KONRAD

EKHOF (1720-1778)  , German actor, was born in Hamburg on the 12th of August 1720 . In 1739 he became a member of Johann Friedrich Schonemann's (1704–1782) company in Luneburg, and made his first appearance there on the 15th of January 1740 as Xiphares in Racine's Mithridate . From 1751 the Schonemann company performed mainly in Hamburg and at Schwerin, where Duke Christian Louis II. of Mecklenburg-Schwerin made them comedians to the court . During this period Ekhof founded a theatrical academy, which, though short-lived, was of great importance in helping to raise the standard of German acting and the status of German actors . In 1757 Ekhof left Schonemann to join Franz Schuch's company at Danzig; but he soon returned to Hamburg, where, in con-junction with two other actors, he succeeded Schonemann in the direction of the company . He resigned this position, however, in favour of H . G . Koch, with whom he acted until 1764, when he joined K . E . Ackermann's company . In 1767 was founded the National Theatre at Hamburg, made famous by Lessing's Hamburgische Dramaturgie, and Ekhof was the leading member of the company . After the failure of the enterprise Ekhof was for a time in Weimar, and ultimately became co-director of the new court theatre at Gotha .

This, the first permanently established theatre in

Germany, was opened on the 2nd of October 1775 . Ekhof's reputation was now at its height; Goethe called him the only German tragic actor; and in 1777 he acted with Goethe and Duke Charles Augustus at a private performance at Weimar, dining afterwards with the poet at the ducal table . He died on the 16th of June 1778 . His versatility may be judged from the fact that in the comedies of Goldoni and Moliere he was no less successful than in the tragedies of Lessing and Shakespeare . He was regarded by his contemporaries as an unsurpassed exponent of naturalness on the stage; and in this respect he has been not unfairly compared with Garrick . His fame, however, was rapidly eclipsed by that of Friedrich U . L . 140 Schroder, His literary efforts were chiefly confined to translations from French authors . See H . Uhde, biography of Ekhof in vol. iv. of Der neue Plutarch (1876), and J . Ruschner, K . Ekhofs Leben and Wirken (1872) .

Also H .

Devrient, J . F . Schonenaann and seine Schauspielergesellschaft (1895) .