History.

Early theatre in New York.

New York did not have a significant theatre presence until about 1750, when actor-managers Walter Murray and Thomas Kean established a resident theatre company at the Theatre on Nassau Street, which held about 280 people. They presented Shakespeare plays and ballad operas such as "The Beggar's Opera". In 1752, William Hallam sent a company of twelve actors from Britain to the colonies with his brother Lewis as their manager. They established a theatre in Williamsburg, Virginia and opened with "The Merchant of Venice" and "The Anatomist". The company moved to New York in the summer of 1753, performing ballad operas and ballad-farces like "Damon and Phillida". The Revolutionary War suspended theatre in New York, but thereafter theatre resumed in 1798, the year the 2,000-seat Park Theatre was built on Chatham Street (now called Park Row). The Bowery Theatre opened in 1826, followed by others.  By the 1840s, P.T. Barnum was operating an entertainment complex in Lower Manhattan. In 1829, at Broadway and Prince Street, Niblo's Garden opened and soon became one of New York's premiere nightspots. The 3,000-seat theatre presented all sorts of musical and non-musical entertainments. In 1844, Palmo's Opera House opened and presented opera for only four seasons before bankruptcy led to its rebranding as a venue for plays under the name Burton's Theatre. The Astor Opera House opened in 1847. A riot broke out in 1849 when the lower-class patrons of the Bowery objected to what they perceived as snobbery by the upper class audiences at Astor Place: "After the Astor Place Riot of 1849, entertainment in New York City was divided along class lines: opera was chiefly for the upper middle and upper classes, minstrel shows and melodramas for the middle class, variety shows in concert saloons for men of the working class and the slumming middle class."  The plays of William Shakespeare were frequently performed on the Broadway stage during the period, most notably by American actor Edwin Booth who was internationally known for his performance as Hamlet. Booth played the role for a famous 100 consecutive performances at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1865 (with the run ending just a few months before Booth's brother John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln), and would later revive the role at his own Booth's Theatre (which was managed for a time by his brother Junius Brutus Booth, Jr.). Other renowned Shakespeareans who appeared in New York in this era were Henry Irving, Tommaso Salvini, Fanny Davenport, and Charles Fechter.

Birth of the musical and post-Civil War.

Theatre in New York moved from downtown gradually to midtown beginning around 1850, seeking less expensive real estate. In the beginning of the 19th century, the area that now comprises the Theater District was owned by a handful of families and comprised a few farms. In 1836, Mayor Cornelius Lawrence opened 42nd Street and invited Manhattanites to "enjoy the pure clean air." Close to 60 years later, theatrical entrepreneur Oscar Hammerstein I built the iconic Victoria Theater on West 42nd Street.  Broadway's first "long-run" musical was a 50-performance hit called "The Elves" in 1857. In 1870, the heart of Broadway was in Union Square, and by the end of the century, many theatres were near Madison Square. Theatres did not arrive in the Times Square area until the early 1900s, and the Broadway theatres did not consolidate there until a large number of theatres were built around the square in the 1920s and 1930s. New York runs continued to lag far behind those in London, but Laura Keene's "musical burletta" "The Seven Sisters" (1860) shattered previous New York records with a run of 253 performances. It was at a performance by Keene's troupe of "Our American Cousin" in Washington, D.C. that Abraham Lincoln was shot. The first theatre piece that conforms to the modern conception of a musical, adding dance and original music that helped to tell the story, is considered to be "The Black Crook", which premiered in New York on September 12, 1866. The production was five-and-a-half hours long, but despite its length, it ran for a record-breaking 474 performances. The same year, "The Black Domino/Between You, Me and the Post" was the first show to call itself a "musical comedy".  Tony Pastor opened the first vaudeville theatre one block east of Union Square in 1881, where Lillian Russell performed. Comedians Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart produced and starred in musicals on Broadway between 1878 ("The Mulligan Guard Picnic") and 1890, with book and lyrics by Harrigan and music by his father-in-law David Braham. These musical comedies featured characters and situations taken from the everyday life of New York's lower classes and represented a significant step forward from vaudeville and burlesque, towards a more literate form. They starred high quality singers (Lillian Russell, Vivienne Segal, and Fay Templeton), instead of the women of questionable repute who had starred in earlier musical forms.  As transportation improved, poverty in New York diminished, and street lighting made for safer travel at night, the number of potential patrons for the growing number of theatres increased enormously. Plays could run longer and still draw in the audiences, leading to better profits and improved production values. As in England, during the latter half of the century, the theatre began to be cleaned up, with less prostitution hindering the attendance of the theatre by women. Gilbert and Sullivan's family-friendly comic opera hits, beginning with "H.M.S. Pinafore" in 1878, were imported to New York (by the authors and also in numerous unlicensed productions). They were imitated in New York by American productions such as Reginald Dekoven's "Robin Hood" (1891) and John Philip Sousa's "El Capitan" (1896), along with operas, ballets and other British and European hits.

1890s and early 1900s.

Charles H. Hoyt's "A Trip to Chinatown" (1891) became Broadway's long-run champion, holding the stage for 657 performances. This would not be surpassed until "Irene" in 1919. In 1896, theatre owners Marc Klaw and A. L. Erlanger formed the Theatrical Syndicate, which controlled almost every legitimate theatre in the US. for the next sixteen years. However, smaller vaudeville and variety houses proliferated, and Off-Broadway was well established by the end of the 19th century.  "A Trip to Coontown" (1898) was the first musical comedy entirely produced and performed by African Americans in a Broadway theatre (largely inspired by the routines of the minstrel shows), followed by the ragtime-tinged "" (1898), and the highly successful "In Dahomey" (1902). Hundreds of musical comedies were staged on Broadway in the 1890s and early 1900s made up of songs written in New York's Tin Pan Alley involving composers such as Gus Edwards, John Walter Bratton, and George M. Cohan ("Little Johnny Jones" (1904), "45 Minutes From Broadway" (1906), and "George Washington Jr." (1906)). Still, New York runs continued to be relatively short, with a few exceptions, compared with London runs, until World War I. A few very successful British musicals continued to achieve great success in New York, including "Florodora" in 1900–01.

1900–1925.

In the early years of the 20th century, translations of popular late-19th century continental operettas were joined by the "Princess Theatre" shows of the 1910s by writers such as P. G. Wodehouse, Guy Bolton, and Harry B. Smith. Victor Herbert, whose work included some intimate musical plays with modern settings as well as his string of famous operettas ("The Fortune Teller" (1898), "Babes in Toyland" (1903), "Mlle. Modiste" (1905), "The Red Mill" (1906), and "Naughty Marietta" (1910)).  Beginning with "The Red Mill", Broadway shows installed electric signs outside the theatres. Since colored bulbs burned out too quickly, white lights were used, and Broadway was nicknamed "The Great White Way". In August 1919, the Actors' Equity Association demanded a standard contract for all professional productions. After a strike shut down all the theatres, the producers were forced to agree. By the 1920s, the Shubert Brothers had risen to take over the majority of the theatres from the Erlanger syndicate.  During this time, the play "Lightnin'" by Winchell Smith and Frank Bacon became the first Broadway show to reach 700 performances. From then, it would go on to become the first show to reach 1,000 performances. "Lightnin"' was the longest-running Broadway show until being overtaken in performance totals by "Abie's Irish Rose" in 1925.

Competing with motion pictures.

The motion picture mounted a challenge to the stage. At first, films were silent and presented only limited competition. By the end of the 1920s, films like "The Jazz Singer" were presented with synchronized sound, and critics wondered if the cinema would replace live theatre altogether. While live vaudeville could not compete with these inexpensive films that featured vaudeville stars and major comedians of the day, other theatre survived. The musicals of the Roaring Twenties, borrowing from vaudeville, music hall, and other light entertainment, tended to ignore plot in favor of emphasizing star actors and actresses, big dance routines, and popular songs. Florenz Ziegfeld produced annual spectacular song-and-dance revues on Broadway featuring extravagant sets and elaborate costumes, but there was little to tie the various numbers together. Typical of the 1920s were lighthearted productions such as "Sally"; "Lady Be Good"; "Sunny"; "No, No, Nanette"; "Harlem"; "Oh, Kay!"; and "Funny Face". Their books may have been forgettable, but they produced enduring standards from George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Vincent Youmans, and Rodgers and Hart, among others, and Noël Coward, Sigmund Romberg, and Rudolf Friml continued in the vein of Victor Herbert. Clearly, the live theatre survived the invention of cinema.

Between the wars.

Leaving these comparatively frivolous entertainments behind and taking the drama a step forward, "Show Boat" premiered on December 27, 1927, at the Ziegfeld Theatre. It represented a complete integration of book and score, with dramatic themes, as told through the music, dialogue, setting and movement, woven together more seamlessly than in previous musicals. It ran for 572 performances.  The 1920s also spawned a new age of American playwright with the emergence of Eugene O'Neill, whose plays "Beyond the Horizon", "Anna Christie", "The Hairy Ape", "Strange Interlude" and "Mourning Becomes Electra" proved that there was an audience for serious drama on Broadway, and O'Neill's success paved the way for major dramatists like Elmer Rice, Maxwell Anderson, Robert E. Sherwood, Clifford Odets, Tennessee Williams, and Arthur Miller, as well as writers of comedy like George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. Classical revivals also proved popular with Broadway theatre-goers, notably John Barrymore in "Hamlet" and "Richard III, "John Gielgud in "Hamlet", "The Importance of Being Earnest" and "Much Ado About Nothing", Walter Hampden and José Ferrer in "Cyrano de Bergerac", Paul Robeson and Ferrer in "Othello", Maurice Evans in "Richard II" and the plays of George Bernard Shaw, and Katharine Cornell in such plays as "Romeo and Juliet", "Antony and Cleopatra", and "Candida".  As World War II approached, a dozen Broadway dramas addressed the rise of Nazism in Europe and the issue of American non-intervention. The most successful was Lillian Hellman's "Watch on the Rhine", which opened in April 1941.

1943–1970.

After the lean years of the Great Depression, Broadway theatre had entered a golden age with the blockbuster hit "Oklahoma!", in 1943, which ran for 2,212 performances. According to John Kenrick's writings on Broadway musicals, "Every season saw new stage musicals send songs to the top of the charts. Public demand, a booming economy and abundant creative talent kept Broadway hopping. To this day, the shows of the 1950s form the core of the musical theatre repertory." Kenrick notes that "the late 1960s marked a time of cultural upheaval. The changes would prove painful for many—including those behind the scenes, as well as those in the audience." Of the 1970s, Kenrick writes: "Just when it seemed that traditional book musicals were back in style, the decade ended with critics and audiences giving mixed signals."  Ken Bloom observed that "The 1960s and 1970s saw a worsening of the area [Times Square] and a drop in the number of legitimate shows produced on Broadway." By way of comparison, in the 1950 to 1951 season (May to May) 94 productions opened on Broadway; in the 1969 to 1970 season (June to May) there were 59 productions (fifteen were revivals). In the twenties, there were 70–80 theaters, but by 1969, there were 36 left.

1980s.

In the spring of 1982, Joe Papp, the theatrical producer and director who established The Public Theater, led the "Save the Theatres" campaign. It was a not-for-profit group supported by the Actors Equity union to save the theater buildings in the neighborhood from demolition by monied Manhattan development interests. Papp provided resources, recruited a publicist and celebrated actors, and provided audio, lighting, and technical crews for the effort.  At Papp's behest, in July 1982, a bill was introduced in the 97th Congress, entitled "H.R.6885, A bill to designate the Broadway/Times Square Theatre District in the City of New York as a national historic site". The legislation would have provided certain US government resources and assistance to help the city preserve the district. Faced with strong opposition and lobbying by Mayor Ed Koch's Administration and corporate Manhattan development interests, the bill was not passed. The Save the Theatres campaign then turned their efforts to supporting establishment of the Theater District as a registered historic district. In December 1983, Save the Theatres prepared "The Broadway Theater District, a Preservation Development and Management Plan", and demanded that each theater in the district receive landmark designation. Mayor Ed Koch ultimately reacted by creating a Theater Advisory Council, which included Papp.

2020.

As a result of COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Broadway theaters closed March 12, 2020, shuttering 16 shows that had or were in the process of opening. The shutdown was extended to September 6, and then to Labor Day. The Tony Awards have been postponed as well.

Description.

Schedule.

Although there are some exceptions, shows with open-ended runs generally have evening performances Tuesday through Saturday, with a 7:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. "curtain". The afternoon "matinée" performances are at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays and at 3:00 p.m. on Sundays. This makes for an eight-performance week. On this schedule, most shows do not play on Monday and the shows and theatres are said to be "dark" on that day. The actors and the crew in these shows tend to regard Sunday evening through Monday evening as their weekend. The Tony award presentation ceremony is usually held on a Sunday evening in June to fit this schedule.  In recent years, some shows have moved their Tuesday show time an hour earlier to 7:00 pm. The rationale for this move was that since fewer tourists take in shows midweek, Tuesday attendance depends more on local patrons. The earlier curtain makes it possible for suburban patrons to get home by a reasonable hour after the show. Some shows, especially those produced by Disney, change their performance schedules fairly frequently depending on the season. This is done in order to maximize access to their target audience.

Producers and theatre owners.

Most Broadway producers and theatre owners are members of The Broadway League (formerly "The League of American Theatres and Producers"), a trade organization that promotes Broadway theatre as a whole, negotiates contracts with the various theatrical unions and agreements with the guilds, and co-administers the Tony Awards with the American Theatre Wing, a service organization. While the League and the theatrical unions are sometimes at loggerheads during those periods when new contracts are being negotiated, they also cooperate on many projects and events designed to promote professional theatre in New York.  Of the four non-profit theatre companies with Broadway theatres, three (Lincoln Center Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, and Roundabout Theatre Company) belong to the League of Resident Theatres and have contracts with the theatrical unions which are negotiated separately from the other Broadway theatre and producers. (Disney also negotiates apart from the League, as did Livent before it closed down its operations.) Second Stage Theatre is the non-profit owner of the Helen Hayes Theatre but is not a member of the League of Resident Theatres. However, generally, shows that play in any of the Broadway houses are eligible for Tony Awards (see below).  The majority of Broadway theatres are owned or managed by three organizations: the Shubert Organization, a for-profit arm of the non-profit Shubert Foundation, which owns seventeen theatres; the Nederlander Organization, which controls nine theatres; and Jujamcyn, which owns five Broadway houses.

Personnel.

Both musicals and stage plays on Broadway often rely on casting well-known performers in leading roles to draw larger audiences or bring in new audience members to the theatre. Actors from movies and television are frequently cast for the revivals of Broadway shows or are used to replace actors leaving a cast. There are still, however, performers who are primarily stage actors, spending most of their time "on the boards", and appearing in television and in screen roles only secondarily. As Patrick Healy of "The New York Times" noted:  Broadway once had many homegrown stars who committed to working on a show for a year, as Nathan Lane has for "The Addams Family". In 2010, some theater heavyweights like Mr. Lane were not even nominated; instead, several Tony Awards were given for productions that were always intended to be short-timers on Broadway, given that many of their film-star performers had to move on to other commitments.  According to Mark Shenton, "One of the biggest changes to the commercial theatrical landscape—on both sides of the Atlantic—over the past decade or so is that sightings of big star names turning out to do plays has gone up; but the runs they are prepared to commit to has gone down. Time was that a producer would require a minimum commitment from his star of six months, and perhaps a year; now, the 13-week run is the norm."  The minimum size of the Broadway orchestra is governed by an agreement with the musicians' union (Local 802, American Federation of Musicians) and The Broadway League. For example, the agreement specifies the minimum size of the orchestra at the Minskoff Theatre to be 18, while at the Music Box Theatre it is 9.

Runs.

Most Broadway shows are commercial productions intended to make a profit for the producers and investors ("backers" or "angels"), and therefore have open-ended runs (duration that the production plays), meaning that the length of their presentation is not set beforehand, but depends on critical response, word of mouth, and the effectiveness of the show's advertising, all of which determine ticket sales. Investing in a commercial production carries a varied degree of financial risk. Shows need not make a profit immediately; should they make their "nut" (weekly operating expenses), or lose money at a rate acceptable to the producers, they may continue to run in the expectation that, eventually, they will pay back their initial costs and become profitable. In some borderline situations, producers may ask that royalties be temporarily reduced or waived, or even that performers—with the permission of their unions—take reduced salaries, in order to prevent a show from closing. Theatre owners, who are not generally profit participants in most productions, may waive or reduce rents, or even lend a show money in order to keep it running.  Some Broadway shows are produced by non-commercial organizations as part of a regular subscription season—Lincoln Center Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, and Second Stage Theater are the four non-profit theatre companies that currently have permanent Broadway venues. Some other productions are produced on Broadway with "limited engagement runs" for a number of reasons, including financial issues, prior engagements of the performers or temporary availability of a theatre between the end of one production and the beginning of another. However, some shows with planned limited engagement runs may, after critical acclaim or box office success, extend their engagements or convert to open-ended runs. This was the case with 2007's "", 2009's "God of Carnage", and 2012's "Newsies".  Historically, musicals on Broadway tend to have longer runs than "straight" (i.e., non-musical) plays. On January 9, 2006, "The Phantom of the Opera" at the Majestic Theatre became the longest running Broadway musical, with 7,486 performances, overtaking "Cats".

Audience.

Attending a Broadway show is a common tourist activity in New York. The TKTS booths sell same-day tickets (and in certain cases, next-day matinee tickets) for many Broadway and Off-Broadway shows at a discount of 20 to 50%. The TKTS booths are located in Times Square, in Lower Manhattan, and at Lincoln Center. This service is run by Theatre Development Fund. Many Broadway theatres also offer special student rates, same-day "rush" or "lottery" tickets, or standing-room tickets to help ensure that their theatres are as full—and their grosses as high—as possible. According to The Broadway League, total Broadway attendance was 14.77 million in 2018–2019, compared to 13.79 million in 2017–2018. The Broadway League also reports that approximately 66% of all Broadway tickets were purchased by tourists in the 2012–2013 season, an increase of three percent from the 2011–2012 season. By way of comparison, London's West End theatre reported total attendance of 15.5 million for major commercial and grant-aided theatres in central London for 2018. The average age of the Broadway audience in the 2017–18 theater season was 40, the lowest it had been in nearly two decades.

Off-Broadway and US tours.

The classification of theatres is governed by language in Actors' Equity Association contracts. To be eligible for a Tony, a production must be in a house with 500 seats or more and in the Theater District, which are the criteria that define Broadway theatre. Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway shows often provide a more experimental, challenging, and intimate performance than is possible in the larger Broadway theatres. Some Broadway shows, however, such as the musicals "Hair", "Little Shop of Horrors", "Spring Awakening", "Next to Normal", "Rent", "Avenue Q", "In the Heights", "Fun Home", "Dear Evan Hansen", and "Hamilton", began their runs Off-Broadway and later transferred to Broadway, seeking to replicate their intimate experience in a larger theatre.  After, or even during, successful runs in Broadway theatres, producers often remount their productions with new casts and crew for the Broadway national tour, which travels to theatres in major cities across the country. Sometimes when a show closes on Broadway, the entire production, with most if not all of the original cast intact, is relaunched as a touring company, hence the name "Broadway national tour". Some shows may even have several touring companies out at a time, whether the show is still running in New York or not, with many companies "sitting down" in other major cities for their own extended runs.  Smaller cities may attract national touring companies, but for shorter periods of time or they may even be serviced by "bus and truck" tours. These are scaled-down versions of the larger, national touring productions, historically acquiring their name because the casts generally traveled by bus instead of by air, while the sets and equipment traveled by truck. Tours of this type, which frequently feature a reduced physical production to accommodate smaller venues and tighter schedules, often run for weeks rather than months. Some will even play "split weeks", which are half a week in one town and the second half in another. On occasion, they will also play "one-nighters". The production values are usually less lavish than the typical Broadway national tour or national touring production and the actors, while still members of the actor's union, are compensated under a different, less lucrative union contract. The Touring Broadway Awards, presented by The Broadway League, honored excellence in touring Broadway.

Awards.

Broadway productions and artists are honored by the annual Antoinette Perry Awards (commonly called the "Tony Awards", or "Tony") which are given by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League, and which were first presented in 1947. The Tony is Broadway's most prestigious award, comparable to the Academy Awards for Hollywood film productions. Their importance has increased since 1967 when the awards presentation show began to be broadcast on national television. In a strategy to improve the television ratings, celebrities are often chosen to host the show, some with scant connection to the theatre. The most recent Tony Awards ceremony was held on June 9, 2019. Other awards given to Broadway productions include the Drama Desk Award, presented since 1955, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards, first given in 1936, and the Outer Critics Circle Award, initially presented in 1950.

Broadway theatres and current productions.

Upcoming productions.

The following have been announced as future Broadway productions. The theatre in which they will run may not yet be known, or, if known, may be currently occupied by another show.

Broadway theatre, also known simply as Broadway, refers to the theatrical performances presented in the 41 professional theatres, each with 500 or more seats, located in the Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Broadway and London's West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world. While the thoroughfare itself has become eponymous with the district and its collection of 41 theatres, only three of the theatres are physically located on Broadway itself (being the Broadway Theatre, the Palace Theatre, and the Winter Garden Theatre). The rest are located on the numbered cross streets extending from the Nederlander Theatre one block south of Times Square on West 41st Street, north along either side of Broadway to the Vivian Beaumont Theater, located outside of the Theater District on West 65th street, with the highest concentration of theaters located between 42nd Street (Times Square) and 49th Street. While exceptions exist, the term "Broadway theatre" is generally reserved for venues with a seating capacity of at least 500 people, smaller theaters are referred to as off-Broadway (regardless of location), while very small venues (less than 100) are called off-off-Broadway, a term that can also apply to non-commercial or "avant garde" theater, or productions held outside of traditional theater venues.

Unter dem Broadway [] in New York City versteht man das Theaterviertel in Midtown Manhattan am Times Square zwischen der 41. und der 53. Straße und zwischen der Sixth und der Ninth Avenue. In diesem Viertel gibt es 41 große Theater. Ein „großes“ Theater bietet Platz für 500 oder mehr Zuschauer, die meisten Broadwaytheater haben weit über tausend Plätze. Theater im „Theater District“ von Manhattan und in der übrigen City mit weniger als 500 Sitzplätzen werden heute als Off-Broadway- bzw. Off-Off-Broadway-Theater bezeichnet. Broadway-Theater haben üblicherweise kein Repertoiresystem, sondern zeigen jeweils nur ein Musical oder ein Theaterstück, und dieses täglich, auch mehrmals. Die Spieldauer dieser Stücke ist in der Regel nicht festgelegt (Ausnahme: sogenannte „strictly limited runs“), sondern richtet sich nach der Beurteilung durch Kritik und Publikum. Aufgrund der großzügigen Beleuchtung der Straße und des Platzes wird der Broadway auch „The Great White Way“ genannt.


Biography.

Born in Antrodoco, Tedeschini studied at the seminary in Rieti and, together with his fellow theologian Eugenio Pacelli, later to be Pope Pius XII, at the Pontifical Roman Seminary, before being ordained to the priesthood on 25 July 1896. He then served as a seminary professor and canon theologian of the cathedral chapter in Rieti until 1901. Fr. Tedeschini was raised to the rank of Privy Chamberlain of His Holiness on 6 November 1903, and Chancellor of the Secretariat of Briefs in the Roman Curia on 20 October 1908. He became Substitute for General Affairs, or deputy, of the Secretary of State on 24 September 1914.  On 31 March 1921, he became Apostolic Nuncio to Spain and on 30 April 1921 was appointed Titular Archbishop of Naupactus by Pope Benedict XV. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 5 May from Pope Benedict himself, with Archbishop Giovanni Nasalli Rocca di Corneliano and Bishop Agostino Zampini, OSA, serving as co-consecrators, in the Sistine Chapel. During his tenure as nuncio, Tedeschini founded the Spanish Catholic Action. With Spain on the brink of civil war, Pope Pius XI secretly ("in pectore") elevated him to the College of Cardinals on 13 March 1933. His appointment was published in the consistory of 16 December 1935, and he became Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria della Vittoria. He was named Papal Datary on 25 February 1938, and served as a cardinal elector in the 1939 papal conclave that selected Pope Pius XII,

Tedeschini and Pope Pius XII.

Pope Pius XII appreciated in his former fellow student "a very special quality of spirit and heart". He appointed him his own successor as Archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica on 14 March 1939. He was appointed Cardinal Bishop of Frascati on 28 April 1951. In 1950, Pius XII gratefully acknowledged the participation of Tedeschini in preparing the proclamation of the Dogma of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and highlighted his role in the Apostolic Constitution "Munificentissimus Deus". Sharing a special affection for the Virgin Mary, Pope Pius XII asked Tedeschini to be his representative at the centennial celebrations in Lourdes.  He participated in the conclave of 1958, which resulted in the election of Pope John XXIII. Cardinal Tedeschini died from cancer in Rome, at age 86, leaving his entire estate (over $25,000) to his nephews. He is buried in the grotto of St. Peter's Basilica.

External links.

Federico Tedeschini (12 October 1873 – 2 November 1959) was an Italian Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church who served as Papal Datary in the Roman Curia from 1938 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1933 " in pectore" (published 1935) by Pope Pius XI.

Federico Kardinal Tedeschini (* 12. Oktober 1873 in Antrodoco, Provinz Rieti, Italien; † 2. November 1959 in Rom) war ein Kurienkardinal der römisch-katholischen Kirche.


Club career.

Bayer Leverkusen.

Born in Freital, East Germany, Starke did not play football at an early age; instead played handball as a goalkeeper. In addition, he also participated as a long-distance runner in the Spartakiad. It was not before August 1988 that Starke began playing football after Stahl Freital were looking for players.He was assigned as a goalkeeper by the club's trainer. He then joined Dynamo Dresden and Bayer Leverkusen.  Starke made his Bayer Leverkusen debut on 25 August 2000, playing the whole game, in a 2–1 loss against St. Pauli in the first round of the DFB-Pokal, which was his only appearance for the club. Although he spent most of the 2000–01 season playing for the reserve side, Starke was called up to the first team, appearing as an unused substitute for the rest of the season. Despite not appearing in the squad for the UEFA Champions League Final against Real Madrid, Starke revealed that he was given a runner–up medal and said: "Maybe it was simplistic political reasons that I never got used." For the rest of his career at Bayer Leverkusen, Starke continued to remain as a cover behind Hans-Jörg Butt, appearing as an unused substitute and at the same time, he appeared regularly for the Bayer Leverkusen II.  In January 2004, Starke was loaned out to Hamburger SV for the rest of the 2003–04 season. After the club's first choice goalkeeper Stefan Wächter suffered an injury, he made his Hamburger SV debut on 13 March 2004 against Hertha BSC and helped the side keep a clean sheet, in a 2–0 win. Two months later on 1 May 2004, Starke made his second appearance for Hamburger SV, as they lost 6–0 against Werder Bremen. After the match, Uli Hoeneß criticised his performance. This also cost him a chance to be in the Germany U21 squad for the UEFA European Under-21 Championship. By the time he left the club at the end of the 2003–04 season, Starke made two appearances for Hamburger SV.

Paderborn 07.

It was announced that Starke joined Paderborn 07 on 6 January 2006, signing a two–year contract, with Bayer Leverkusen including a buyback clause.  Starke made his Paderborn 07 debut, playing the whole game, in a 1–1 draw against SpVgg Unterhaching on 20 January 2006. He then helped the side keeping four clean sheets in the next four matches. Stark quickly became the first choice goalkeeper for the side and made an impression. He was booked once for giving away a penalty during a match against Alemannia Aachen on 21 April 2006, in which he failed to save a penalty despite winning 3–1. At the end of the 2005–06 season, Starke had made seventeen appearances in all competitions.  Starke started the 2006–07 season well when he kept a clean sheet in the first two league matches against Eintracht Braunschweig and FC Augsburg. Starke continued to be a first choice goalkeeper for the side for most of the 2006–07 season. Since the start of the season, Starke started in every match as a first choice goalkeeper until he suffered a knee injury that saw him missing three matches. Starke returned on 11 March 2007 to the starting line–up and played the whole game in a 3–2 win against Rot-Weiss Essen. He later regained his first choice goalkeeper role for the rest of the 2006–07 season. In that season, Starke made thirty-two appearances in all competitions.

MSV Duisburg.

It was announced on 1 June 2007 that Starke joined MSV Duisburg.  Starke made his MSV Duisburg debut, in a 4–0 win against SV Babelsberg 03 in the first round of the DFB-Pokal. Seven days later on 12 August 2007, he made his league debut for the club, in a 3–1 win against Borussia Dortmund in the opening game of the season. Starke quickly became first choice goalkeeper. In the next two matches against 1. FC Nürnberg and FC Bayern Munich he kept two clean sheets. Starke started in every match since the beginning of the 2007–08 season until he suffered a foot injury that kept him out for a month. On 23 February 2008, Starke returned to the starting line–up and helped the side keep a clean sheet, in a 2–0 win against Arminia Bielefeld. Since returning from injury, he regained his place as the club's first choice goalkeeper for the rest of the season. However, Starke was unable to help the club avoid relegation after losing 3–2 against Bayern Munich on 10 May 2008. In his first season at MSV Duisburg, Starke went on to make thirty–three appearances in all competitions.  In the 2008–09 season, Starke featured for the first four league matches before fracturing his thumb that kept sidelined for a month. Despite returning from injury, he lost his first team place to Marcel Herzog for the next six matches. But Starke made his return to the starting line–up and helped the side keep a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw against FSV Frankfurt on 21 November 2008. This was followed up by keeping two more clean sheets in the next two matches. After he returned from injury, he regained his first team place as a first choice goalkeeper for the rest of the season. Starke, once again, helped the side keep three consecutive clean sheets between 24 April 2009 and 8 May 2009. He was fined 3,000 euros and missed the last game of the season by the German Football Association for displaying a gesture to referee Peter Sippel during a 5–3 win against 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Despite this, Starke made twenty-five appearances in all competitions in the 2008–09 season.  In the opening game of the 2009–10 season, Starke was given the captaincy in absence of Björn Schlicke in a 2–1 win against FSV Frankfurt. Starke started in every match since the beginning of the season until he suffered a strained abdominal in a warm up match against SpVgg Greuther Fürth that saw him missing two matches. On 6 December 2009, he made his return to the starting line-up against Paderborn 07, as they won 3–1. It was announced on 8 January 2010 that Starke was given a captaincy to succeed Björn Schlicke. Starke regained his first team place as the first choice goalkeeper for the rest of the 2009–10 season. For his performance, Starke was voted the club's player of the season. During his time at MSV Duisburg, he was a fan favourite among supporters.

1899 Hoffenheim.

Starke's performance in Duisburg attracted interest from Bundesliga clubs, leading to speculation that he would leave Duisburg. On 30 April 2010, it was announced that Starke joined 1899 Hoffenheim, signing a three-year contract.  Starke made his 1899 Hoffenheim debut in a 4–1 win against Hansa Rostock in the first round of the DFB.Pokal. He later started the next three matches for the side before suffering a calf injury that saw him missing two matches. On 23 September 2010, Starke returned to the first team in a 1–1 draw against 1. FC Köln. He then appeared in the next five matches before suffering a torn muscle that kept him out for months. On 15 January 2011, Starke returned to the starting line–up in a 2–1 loss against Werder Bremen. After his injury he regained his first team place as the club's first choice goalkeeper and quickly made an impression for the side. Starke then captained the side for the first time in his career against Eintracht Frankfurt on 16 April 2011 and kept a clean sheet as TSG 1899 Hoffenheim won 1–0. In his first season at the club, he made twenty-eight appearances in all competitions. For his performance, Starke was nominated for the club's Player of the Year award but lost out to Gylfi Sigurðsson.  At the start of the 2011–12 season, Starke as TSG 1899 Hoffenheim's first choice goalkeeper. He then kept two consecutive clean sheets in the next two matches against Borussia Dortmund and FC Augsburg. Starke started in every match until he suffered a concussion in mid–October which caused him missing one match. In the match against 1. FC Kaiserslautern, he captained the side for the first time in the 2011–12 season, helping the side to 1–1 draw. His second match as captain then came on 10 March 2012, in a 7–1 loss against Bayern Munich. In his second season at the club, he went on to make thirty-six appearances in all competitions.

Bayern Munich.

It was announced on 16 May 2012 that Starke was signed by Bayern Munich on a three-year contract. It came after when TSG 1899 Hoffenheim signed Tim Wiese. Upon leaving TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, he made a statement, thanking both the club and supporters.  However, Starke became a second choice goalkeeper for Bayern Munich behind Manuel Neuer and appeared on the substitute bench for most of the 2012–13 season He made his first appearance for the club on 31 October 2012 during a DFB-Pokal match against 1. FC Kaiserslautern without conceding any goals. Starke's Bundesliga debut for Bayern Munich came in a 1–0 away win at his previous team TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on 3 March 2013, and on his second Bundesliga appearance, in a match against 1. FC Nürnberg on 13 April, he saved a penalty from Timmy Simons with his face. Starke’s third appearance for the club came against SC Freiburg on 27 April 2013, keeping a clean sheet, as they won 1–0, breaking a Bundesliga record with 84 points (which they eventually finished the season with 91). In his first season at Bayern Munich, he was a member of Bayern Munich squad that won the Bundesliga, Champions League and DFB-Pokal. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Starke went on to make four appearances in all competitions.  At the start of the 2013–14 season, Starke made his first appearance of the season against Borussia Dortmund in the DFL-Supercup, where he conceded four goals, in a 4–2 defeat. Starke continued to be a second choice goalkeeper for the side behind Neuer for most of the 2013–14 season. On 23 February 2014, he made his first appearance of the season, in a 4–0 win against Hannover 96. A month later on 29 March 2014, Starke made his third appearance of the season and conceded three goals, as Bayern Munich drew 3–3 against his former club, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. However, he suffered an elbow injury during training that kept him out for the rest of the 2013–14 season. Despite this, Starke was a member of Bayern Munich squad that won the Bundesliga, FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup and DFB-Pokal. In his second season at Bayern Munich, he went on to make three appearances in all competitions.  For the next three seasons at Bayern Munich, Starke became a third choice goalkeeper following an arrival of Pepe Reina and Sven Ulreich. Despite this, it was announced on 17 December 2014 that Starke signed a contract with the club, keeping him until 2016. The next two years saw Starke appointed as a goalkeeper coach for the club’s junior side. He also signed a contract extension with the club at the end of the 2015–16 season.  On 6 May 2017 when Starke played for Bayern Munich for the first time in three years, helping the side keep a clean sheet, in a 1–0 win against Darmstadt 98. In a follow–up match, he made his second appearance for Bayern Munich, in a 5–4 win against RB Leipzig. Starke announced his retirement on 17 May 2017 and played his final official match on 20 May, in a 4–1 win for FC Bayern Munich against SC Freiburg. Despite making three appearances in the 2016–17 season, he, nevertheless, was a member of Bayern Munich squad that won the Bundesliga.  Shortly after, Starke was signed by Bayern as goalkeeping coach coordinator. Due to the injury of Manuel Neuer, Starke was called back to play for Bayern Munich in the pre-season matches of the 2017–18 season. He was called to be in Bayern's UEFA Champions League squad in September 2017. Starke made his return with some fine saves in a 1–0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on 10 December 2017. In a follow–up match against 1. FC Köln, he made his second appearance for the side, keeping another clean sheet, in a 1–0 win. Starke spent the rest of the 2017–18 season as a second choice goalkeeper behind Ulreich, as the club won the league once again.  At the end of the 2017–18 season, Starke retired from professional football for good and went back to his job at the FC Bayern Campus as the goalkeeper coordinator for Bayern's youth teams. In December 2018, it was announced that he was appointed as the club’s assistant goalkeeper coach to Toni Tapalović.

International career.

Starke represented the Germany youth levels. From 2002 to 2004, he was called up to the Germany U21 squad.

Personal life.

His younger brother, Manuel Starke, is a footballer who plays in a midfield position. He comes from a sporting family.  Starke is married and has two children.

Honours.

Bayern Munich

Tom Peter Starke (born 18 March 1981) is a former German football goalkeeper. Starke played for six German Bundesliga clubs throughout his career that lasted for 18 seasons. Starke is currently working as a goalkeeper coordinator for the Bayern Munich youth teams.

Tom Peter Starke (* 18. März 1981 in Freital) ist ein ehemaliger deutscher Fußballtorwart und jetziger Torwarttrainer beim FC Bayern München. Er absolvierte insgesamt 101 Bundesliga- und 102 Zweitligaspiele für Bayer Leverkusen, den Hamburger SV, den SC Paderborn, den MSV Duisburg, die TSG Hoffenheim und den FC Bayern München.


Plot summary.

The unnamed narrator of the story opens with a lengthy commentary on the nature and practice of analytical reasoning, then describes the circumstances under which he first met Dupin during an extended visit to Paris. The two share rooms in a dilapidated old mansion and allow no visitors, having cut off all contact with past acquaintances and venturing outside only at night. "We existed within ourselves alone," the narrator states. One evening, Dupin demonstrates his analytical prowess by deducing the narrator's thoughts about a particular stage actor, based on clues gathered from the narrator's previous words and actions.  During the remainder of that evening and the following morning, Dupin and the narrator read with great interest the newspaper accounts of a baffling double murder. Madame L'Espanaye and her daughter have been found dead at their home in the Rue Morgue, a fictional street in Paris. The mother was found in a yard behind the house, with multiple broken bones and her throat so deeply cut that her head fell off when the body was moved. The daughter was found strangled to death and stuffed upside down into a chimney. The murders occurred in a fourth-floor room that was locked from the inside; on the floor were found a bloody straight razor, several bloody tufts of gray hair, and two bags of gold coins. Several witnesses reported hearing two voices at the time of the murder, one male and French, but disagreed on the language spoken by the other. The speech was unclear, and all witnesses claimed not to know the language they believed the second voice to be speaking.  When a bank clerk named Adolphe Le Bon is arrested even though no evidence exists pointing to his guilt (other than his delivering the gold coins to the two ladies the day before), Dupin becomes intrigued and remembers a service that Le Bon once performed for him. He decides to offer his assistance to "G–", the prefect of police.  Because none of the witnesses can agree on the language the murderer spoke, Dupin concludes they were not hearing a human voice at all. He and the narrator examine the house thoroughly; the following day, Dupin dismisses the idea of both Le Bon's guilt and a robbery motive, citing the fact that the gold was not taken from the room. He also points out that the murderer would have had to have superhuman strength to force the daughter's body up the chimney. He formulates a method by which the murderer could have entered the room and killed both women, involving an agile climb up a lightning rod and a leap to a set of open window shutters. Showing an unusual tuft of hair he recovered from the scene, and demonstrating the impossibility of the daughter being strangled by a human hand, Dupin concludes that an "Ourang-Outang" (orangutan) killed the women. He has placed an advertisement in the local newspaper asking if anyone has lost such an animal, and a sailor soon arrives looking for it. The sailor offers to pay a reward, but Dupin is interested only in learning the circumstances behind the two murders. The sailor explains that he captured the orangutan while in Borneo and brought it back to Paris, but had trouble keeping it under control. When he saw the orangutan attempting to shave its face with his straight razor, imitating his morning grooming, it fled into the streets and reached the Rue Morgue, where it climbed up and into the house. The orangutan seized the mother by the hair and was waving the razor, imitating a barber; when she screamed in fear, it flew into a rage, ripped her hair out, slashed her throat, and strangled the daughter. The sailor climbed up the lightning rod in an attempt to catch the animal, and the two voices heard by witnesses belonged to it and to him. Fearing punishment by its master, the orangutan threw the mother's body out the window and stuffed the daughter into the chimney before fleeing.  The sailor sells the orangutan, Le Bon is released from custody, and G– mentions that people should mind their own business once Dupin tells him the story. Dupin comments to the narrator that G– is "somewhat too cunning to be profound", but admires his ability ""de nier ce qui est, et d'expliquer ce qui n'est pas"" (a quote from "Julie, or the New Heloise" by Jean-Jacques Rousseau: "to deny that which is, and explain that which is not").

Themes and analysis.

In a letter to friend Dr. Joseph Snodgrass, Poe said of "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", "its "theme" was the exercise of ingenuity in detecting a murderer." Dupin is not a professional detective; he decides to investigate the murders in the Rue Morgue for his personal amusement. He also has a desire for truth and to prove a falsely accused man innocent. His interests are not financial and he even declines a monetary reward from the owner of the orangutan. The revelation of the actual murderer removes the crime, as neither the orangutan nor its owner can be held responsible. Poe scholar Arthur Hobson Quinn speculates that later detective stories might have set up M. Le Bon, the suspect who is arrested, as appearing guilty as a red herring, though Poe chose not to.  Poe wrote "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" at a time when crime was at the forefront in people's minds due to urban development. London had recently established its first professional police force and American cities were beginning to focus on scientific police work as newspapers reported murders and criminal trials. "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" continues an urban theme that was used several times in Poe's fiction, in particular "The Man of the Crowd", likely inspired by Poe's time living in Philadelphia.  The tale has an underlying metaphor for the battle of brains vs. brawn. Physical strength, depicted as the orangutan as well as its owner, stand for violence: the orangutan is a murderer, while its owner admits he has abused the animal with a whip. The analyst's brainpower overcomes their violence. The story also contains Poe's often-used theme of the death of a beautiful woman, which he called the "most poetical topic in the world".

Dupin's method.

Poe defines Dupin's method, "ratiocination", using the example of a card player: "the extent of information obtained; lies not so much in the validity of the inference as in the quality of the observation." Poe then provides a narrative example where Dupin explains how he knew the narrator was thinking about the actor Chantilly. Dupin then applies his method to the solving of this crime.  Dupin's method emphasizes the importance of reading and the written word. The newspaper accounts pique his curiosity; he learns about orangutans from a written account by "Cuvier" — likely Georges Cuvier, the French zoologist. This method also engages the reader, who follows along by reading the clues himself. Poe also emphasizes the power of the spoken word. When Dupin asks the sailor for information about the murders, the sailor himself acts out a partial death: "The sailor's face flushed up as if he were struggling with suffocation... the next moment he fell back into his seat, trembling violently, and with the countenance of death itself."

Literary significance and reception.

Poe biographer Jeffrey Meyers sums up the significance of "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" by saying it "changed the history of world literature." Often cited as the first detective fiction story, the character of Dupin became the prototype for many future fictional detectives, including Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot. The genre is distinctive from a general mystery story in that the focus is on analysis. Poe's role in the creation of the detective story is reflected in the Edgar Awards, given annually by the Mystery Writers of America.  "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" also established many tropes that would become common elements in mystery fiction: the eccentric but brilliant detective, the bumbling constabulary, the first-person narration by a close personal friend. Poe also portrays the police in an unsympathetic manner as a sort of foil to the detective. Poe also initiates the storytelling device where the detective announces his solution and then explains the reasoning leading up to it. It is also the first locked room mystery in detective fiction.  Upon its release, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and its author were praised for the creation of a new profound novelty. The Pennsylvania "Inquirer" printed that "it proves Mr Poe to be a man of genius... with an inventive power and skill, of which we know no parallel." Poe, however, downplayed his achievement in a letter to Philip Pendleton Cooke:

Inspiration.

The word "detective" did not exist at the time Poe wrote "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", though there were other stories that featured similar problem-solving characters. "Das Fräulein von Scuderi" (1819), by E. T. A. Hoffmann, in which Mlle. de Scuderi, a kind of 19th-century Miss Marple, establishes the innocence of the police's favorite suspect in the murder of a jeweler, is sometimes cited as the first detective story. Other forerunners include Voltaire's "Zadig" (1748), with a main character who performs similar feats of analysis, themselves borrowed from "The Three Princes of Serendip", an Italian rendition of Amir Khusro's "Hasht-Bihisht".  Poe may also have been expanding on previous analytical works of his own including the essay on "Maelzel's Chess Player" and the comedic "Three Sundays in a Week". As for the twist in the plot, Poe was likely inspired by the crowd reaction to an orangutan on display at the Masonic Hall in Philadelphia in July 1839. Poe might have picked up some of the relevant biological knowledge from collaborating with Thomas Wyatt, with Poe furthermore linking "his narrative with the subject of evolution, especially the studies done by Cuvier", possibly also influenced by the studies conducted by Lord Monboddo, though it has been argued that Poe's information was "more literary than scientific".  The name of the main character may have been inspired from the "Dupin" character in a series of stories first published in "Burton's Gentleman's Magazine" in 1828 called "Unpublished passages in the Life of Vidocq, the French Minister of Police". Poe would likely have known the story, which features an analytical man who discovers a murderer, though the two plots share little resemblance. Murder victims in both stories, however, have their neck cut so badly that the head is almost entirely removed from the body. Dupin actually mentions Vidocq by name, dismissing him as "a good guesser". Another influence might have been

Publication history.

Poe originally titled the story "Murders in the Rue Trianon" but renamed it to better associate with death. "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" first appeared in "Graham's Magazine" in April 1841 while Poe was working as an editor. He was paid an additional $56 for it — an unusually high figure; he was only paid $9 for "The Raven". In 1843, Poe had the idea to print a series of pamphlets with his stories entitled "The Prose Romances of Edgar A. Poe". He printed only one, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" oddly collected with the satirical "The Man That Was Used Up". It sold for 12 and a half cents. This version included 52 changes from the original text from "Graham's", including the new line: "The Prefect is somewhat too cunning to be profound", a change from the original "too cunning to be acute". "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" was also reprinted in Wiley & Putnam's collection of Poe's stories simply called "Tales". Poe did not take part in selecting which tales would be collected.  Poe's sequel to "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" was "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt", first serialized in December 1842 and January 1843. Though subtitled "A Sequel to 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue'", "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt" shares very few common elements with "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" beyond the inclusion of C. Auguste Dupin and the Paris setting. Dupin reappeared in "The Purloined Letter", which Poe called "perhaps the best of my tales of ratiocination" in a letter to James Russell Lowell in July 1844.  The original manuscript of "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" which was used for its first printing in "Graham's Magazine" was discarded in a wastebasket. An apprentice at the office, J. M. Johnston, retrieved it and left it with his father for safekeeping. It was left in a music book, where it survived three house fires before being bought by George William Childs. In 1891, Childs presented the manuscript, re-bound with a letter explaining its history, to Drexel University. Childs had also donated $650 for the completion of Edgar Allan Poe's new grave monument in Baltimore, Maryland in 1875.  "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" was one of the earliest of Poe's works to be translated into French. Between June 11 and June 13, 1846, "" was published in "La Quotidienne", a Paris newspaper. Poe's name was not mentioned and many details, including the name of the Rue Morgue and the main characters ("Dupin" became "Bernier"), were changed. On October 12, 1846, another uncredited translation, renamed "Une Sanglante Enigme", was published in "Le Commerce". The editor of "Le Commerce" was accused of plagiarizing the story from "La Quotidienne". The accusation went to trial and the public discussion brought Poe's name to the attention of the French public.

Adaptations.

"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" has been adapted for radio, film and television many times.

"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in "Graham's Magazine" in 1841. It has been described as the first modern detective story; Poe referred to it as one of his "tales of ratiocination".

Der Doppelmord in der Rue Morgue (auch: "Die Morde in der Rue Morgue"; englisch "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" []) ist eine Kurzgeschichte des amerikanischen Schriftstellers Edgar Allan Poe, die erstmals im April 1841 in der Zeitschrift "Graham’s Magazine" erschien. Sie ist die erste von drei Kurzgeschichten, die sich um den deduktiv analysierenden Detektiv C. Auguste Dupin drehen.


Historical context.

The "Golden Age" of the book of hours in Europe took place from 1350–1480; the book of hours became popular in France around 1400 (Longnon, Cazelles and Meiss 1969). At this time many major French artists undertook manuscript illumination.

Duke of Berry.

John, Duke of Berry, is the French prince for whom the "Très Riches Heures" was made. Berry was the third son of the future king of France, John the Good, and the brother and uncle of the next two kings. Little is known of Berry’s education, but it is certain that he spent his adolescence among arts and literature (Cazelles and Rathofer 1988). The young prince lived an extravagant life, necessitating frequent loans. He commissioned many works of art, which he amassed in his Saint Chapelle mansion. Upon Berry’s death in 1416, a final inventory was done on his estate that described the incomplete and unbound gatherings of the book as the "très riches heures" ("very rich[ly decorated] hours") to distinguish it from the 15 other books of hours in Berry's collection, including the Belles Heures ("beautiful hours") and Petites Heures ("little hours") (Cazelles and Rathofer 1988).

Provenance.

The Très Riches Heures has changed ownership many times since its creation. The gatherings were certainly in Berry's estate on his death in 1416, but after this little is clear until 1485. A good deal is known about the lengthy and messy disposal of Berry's goods to satisfy his many creditors, which was disrupted by the insanity of the king and the Burgundian and English occupation of Paris, but there are no references to the manuscript. It seems to have been in Paris for much of this period, and probably earlier; some borders suggest the style of the Parisian Bedford Master's workshop, and works from the 1410s to the 1440s by the Bedford workshop — later taken over by the Dunois Master — use border designs from other pages, suggesting that the manuscript was available for copying in Paris.  Duke Charles I of Savoy acquired the manuscript, probably as a gift, and commissioned Jean Colombe to complete the manuscript around 1485–1489. Sixteenth-century Flemish artists imitated the figures or entire compositions found in the calendar (Cazelles and Rathofer 1988). The manuscript belonged to Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy (1480–1530), Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands from 1507 to 1515 and again from 1519 to 1530.  After this its history is unknown until the 18th century, when it was given its present bookbinding with the arms of the Serra family of Genoa, Italy.  It was inherited from the Serras by Baron Felix de Margherita of Turin and Milan. The French Orleanist pretender, Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale, then in exile at Twickenham near London, bought it from the baron in 1856. On his return to France in 1871 Aumale placed it in his library at the Château de Chantilly, which he bequeathed to the Institut de France as the home of the Musée Condé.

Recent history.

When Aumale saw the manuscript in Genoa he was able to recognize it as a commission of Berry, probably because he was familiar with a set of plates of other manuscripts of Berry published in 1834, and subsidized by the government of the duke's father, King Louis Philippe I. Aumale gave the German art historian Gustav Friedrich Waagen breakfast and a private view of the manuscript at Orleans House, just in time for a 10-page account to appear in Waagen's "Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain" in 1857, so beginning its rise to fame. He also exhibited it in 1862 to the members of the Fine Arts Club.  The connection with the "très riches heures" listed in the 1416 inventory was made by Léopold Victor Delisle of the Bibliothèque nationale de France and communicated to Aumale in 1881, before being published in 1884 in the "Gazette des Beaux-Arts"; it has never been seriously disputed. The manuscript took pride of place in a three-part article on all of Berry's manuscripts then known, and was the only one illustrated, with four plates in heliogravure. However the manuscript was called the "Grandes Heures du duc de Berry" in this, a title now given to another manuscript, based on its larger page size. The name "Heures de Chantilly" was also used in the next decades.  A monograph with 65 heliogravure plates was published by Paul Durrieu in 1904, to coincide with a major exhibition of French Gothic art in Paris where it was exhibited in the form of 12 plates from the Durrieu monograph, as the terms of Aumale's bequest forbade its removal from Chantilly. The work became increasingly famous, and increasingly reproduced. The first colour reproductions, using the technique of photogravure, appeared in 1940 in the French art quarterly "Verve". Each issue of this lavish magazine cost three hundred francs. In January 1948, the very popular American photo-magazine "Life" published a feature with full-page reproductions of the 12 calendar scenes, at a little larger than their actual size but at very low-quality. Catering to American sensibilities of the time, the magazine censored one of the images by retouching the genitals of the peasant in the February scene. The Musée Condé decided in the 1980s, somewhat controversially, to remove the manuscript completely both from public display and scholarly access, replacing it with copies of a complete modern facsimile. Michael Camille argues that this completes the logic of the reception history of a work that has almost entirely become famous through reproductions of its images, with the most famous images having been seen in the original by only a very small number of people.

Artists.

There has been much debate regarding the identity and number of artists who contributed to the Très Riches Heures.

The Limbourg brothers.

In 1884, Léopold Delisle correlated the manuscript with the description of an item in an inventory drawn up after Berry's death: "several gatherings of a very rich book of hours ["très riches heures"], richly historiated and illuminated, that Pol [Paul] and his brothers made". Delisle's resulting attribution to Paul de Limbourg and his two brothers, Jean and Herman, "has received general acceptance and also provided the manuscript with its name."  The three Limbourg brothers had originally worked under the supervision of Berry’s brother, Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, on a Bible Moralisée and had come to work for Berry after Philip’s death. By 1411, the Limbourgs were permanent members of Berry's household (Cazelles and Rathofer 1988). It is also generally agreed that another of Berry's books of hours, the Belles Heures, completed between 1408 and 1409, can also be attributed to the brothers. It is thought that the Limbourg contribution to the Très Riches Heures was between about 1412 and their deaths in 1416. Documentation from 1416 was found indicating that Jean, followed by Paul and Herman, had died. Jean de Berry died later that year (Cazelles and Rathofer 1988). Apart from the main campaign of illumination, the text, border decorations, and gilding were most likely executed by assistants or specialists who remain unknown.  The choice of castles in the calendar is one factor in the dating of the brothers' contribution. The Château of Bicêtre, just outside Paris, was one of Berry's grandest residences, but does not appear in the calendar. It seems likely that this was because no image had been created by October 1411, when a large mob from Paris looted it and set it on fire in the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War. However the châteaux at Dourdan (April) and Étampes (July) are both shown, although Berry lost them to the Burgundians at the end of 1411, with Étampes being badly damaged in the siege.

Jean Colombe.

Folio 75 of the Très Riches Heures includes Duke Charles I of Savoy and his wife. The two were married in 1485 and the Duke died in 1489, implying that it was not one of the original folios. The second painter was identified by Paul Durrieu as Jean Colombe, who was paid 25 gold pieces by the Duke to complete certain canonical hours (Cazelles and Rathofer 1988). There were some miniatures which were incomplete and needed filling in, for example, the foreground figures and faces of the miniature illustrating the Office of the Dead, known as the "Funeral of ".  There are other subtle differences between the miniatures created by the Limbourgs and Colombe. Colombe chose to set large miniatures in frames of marble and gold columns. His faces are less delicate, with more pronounced features. He also used a very intense blue paint that is seen in the landscape of some miniatures. Colombe is worked in his own style without attempting to imitate that of the Limbourgs (Cazelles and Rathofer 1988). In folio 75 he followed the Limbourgs by including a depiction of one of his patron's castles in the Duchy of Savoy in the landscape background.

The Intermediate Painter.

The "intermediate painter", also called the Master of the Shadows, as shadows are an element of his style, is often thought to be Barthélemy van Eyck (strictly the miniaturist known as the Master of René of Anjou, who is now normally identified with the documented painter Barthélemy van Eyck) who would probably have been at work in the 1440s. Other scholars put his work as early as the 1420s, though there is no documentation for this. At any rate, the intermediate artist is assumed to have worked on the manuscript sometime between 1416 and 1485. Evidence from the artistic style, as well as the details of costume, suggests that the Limbourgs did not paint some of the calendar miniatures. Figures in the miniatures for January, April, May, and August are dressed in styles from 1420. The figures strolling in October are dressed in a sober fashion indicative of the mid-fifteenth century. It is known that the gatherings fell into hands of King Charles VII after Berry's death, and it is assumed that the intermediate painter is associated with his court (Cazelles and Rathofer 1988).  Catherine Reynolds, in an article of 2005, approached the dating of the "intermediate painter"'s work through the borrowings from it visible in the work of other Parisian illuminators, and placed it in the late 1430s or at the start of the 1440s. This is inconveniently early for what she describes as the "generally accepted" identification with Barthélemy van Eyck, and in any case she detects a number of stylistic differences between van Eyck and the "intermediate painter." Jonathan Alexander sees no stylistic need to hypothesize an intermediate painter at all.

Attribution of the calendar miniatures.

The artists of the calendar miniatures have been identified as follows (Cazelles and Rathofer 1988):  Pognon gives the following breakdown of the main miniatures in the Calendar, using more cautious stylistic names for the artists:  In addition Pognon identifies the "pious painter" who painted many of the religious scenes later in the book during the initial campaign. The "courtly", "rustic" and "pious" painters would probably equate to the three Limbourg brothers, or perhaps other artists in their workshop. There are alternative analyses and divisions proposed by other specialists.

Function.

A breviary consists of a number of prayers and readings in a short form, generally for use by the clergy. The book of hours is a simplified form of breviary designed for use by the laity where the prayers are intended for recital at the canonical hours of the liturgical day. Canonical hours refer to the division of day and night for the purpose of prayers. The regular rhythm of reading led to the term "book of hours".(Cazelles and Rathofer 1988)  The book of hours consists of prayers and devotional exercises, freely arranged into primary, secondary and supplementary texts. Other than the calendar at the beginning, the order is random and can be customized for the recipient or region. The Hours of the Virgin were regarded as the most important, and therefore subject to the most lavish illustration. The Très Riches Heures is rare in that it includes several miracles performed before the commencement of the passion (Cazelles and Rathofer 1988).

Calendar gallery.

Fuller descriptions are available at a University of Chicago website.

Technique.

Vellum.

The parchment or vellum used in the 206 folios is fine quality calfskin. All bi-folios are complete rectangles and the edges are unblemished and therefore must have been cut from the centre of skins of sufficient size. The folios measure 30 cm in height by 21.5 cm in width, although the original size was larger as evidenced by several cuts into the miniatures. The tears and natural flaws in the vellum are infrequent and almost go unnoticed (Cazelles and Rathofer 1988).

Illustrations.

The ground colors were moistened with water and thickened with either gum Arabic or tragacanth gum. Approximately ten shades are used besides white and black. The detailed work required extremely small brushes and probably a lens (Longnon, Cazelles and Meiss 1969).

Contents.

The contents of the book are typical of those of a book of hours, though the quantity of illumination is extremely unusual.

Stylistic analysis.

The Limbourg brothers had artistic freedom but worked within a framework of the religious didactic manuscript. Several artistic innovations by the Limbourg brothers can be noticed in the Très Riches Heures. In the October miniature, the study of light was momentous for Western painting (Cazelles and Rathofer 1988). People were shown reflected in the water, the earliest representation of this type of reflection known thus far. Miniature scenes had new informality, with no strong framing forms at the edges. This allowed for continuity beyond the frame of view to be vividly defined. The Limbourgs developed a more naturalistic mode of representation and developed portraiture of people and surroundings. Religious figures do not inhabit free open space and courtiers are framed by vegetation. This is reminiscent of a more classical representation (Longnon, Cazelles and Meiss 1969). Some conventions used by the Limbourgs, such as a diaper background or the portrayal of night, were influenced by artists such as Taddeo Gaddi. These conventions were transformed completely into the artist's unique interpretation (Longnon, Cazelles and Meiss 1969).  Manion offers a stylistic analysis of the psalter specifically. The psalters offer a systematic program of illuminations corresponding to the individual psalms. These images are linked together, but are not in the numerical order of the psalter. This emphasizes the idea of the abbreviated psalter, where each psalm is illustrated once (Manion 1995). The miniatures are not modeled on any specific visual or literary precedence when compared with other fourteenth century psalters. The manuscript offers a literal interpretation of the words and lacks a selection of more personal prayers. This emphasizes the didactic use of the book of hours (Manion 1995).

The Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry () or Très Riches Heures (), is the most famous and possibly the best surviving example of manuscript illumination in the late phase of the International Gothic style. It is a book of hours: a collection of prayers to be said at the canonical hours. It was created between and 1416 for the extravagant royal bibliophile and patron John, Duke of Berry, by the Limbourg brothers. When the three painters and their sponsor died in 1416, possibly victims of plague, the manuscript was left unfinished. It was further embellished in the 1440s by an anonymous painter, who many art historians believe was Barthélemy d'Eyck. In 1485–1489, it was brought to its present state by the painter Jean Colombe on behalf of the Duke of Savoy. Acquired by the Duc d'Aumale in 1856, the book is now MS 65 in the Musée Condé, Chantilly, France.

Das Stundenbuch des Herzogs von Berry (französisch "Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry" bzw. kurz "Très Riches Heures") ist das berühmteste illustrierte Manuskript des 15. Jahrhunderts. Es handelt sich um ein ausgesprochen reichhaltig verziertes Stundenbuch, das 208 Blätter mit 21,5 cm Breite und 30 cm Höhe enthält, von denen etwa die Hälfte ganzseitig bebildert sind. Wegen dieser prächtigen Ausstattung und der kunstvollen Ausführung zählt das Buch zu den größten Meisterwerken der Buchmalerei. Insbesondere die Kalenderblätter besitzen zudem einen hohen dokumentarischen Wert für die Kenntnis der Lebensformen und Anschauungen der damaligen Zeit. Das Originalmanuskript befindet sich heute im "Musée Condé" im Schloss Chantilly, ist jedoch, außer nach Voranmeldung für Fachgelehrte, nur als Faksimile zu besichtigen.


Life and career.

Margaret O'Brien was born Angela Maxine O'Brien; her name was later changed following the success of the film "Journey for Margaret" (1942), in which she played the title role. Her father, Lawrence O'Brien, a circus performer, died before she was born. O'Brien's mother, Gladys Flores, was a well-known flamenco dancer who often performed with her sister Marissa, also a dancer. O'Brien is of half-Irish and half-Spanish ancestry. She was raised Catholic.

Film.

O'Brien made her first film appearance in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's "Babes on Broadway" (1941) at the age of four, but it was the following year that her first major role brought her widespread attention. As a five-year-old in "Journey for Margaret" (1942), O'Brien won wide praise for her quite convincing acting style, unusual for a child of her age. By 1943, she was considered a big enough star to have a cameo appearance in the all-star military show finale of "Thousands Cheer". Also In 1943, at the age of seven, Margaret co-starred in "You, John Jones," a "War Bond/Effort," short film, with James Cagney and Ann Sothern (playing their daughter), in which she dramatically recited President Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address." She played Adèle, a young French girl, and spoke and sang all her dialogue with a French accent in "Jane Eyre" (1943).  Arguably her most memorable role was in "Meet Me in St. Louis" (1944), opposite Judy Garland. As Tootie Smith, the feisty but fragile little sister of Judy Garland, she was a bright point, especially in her musical numbers with Garland and during a Halloween sequence in which she confronts a grouchy neighbor. For her performance, she was awarded a special juvenile Oscar in 1944.  Margaret and June Allyson were known as "The Town Criers" of MGM. "We were always in competition: I wanted to cry better than June, and June wanted to cry better than me. The way my mother got me to cry was if I was having trouble with a scene, she'd say, 'why don't we have the make-up man come over and give you false tears?' Then I'd think to myself, 'they'll say I'm not as good as June,' and I'd start to cry."  Her other successes included "The Canterville Ghost" (1944), "Our Vines Have Tender Grapes" (1945), "Bad Bascomb" (1946) with Wallace Beery, and the first sound version of "The Secret Garden" (1949). She played Beth in the 1949 MGM release of "Little Women", but she was unable to make the transition to adult roles.  O'Brien later shed her child star image in 1958 by appearing on the cover of "Life" magazine with the caption "The Girl's Grown", and was a mystery guest on the TV panel show "What's My Line?". O'Brien's acting appearances as an adult have been sporadic, mostly in small independent films and occasional television roles. She has also given interviews, mostly for the Turner Classic Movies cable network.

Television.

O'Brien gave television credit for helping her to change her public image. In an interview in 1957, when she was 20, she said: "The wonderful thing about TV is that it has given me a chance to get out of the awkward age -- something the movies couldn't do for me. No movie producer could really afford to take a chance at handing me an adult role."  On December 22, 1957, O'Brien starred in "The Young Years" on "General Electric Theater". She played the role of Betsy Stauffer, a small-town nurse, in "The Incident of the Town in Terror" on television's ""Rawhide". She appeared in an episode of Wagon Train in 1958." She made a guest appearance on a 1963 episode of "Perry Mason" as Virginia Trent in "The Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe." In 1967, she made a guest appearance on the World War II TV drama "Combat!". Also, in a 1968 two-part episode of "Ironside" ("Split Second to an Epitaph") O'Brien played a pharmacist who (quite the opposite of her usual screen persona) was involved in drug theft and was accessory to attempted murder of star Raymond Burr's "Ironside". Another rare television outing was as a guest star on the popular "Marcus Welby, M.D." in the early 1970s, reuniting O'Brien with her "Journey for Margaret" and "The Canterville Ghost" co-star Robert Young.  In 1991, O'Brien appeared in "Murder, She Wrote", season 7, episode "Who Killed J.B. Fletcher?", reuniting O'Brien with her "Tenth Avenue Angel" co-star Angela Lansbury.

Academy Award.

While O'Brien was growing up, her awards were always kept in a special room. One day in 1954, the family's maid asked to take O'Brien's Juvenile Oscar and two other awards home with her to polish, as she had done in the past. After three days, the maid failed to return to work, prompting O'Brien's mother to discharge her, requesting that the awards be returned. Not long after, O'Brien's mother, who had been sick with a heart condition, suffered a relapse and died. In mourning, 17-year-old O'Brien forgot about the maid and the Oscar until several months later when she tried to contact her, only to find that the maid had moved and had left no forwarding address.  Several years later, upon learning that the original had been stolen, the Academy promptly supplied O'Brien with a replacement Oscar, but O'Brien still held on to hope that she might one day recover her original Award. In the years that followed, O'Brien attended memorabilia shows and searched antique shops, hoping she might find the original statuette, until one day in 1995 when Bruce Davis, then executive director of the Academy, was alerted that a miniature statuette bearing O'Brien's name had surfaced in a catalogue for an upcoming memorabilia auction. Davis contacted a mutual friend of his and O'Brien's, who in turn phoned O'Brien to tell her the long-lost Oscar had been found.  Memorabilia collectors Steve Neimand and Mark Nash were attending a flea market in 1995 when Neimand spotted a small Oscar with Margaret O'Brien's name inscribed upon it. The two men decided to split the $500 asking price hoping to resell it at a profit and lent it to a photographer to shoot for an upcoming auction catalogue. This led to Bruce Davis' discovery that the statuette had resurfaced and, upon learning of the award's history, Nash and Neimand agreed to return the Oscar to O'Brien. On February 7, 1995, nearly 50 years after she had first received it, and nearly 40 years since it had been stolen, the Academy held a special ceremony in Beverly Hills to return the stolen award to O'Brien. Upon being reunited with her Juvenile Oscar, Margaret O'Brien spoke to the attending journalists: For all those people who have lost or misplaced something that was dear to them, as I have, never give up the dream of searching—never let go of the hope that you'll find it because after all these many years, at last, my Oscar has been returned to me.

Additional honors.

In February 1960, O'Brien was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures at 6606 Hollywood Boulevard, and one for television at 1634 Vine St. In 1990, O'Brien was honored by the Young Artist Foundation with its Former Child Star "Lifetime Achievement" Award recognizing her outstanding achievements within the film industry as a child actress. In 2006, she was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the SunDeis Film Festival at Brandeis University.

Personal life.

She has been married twice, to Harold Allen, Jr. from 1959 to 1968, and later to Roy Thorsen. The latter marriage produced her only child, Mara Tolene Thorsen, born in 1977.

Accolades.

Box office ranking.

For a time O'Brien was voted by exhibitors as among the most popular stars in the country.

Margaret O'Brien (born Angela Maxine O'Brien; January 15, 1937) is an American film, radio, television, and stage actress. Beginning a prolific career as a child actress in feature films for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at the age of four, O'Brien became one of the most popular child stars in cinema history and was honored with a Juvenile Academy Award as the outstanding child actress of 1944. In her later career, she appeared on television, on stage, and in supporting film roles.

Margaret O’Brien (* 15. Januar 1937 in San Diego, Kalifornien, als "Angela Maxine O'Brien") ist eine US-amerikanische Schauspielerin. In den 1940er-Jahren war sie einer der führenden Kinderstars in Hollywood und wurde mit dem Juvenile Award ausgezeichnet.


History.

The first building on the site of the present-day Franciscan Monastery in Kadaň was a moderate holy shrine first mentioned in 1469. At Easter 1473 Franciscan Order assumed the shrine and with the support of Kadaň inhabitants and the House of Vitzhum built a temporary Convent house around it with the view of building a stone monastery. The Order experienced a bloom and expansion in Bohemia particularly after the visit of Saint John Capistran. The monastery was built in several periods between 1473 and 1500. The sanctuary of the church with the quadripartite rib vault was built first and it was dedicated by the Hierapolitan bishop and the auxiliary bishop of Regensburg, Johann Ludwig in 1480. The three-aisled nave with sexpartite rib vault was finished in 1493 and dedicated by the bishop of Kamień Pomorski, Benedikt of Valdštejn. All the monastery was probably completed by 1500. The walls of the church were decorated with abundant Gothic and Renaissance paintings that are now being restored. The first presumptions show an affinity with the Lucas Cranach school.  In 1481 the monastery was handed over to Jan Hasištejnský z Lobkovic, who continued its development and is buried there. Its development reached its peak in 1522 when the provincial Franciscan school was established. However, the monastery was abolished in 1564 in connection with the stormy spread of Lutheranism in the area. It was soon reestablished by Jiří Popel z Lobkovic, but was corrupted again after the 1618 uprising.  A revival did not come until the second half of the 17th century, when the buildings were renovated and the church received new furniture and fixtures. The 18th century brought several unfavourable events. French soldiers of the anti-Habsburg coalition used the church as their shelter while withdrawing after they had been driven from Prague by the army of Maria Theresia in 1742. The church became a witness to a bloody exchange of gunfire. The riddled Baroque door still evokes those moments.  The monastery escaped abolition during Joseph II's reforms by a hair's breadth. The number of monks was, however, limited from thirty-six to twelve.  During World War II the Franciscans had to surrender half of their monastery to the Wehrmacht for Hitlerjugend needs. Communists closed the monastery in 1950 and it was used as a record office's depositary and got dilapidated due to insufficient maintenance. In 1991 the monastery was given back to Franciscans but they passed it over to the favour of Litoměřice diocese in 1994. The diocesan officials entered into the agreement with the Municipal Office to lease the monastery to the town of Kadaň. The municipality has been giving means to reconstruct the valuable interior and wall frescos. In 1999 the newer parts of the buildings were dedicated to the "Elementary Music, Dancing and Fine Arts School" and a permanent exhibition of mining was opened in the cellars. The Municipal Museum was inaugurated in May 2004.

Church.

The Church is dedicated to the Annunciation of Jesus Christ and to the Fourteen Holy Helpers. It was built in the Late Gothic style with a ribbed vault and the pointed windows. The furniture and equipment is from the Baroque period.  The Franciscans are a mendicant order, which is why they did not own the church and the monastery. Therefore the king owned the buildings (at the time of its erecting Ladislaus II Jagellion was on the throne) or an aristocrat. In 1481 the dynasty of Lobkowitz became the owners. They had been the baillie holders of Kadaň from 1469. In the sanctuary is their family vault. The secular founder of the monastery is Jan Hasištejnský z Lobkovic. That is why his tomb is the biggest and most beautiful. Originally it stood above the grave of the founder, but during the Baroque period the church was rebuilt and Franciscans put it against the wall. Today nobody knows where the grave of the founder might have been.  The high altar is the dominant feature in the church. On the altar are two wonderful statues – on the left the statue of St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan order, and on the right the statue of St. Anthony of Padua, who holds a lily and the child Jesus Christ in his hands.

Diamond vault.

Several rooms of the monastery are decorated with late Gothic diamond vaults. It can refer to the use of the rooms by the family of Hasištejn. Such diamond vaults are rare in Bohemia.

Legend.

The legend of the inception tells about a noble family whose five brothers once offended the monarch. They should have been executed but the intercessions of Kadaň inhabitants made the monarch have mercy on the future of the family and symbolically punish just one of the brothers. They played at dice to decide who would hang for the others. The lot fell upon the eldest brother who was hanged straight afterwards in the place of execution that is said to have been situated in the site of the monastery. He was hanging there for three days and nights without dying. He was asked by the crowds how it was possible and he explained that he had been praying to Fourteen Holy Helpers. After having heard of the miracle the monarch came to save the penitent‘s life, take down the gallows and have a shrine to the Helpers built.  Another miracle occurred during the construction. A pregnant lady asked the masons what they were building and when she heard of the Fourteen Holy Helpers she laughed and said that she would rather give birth to fourteen babies than believe in some Holy Helpers‘ existence. After claiming that she went to the town gate (now Holy Gate) and really gave birth to eleven boys and three daughters – all baptized in the names of the Helpers.

Via Crucis.

Seven stations of the Cross lead from the Holy gate to the shrine. They are all sculptured in Baroque style. According to a tradition the journey takes the same length as the way from Pilate‘s house to the Calvary. All the stations depict the falls of Christ.

The Franciscan Monastery lies on the edge of the town of Kadaň, Czech Republic and near the river Ohře. Its history dates back to the 15th century. It is now the seat of the Municipal Museum of Kadaň with an exposition of life in a monastery. The church's dedication to the Fourteen Holy Helpers shows the connection to then popular German shrines of the same cult. Around the building is a beautiful vineyard, a French park and lots of plum trees. The monastery was ranked among the national cultural monuments by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic in 1995. The monastery faces the Úhošť hill on the opposite slope of the Ohře valley.

Das Franziskanerkloster der Vierzehn Nothelfer in Kadaň (tschechisch "Františkánský klášter Čtrnácti sv. Pomocníků v Kadani") ist ein ehemaliges Franziskanerkloster in Kadaň, Tschechien. Das Kloster gehört zu den Nationalen Kulturdenkmälern Tschechiens.


Optics.

A key principle of black light theatre is the inability of the human eye to distinguish black objects from a black background. This effect results in effective invisibility for any objects not illuminated by the 'black light'. The second optical principle behind black light theatre is the effect of UV light on fluorescent objects. Black lights actually emit as much light as 'normal' lights, but at a frequency that humans cannot detect. While most objects either absorb UV light or reflect it back at the same frequency at which it came in, fluorescent objects absorb UV light then re-emit it at a longer wavelength that human eyes can detect. The combined effect is that designers can make some objects appear as bright as if the room were fully lighted, while making other objects appear as dark as if the room were completely dark.

History.

The "black box trick" of using performers dressed in black in a dark playing space has been in use for millennia, starting with the jugglers performing for the emperor in ancient China. Japan developed this technique in its Bunraku Theatre by having puppeteers wear black in order to place complete emphasis on the puppet. In modern theatre, the black box trick was adopted by Russian director Konstantin Stanislavski, film director George Melies, and various French avantgarde directors of the 1950s. Among these directors, George Lafaye became an earlier pioneer of black cabinet. But all these directors used the simple trick of black cabinet for only a few moments during their performances, mostly to make something on the stage disappear.  The father of modern black light theatre, author of the principle of black cabinet as is used nowadays (placement of spot lights, placement of UV lights, selection of black velvet as the best material to absorb residual light on the scene...) and even author of the name "black light theatre", and thus the creator of the first black light theatre in the world, is Jiří Srnec. The first performance of the ensemble took place in 1959 in Vienna. It became better known after its participation in the Theatre Festival in Edinburgh in 1962. Later, other groups using the technique of black box appeared starting the new wave of this theatre style.  Prague has since become the home of black light theatre with around 10 black light theatre companies.  Another well-known black light theatre group is HILT black light theatre Prague, whose performances are based on modern music and dance choreographies, also incorporating live singing. The group was founded in 2006 by Czech dancer, choreographer, director and music composer Theodor Hoidekr. In 2016, a new black light theatre style called "shadow film theatre" was created by the HILT Prague group. In addition to black light theatre shows, their performances also include the first shadow film theatre - dancers and actors play with their shadows on a screen with projections of real places.  In Germany presented his interpretation of black theatre in a stage show for the first time in 1980. The stage show was developed together with his students from the University of Regensburg and was the precursor to the educational sports theatre project. The project enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1980s - touring and appearing in prime time television in Germany. Traumfabrik tours still every year with 40 shows per year including black light theatre acts. Rainer Pawelke co-authored a book “Schwarzes Theater aus der Traumfabrik“ (German: Black light theatre in the Traumfabrik” to share and consolidate his insights about black theatre.

Modern dance in black light theatre.

In 1989 the Image Theatre was founded by dancer Eva Asterová (former member of Pavel Smok's famous Czech ballet company) and Alexander Čihař. They brought new aspects into black light theatre effects such as modern dance and non-verbal acting. Under the hand of Eva Asterová, the theatre's artistic director, Image seeks to produce an individual look of at a scene's signature. The audience also often becomes an integral part of the performance. The repertory of the Image theatre is composed of its own devised works. Apart from Eva Asterová there are also other authors cooperating repeatedly on Image Theatre's performances such as Josef Tichý, Petr Liška, René Pyš or Zdeněk Zdeněk. Since the beginning, Image Theatre had presented 10 different performances and in each of them they came with some new black light technique effects. Magic poetics, playfulness, and humor are the most important trademarks of this ensemble.  The Image theatre has 22 years experience in Prague's black light theatres scene. Apart from regular performances in Prague, Image also performs internationally (Korea, Hong Hong, Macau, Israel, Turkey, India, Lebanon, Greece, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Hungary, Slovakia, Cyprus).

Black light theatre today.

Nowadays there are many companies of black light theatre also out of Prague (Hungary, Ukraine, Germany, USA) trying to make shows similar to black light theatres in Prague. Prague scene has changed its face to the style of 20th century – modern dance was involved, costume designs have become more effective, black light theatre shows have become more musical. Prague is still home of black light theatre – hundreds thousands of tourists visit their shows every month.  HILT – the black light theatre of Theodor Hoidekr was the first ever who has involved live singing into black light show. The most popular HILT's black light theatre musical show was "Juliet's Dream" premiered on 14 February 2012 in Prague. HILT is working on new style of black light theatre – all the members are experienced in black light theatres all over Prague. Its founder and director Theodor Hoidekr was originally dancer who later started to work with black light theatre style. His experiences comes from Prague, Slovakia, Germany, Malta, Greece, South America, India  Since 8 April 2015 HILT performs the new show "Phantom" that is the world first black light theatre version of the mysterious phantom figure. The black light theatre HILT starts the new part of their history in theatre Royal Prague. In 2016 HILT has presented the first shadow film theatre Cinderella.  In 2017 HILT has moved to the Prague popular U Valšů Theatre in the centre of the Old Prague. 2.6.2017 they start to present also their best of called Phantom (best of 2007–2017) that is the combination show of black light theatre, shadow theatre.and projections. This show was the only Czech theatre and the only black light theatre presented at 8th World Theatre Olympics 2018 in India.

In Performance.

The effect of black light theatre allows invisible performers to move visible props, turning the objects into independent participants in the theatre at the same level as the human actors. Furthermore, the appearance of objects and actors in a performance can be sudden and can occur anywhere on stage, even within a few meters of an audience member. In order to achieve this effect it is necessary to create an intense field of UV light throughout the entire playing space. Because the intensity of light emitted from a typical 'black light' source diminishes significantly with increased distance from the source, covering an entire theatre space with UV light requires either that the 'black light' sources be spaced as close as one meter apart or emit much more light than a typical 'black light'. Another important consideration is that, since most of the space is completely dark, and the form is heavily dance based, a single wrong move by a single performer can negatively impact the entire production. For this reason performers train extensively specifically for the black light theatre environment.  Contemporary black light theatre often includes many highly technical devices, in addition to the standard 'black light' technique. Such devices can include "flying" performers, dancers in LED-suits, large video projections, and even massive puppets. These technical devices serve as a significant factor in black light theatre's worldwide popularity; since its most important devices are entirely visual, audiences throughout the world can understand most black light theatre performances. The intended result is a theatrical work that combines grand spectacle with beautiful and moving art. Major companies currently producing black light theatre include Srnec Theatre, HILT,, Image Theatre, Metro Theatre, and All Colours Theatre.

Black light theatre (in Czech "černé divadlo") or simply black theatre, is a theatrical performance style characterized by the use of black box theatre augmented by black light illusion. This form of theatre originated from Asia and can be found in many places around the world. It has become a speciality of Prague, where many theatres use it.

Unter dem Begriff Schwarzlichttheater versteht man eine besondere Form des Theaterspiels, bei der in einem völlig verdunkelten Raum bzw. auf einer Bühne mit schwarzem Hintergrund agiert wird.