139. Marie Seebach

Marie Seebach died on August 2, 1897 in St. Moritz. I am one of those who only know the great way in which this artist portrayed Gretchen, Klärchen, Ophelia and Desdemona in the 1960s from theater history and from the enthusiastic accounts of older people. Theater historians report on the rapturous enthusiasm of the audience and the unreserved applause of the best connoisseurs. One gets the idea that Marie Seebach had a way of conceiving and rendering the aforementioned poetic creations that represents a piece of acting art in itself, which was lost at the time when she no longer felt young enough to embody those characters. And only when one hears

the eyewitnesses of her performances speak! How the memory of great artistic experiences flows out of them in words of the most tumultuous enthusiasm! You realize that they have something to talk about that they value as unique in its kind. Marie Seebach's art may have been consigned to history in recent years, but the respect for this great woman was still alive. The impression her personality made was uplifting. I felt this impression when, some time ago in Weimar, she gave a noble, heartfelt speech as she handed over the asylum she had founded for needy actors who had grown old. A life full of beautiful and painful experiences looked out of her eyes. It was a great nature that spoke. I will never forget the words she used to express how she found comfort for the "greatest pain a mother's heart could suffer", the loss of her dearly beloved son, in the foundation she created for the benefit of those of her fellow professionals who were not allowed to secure a carefree old age for themselves.