim in the repertoire. He appointed Otto Klemperer as general music director. In his autobiography, he described his experiences in Wiesbaden in the 1920s in detail and characterized the audience as one that expected a "pleasant evening" in the theater.

In 1927, he moved to Berlin to work in radio. In 1930, he received a teaching position at the Institute of Theater Studies at Berlin University. In 1942, Hagemann returned to Wiesbaden. In 1945, he was appointed artistic director by the "Emergency Community of Members of the Deutsches Theater", which was supposed to rebuild the theater. In October, the American military government withdrew the license granted to him for this purpose without justification and appointed Richard Payer as artistic director.