“ In the last his declamatory powers as a reciter, particularly of Shakespeare’s plays, made a furore, and the poet-actor was given the appointment of manager of the Josefstädter theatre in the last-named city. Though proud of his successes both as actor and reciter, Holtei left Vienna in 1836, and from 1837 to 1839 conducted the theatre in Riga. ”

“ Having served in the Prussian army as a volunteer in 1815, he shortly afterwards entered the university of Breslau as a student of law; but, attracted by the stage, he soon forsook academic life and made his début in the Breslau theatre as Mortimer in Schiller’s Maria Stuart. He led a wandering life for the next two years, appearing less on the stage as an actor than as a reciter of his own poems. In 1821 he married the actress Luise Rogée (1800–1825) , and was appointed theatre-poet to the Breslau stage. He next removed to Berlin, where his wife fulfilled an engagement at the Court theatre. ”

“ Holtei’s Theater appeared in 6 vols. (1867) ; his Erzählende Schriften, 39 vols. (1861–1866) . See M. Kurnick, Karl von Holtei, ein Lebensbild (1880) ; F. Wehl, Zeit und Menschen (1889) ; O. Storch, K. von Holtei (1898) . ”