Emil Rohde (January 18, 1839 - December 18, 1913) was a prominent German stage actor, celebrated for his long and distinguished career at the Bavarian Court Theater
(Bayerisches Hoftheater) in Munich.Partner Ernst von Possart
Queer Places:
Herzog-Rudolf-Straße 39, 80539 München-Altstadt-Lehel, Germany
Alter Nordfriedhof, Arcisstraße 45, 80799 München-Maxvorstadt, Germany
Emil Rohde (January 18, 1839 - December 18, 1913) was a prominent German stage actor, celebrated for his long and distinguished career at the Bavarian Court Theater
(Bayerisches Hoftheater) in Munich.
Born on January 18, 1839, in Düsseldorf into a family of actors, Rohde followed in the footsteps of his father, August, and his grandfather, Matthias Rohde, a famous comedian at the Stuttgart Court Theater.
He began his stage career in Stuttgart before performing in Poznań and later at the Urania Theater in Breslau (1859–1864).
In 1864, he moved to the Bavarian Court Theater in Munich, where he would remain for the rest of his life. He became a fixture of the Munich theater scene and was known for his portrayals of "heroic" roles, including Romeo, Don Carlos, Torquato Tasso, and Tellheim in Minna von Barnhelm.
Throughout his career, he frequently collaborated with the actor Ernst von Possart, with whom he shared a close professional and personal bond.
King Ludwig II of Bavaria was very enthusiastic about his portrayal of Don Carlos and included Rohde in his circle of particularly favored artists. He was among the actors who frequently had to perform in private shows for the monarch. Emil Rohde, Josef Kainz and Franz Nachbaur were the three Munich stage artists who had close personal ties to King Ludwig II.
Because of his close, long-term working relationship with the King and his involvement in these private, often homoerotic-coded environments, historical accounts and modern chroniclers of LGBTQ+ history have identified him as a figure within the orbit of the King’s documented homosexual life.
Rohde was married, lived in the Lehel district of Munich (Herzog-Rudolf-Straße 39), and had a daughter named Anna Rohde (1870–1953), who worked as a Bavarian State Theatre actress in Munich. He passed away on December 18, 1913, and is buried in the Alter Nordfriedhof (Old North Cemetery) in Munich. A street in the Pasing district of Munich, Rohde-Straße, is named in his honor.
References:
 Dictionnaire historique des homosexuel.le.s célèbres by Michel Larivière |
Other references:
Support this project
This website is a passion project researched, developed, and funded entirely by me. If you find the content valuable and would like to help support the ongoing research and hosting costs, any contribution is deeply appreciated.
Thank you for keeping this independent resource alive!
My books on Amazon: Elisa Rolle's books