Jagemann, Karoline (1777–1848)
Jagemann, Karoline (1777–1848)
German actress and singer. Name variations: Caroline; Frau von Heygendorf; Madame Kegendorf. Born in Weimar, Germany, on January 5, 1777; died in Dresden, Germany, on July 10, 1848; daughter of Christian Joseph Jagemann (1735–1804, a German scholar); sister of Ferdinand Jagemann (1780–1820, a portrait painter); children: (with Charles Augustus, grand duke) two sons.
A noted German singer, Karoline Jagemann made her debut in 1795 at Mannheim. At Weimar the following year, she was such a sensation that she caught the attention of Goethe and Schiller. In 1801, she had another success in Berlin. On her return to Goethe's theater in Weimar in 1809, she became the mistress of the grand duke Charles Augustus, who began to refer to her as Frau von Heygendorf. Jagemann's close relations with the duke, with whom she had two children, gave her such powerful influence that she often hampered Goethe's work, causing the poet to resign from directing in the theater in April 1817 to avoid her. She remained at Weimar until the death of the grand duke, when she retired to Dresden.