Corona Schröter
Biography
Weimar's court theatre in the 1770s was an amateur company — courtiers acting for courtiers, with the duke and his privy councillor on stage. Corona Schröter was the professional among them, and the difference showed.
A touring singer with a failing voice, 1751–1776
Born in Guben in 1751, she had toured as a singer with her father and siblings until her voice began to give way, which the biographers attribute to being trained too hard too young. That is the circumstance in which Goethe recruited her: in March 1776 she came to Weimar as court singer and actress, a working performer of twenty-five arriving in a town where acting was something the aristocracy did after dinner. She took the leading women's parts in plays and musical pieces alike, and she played them opposite Goethe.
Iphigenie, 6 April 1779
On Easter Tuesday 1779 the first prose version of Goethe's Iphigenie was performed with Schröter in the title role and Goethe himself as Orest. The Neue Deutsche Biographie states outright that she inspired the character — so the part was written towards the woman who then played it. The nineteenth century's verdict on the performance was not measured and did not need to be: she did not portray Iphigenia, she was Iphigenia.
Composer, and a quiet exit, 1779–1802
She composed as well as sang. She withdrew from Weimar's stage life by degrees and died at Ilmenau in 1802, inside the classical decades and largely outside the story usually told about them.
Questions visitors ask
- What is Corona Schröter's connection to Goethe?
- He recruited her to Weimar in March 1776 as court singer and actress, acted opposite her, and drew the character of Iphigenie from her — she played the title role at the play's first performance, with Goethe as Orest.
- Did Corona Schröter really originate the role of Iphigenie?
- Yes. She played the title role at the first prose version's premiere on 6 April 1779, and the Neue Deutsche Biographie states outright that she inspired the character.
- Was Corona Schröter a composer?
- Yes — she composed as well as sang.
- When and where did Corona Schröter die?
- At Ilmenau in 1802, having withdrawn from Weimar's stage life by degrees.
Notable Works & Achievements
Iphigenie (title role, first prose version, 6 April 1779)
Historical Context
The one professional in an amateur court theatre — the period's stage as it actually worked.
For roughly sixty years a duchy of a few thousand people held the centre of German literature, because its ruler kept inviting writers to live there and then gave them jobs. That is the whole mechanism, and it ran from Goethe's arrival in 1775 to his death in 1832.
Read more about this period →Quick Facts
1751
1802
German
On stage
On stage
Walter Hesse
The evening is hers — the singer and actress the house calls Weimar's first stage diva, looking back on her career here.
In Weimar's history
In Weimar's history
Goethe's Iphigenie was first performed in its prose version on Easter Tuesday 1779, with Corona Schröter in the title role and Goethe himself playing Orest.
She played the title role, and the article says the figure was inspired by her.