(baptized Feb. 4, 1712, Schwerin, Mecklenburg
died Nov. 13, 1771, Hamburg) German actor-manager.
After training with a theatre company that specialized in German adaptations of French plays, he led a troupe on tour throughout Europe in the 1750s. He became known for domestic drama and for playing roles that combined the comic and the sentimental. In 1765 he opened a theatre in Hamburg, considered the first German national theatre, and later turned its management over to his stepson, Friedrich L. Schröder (17441816), who brought Shakespeare to the German stage. See also actor-manager system .