SONNENTHAL, ADOPLH RITTER VON. Collection of 28 Autograph Letters Signed

(THEATRE)

Austria

1883-1908

Many on letterhead of “Hofburgtheater,” few with addressed envelopes

Adolph Ritter von Sonnenthal was born in Budapest in 1834, the son of a Jewish tailor. By the time of his death in 1909, he was one of the most celebrated figures in Viennese theater, director of the Hofburgtheater of Vienna. In 1881, he was ennobled. Thereafter, despite manifold entreaties by the clergy to convert to Catholicism, Sonnenthal refused to renounce Judaism, consequently, upon the fortieth anniversary of his debut at the Hofburgtheater, the Vienna City Council refused to extend to him the traditional Freedom of the City. See JE, Vol. XI, p. 469; EJ, Vol. XV, cols. 158-159.