Draft:Alexander Wilhelmi

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Alexander Wilhelmi

Alexander Wilhelmi (September 5, 1817 - October 13, 1877) was a German actor and playwright known primarily for his original comedies. A contemporary of Roderick Benedix and Gustav Freytag, Wilhelmi was among the most prolific authors at the Dresden Royal Court Theater in Saxony, Germany. Among his best-known works is an 1850 comedy focused on the Brothers Grimm, Einer muss heirathen! in German, One of Them Must Marry! in English.^{[1] [2]}

Life

Alexander Wilhelmi was born Alexander Viktor Zechmeister on September 5, 1817 to German-speaking parents in Ofen (Buda), a city in the Habsburg-ruled area of Hungary that would later become part of Budapest. Following the death of his parents, he was sent to Vienna, Austria in 1826 where he attended Gymnasium without completing his final examinations (Hervy iv). From 1838 to 1842, he apprenticed as a bookseller in Preßburg (Bratislava).

A life-changing theatrical experience arose on June 11,1842 when he portrayed the character of Gawin in Viennese playwright Friedrich Halm’s Griseldis about the trials of a faithful wife, awakening in him a passion for the world of theater. At this time, he also adopted the stage name Wilhelmi. In 1843 he moved to Prussian-ruled Breslau, Silesia and began touring the cities of Silesia.^[3] In 1850, he moved to Dresden, Saxony. Here he would continue to act in minor parts and be “a favorite with the theater-going public”^[4]

During this time, Wilhelmi began writing his comedies, the majority of them for the Dresden Royal Court Theater. Records for the theater show eleven of Wilhelmi’s comedies written and performed in Dresden, starting in 1850 with the one-act Einer muss heirathen! through 1861 with his final play, Zurück! (Return!), one of his longer plays comprised of four acts^[5]. All but two of Wilhelmi’s plays are original comedies: Zu spat! (Too Late! 1858), is based on a novella by French novelist and playwright Léon Gozlan (1803-1866). Eine Anzeige! (An Advertisement! 1860) gives life to a popular fictional character named Hieronymous Sträußle found in Fliegende Blätter (Flying Leaves), a weekly illustrated humor magazine published in Munich from 1844 to 1928.

Wilhelmi published twelve of his plays in four volumes of Lustspiele (comedies) through the Arnoldische Buchhandlung (Arnold Publishing) in Dresden between 1854 and 1860. His final play, Zurück!, was published separately by L. Kolbe in Berlin in 1861. Wilhelmi continued to act at the theater until finally retiring in 1876. He moved to Tirol and passed away shortly thereafter on October 8, 1877. He was then buried at the Annen Church cemetery in Dresden, the city he had called home for over 25 years, on October 13, 1877 (Lier). There is no record of his having married nor of his having had any children.

Literary Works and Themes

Wilhelmi specialized in the one-act drawing room comedy which would later be popularized by playwrights like Oscar Wilde. Written shortly after the Revolutions of 1848 throughout much of Europe, his plays highlight the interconnected layers of society and the players within it, from nobility and politicians to professors, doctors, the emerging and growing bourgeoisie, to the evolving servant class. His characters represent changing views across generations, often allowing the older characters to learn from their younger counterparts. Notably, Wilhelmi created characters that positively and optimistically represent the servant class, strong female figures, and even queer-coded leads.

His works were primarily contemporary to their time, allowing Wilhelmi to satirize cultural expectations, changing societal mores, and political realities. Throughout his works, he demonstrates an impressive knowledge of history, authors, and scientists (directly referencing Fabius Maximus, Hannibal Barca, the Brothers Grimm, Immanuel Kant, Johann Fichte, Friedrich Hegel, and astronomer Johann Heinrich von Mädler, among others). He also alludes to William Shakespeare's Othello and The Taming of the Shrew, even creating his own version of Katherina Minola (Kate). The humor in Wilhelmi's plays emerges as much through comedic conversation as it does through moments of farce and slapstick with Wilhelmi playfully mixing the stylistic conventions found in the comedy of manners and drawing room comedy.   

One of Them Must Marry! (1850)

Wilhelmi’s best-known play is Einer muss heiraten! (1850), most often translated as One of Them Must Marry. The plot centers on unmarried professors Jacob and Wilhelm Zorn whose scholarly solitude is disrupted by Aunt Gertrude, determined to have at least one of them get married. A comedy of errors ensues when Jacob finally agrees to marry their cousin, Luise, after losing a bet, only to have Wilhelm fall in love with her while ostensibly demonstrating the proper way to court a lady to the inexperienced Jacob. Luise is presented as an advocate for women’s education and intellectual pursuits, impressed not just by Wilhelm’s intelligence but by his insistence that she join him in his research. 

In their real lives, Wilhelm Grimm married their cousin Henriette Dorothea (Dortchen) Wild in 1825, 25 years before this play was produced. Jacob Grimm never married. Wilhelmi’s play allows for elements of queerness in the characterization of Jacob who is vehemently against marriage.  

In addition to its success in Germany, this play was performed with some frequency in the German language in the United States, serving as one of the inaugural plays creating a foundation for the German-American Stage.^[6]

This play is referenced in two comprehensive biographies of the Brothers Grimm, Steffen Martus’ Die Brüder Grimm: Eine Biographie (2009) and Ann Schmiesing’s The Brothers Grimm: A Biography (2024).

References

1. Schmiesing, Ann (2024). The brothers Grimm: a biography. New Haven London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-22175-6.
2. Martus, Steffen (2009). Die Brüder Grimm: Eine Biographie [The Brothers Grimm: A biography] (in German). Berlin, Germany: Rowohlt Berlin Verlag. ISBN 9783871345685.
3. Lier, H.A. (1898). "Wilhelmi, Alexander Victor". Deutsche Biographie. Retrieved June 20, 2025.
4. Hervey, Wm. Addison (1911). "Einer muss heiraten!". Internet Archive. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
5. Pröliss, Robert (1878). Geschichte des Hoftheaters zu Dresden: Von Seinen Anfängen bis zum Jahre 1862 [History of the Royal Court Theatre in Dresden: From its beginnings to 1862] (in German). Dresden, Germany: Wilhelm Baensch Verlagshandlung. pp. 635–638. ISBN 978-0-666-81415-9.
6. Rothfuss, Hermann (1951). "The Beginnings of the German-American Stage". The German Quarterly. 24 (2): 93–102. doi:10.2307/401565. JSTOR 401565.