Carl Brandt
Theatermeister in Berlin
Brandt, Karl
Karl Brandt
distinguished himself, beyond his activities as machinist at the Munich Court Theatre, machinist and theatre master at the Königstädtisches Theater Berlin and head of the mechanical engineering department at the Court Theatre Darmstadt, particularly through the technical equipment of Richard Wagner’s operas, such as the “Ring of the Nibelung” for the opening of the Bayreuth Festival Theatre in 1876. During this period Darmstadt was a kind of reloading point for technical expertise, not least because of the Brandts. It was here that Carl Brandt, like his “teacher” Ignaz Dorn, passed on his technical knowledge to such influential names as Carl Lautenschläger (1843-1906), “inventor” of the revolving stage, and it was also here that Josef Hoffmann came to work on Wagner’s “Ring”.In the Bayreuth projects Carl supported his brother Fritz
Carl Brandt was a pupil of Ignaz Dorn in Darmstadt. He was the technician of the theatre in Darmstadt and his fame spread over Germany. His first important project was for "Oberon" by Weber. He was especially good in quick changes of scene and in pyrotechnics and he often collaborated with his brother Friedrich (1846-1927).Between 1857 and 1881 he modernized the stages of 24 theatres, among them the Hoftheater in Munich and the Victoriatheater in Berlin. Richard Wagner visited him in 1871 in Darmstadt and asked him to do the special effecs for his "Ring des Niebelungen". He would also do the effects for "Parsifal" but he died before it was staged in 1882. His son Fritz took over and for a while Fritz was engaged with Wagner's stepdaughter Daniela.