IFFLAND

iffland, august wilhelm (1759-1814), german actor and dramatic author, was born at hanover on the 19th of april 1759. his father intended his son to be a clergyman, but the boy preferred the stage, and at eighteen ran away to gotha in order to prepare himself for a theatrical career. he was fortunate enough to receive instruction from hans ekhof, and made such rapid progress that he was able in 1779 to accept an engagement at the theatre in mannheim, then rising into prominence. he soon stood high in his profession, and extended his reputation by frequently playing in other towns. in 1796 he settled in berlin, where he became director of the national theatre of prussia; and in 1811 he was made general director of all representations before royalty. iffland produced the classical works of goethe and schiller with conscientious care; but he had little understanding for the drama of the romantic writers. the form of play in which he was most at home, both as actor and playwright, was the domestic drama, the sentimental play of everyday life. his works are almost entirely destitute of imagination; but they display a thorough mastery of the technical necessities of the stage, and a remarkable power of devising effective situations. his best characters are simple and natural, fond of domestic life, but too much given to the utterance of sentimental commonplace. his best-known plays are _die jager_, _dienstpflicht_, _die advokaten_, _die mundel_ and _die hagestolzen_. iffland was also a dramatic critic, and german actors place high value on the reasonings and hints respecting their art in his _almanach fur theater und theaterfreunde_. in 1798-1802 he issued his _dramatischen werke_ in 16 volumes, to which he added an autobiography (_meine theatralische laufbahn_). in 1807-1809 iffland brought out two volumes of _neue dramatische werke_. selections from his writings were afterwards published, one in 11 (leipzig, 1827-1828), the other in 10 volumes (leipzig, 1844, and again 1860). as an actor, he was conspicuous for his brilliant portrayal of comedy parts. his fine gentlemen, polished men of the world, and distinguished princes were models of perfection, and showed none of the traces of elaborate study which were noticed in his interpretation of tragedy. he especially excelled in presenting those types of middle-class life which appear in his own comedies. iffland died at berlin on the 22nd of september 1814. a bronze portrait statue of him was erected in front of the mannheim theatre in 1864. see k. duncker, _iffland in seinen schriften als kunstler, lehrer, und direktor der berliner buhne_ (1859); w. koffka, _iffland und dalberg_ (1865); and lampe, _studien uber iffland als dramatiker_ (celle, 1899). iffland's interesting autobiography, _meine theatralische laufbahn_, was republished by h. holstein in 1885. iglau (czech _jihlava_), a town of austria, in moravia, 56 m. n.w. of brunn by rail. pop. (1900) 24,387, of whom 4200 are czechs and the remainder germans. iglau is situated on the iglawa, close to the bohemian frontier, and is one of the oldest towns in moravia, being the centre of a german-speaking enclave. among the principal buildings are the churches of st jakob, st ignatius, st john and st paul, the town-hall, and the barracks formed from a monastery suppressed under the emperor joseph ii. there is also a fine cemetery, containing some remarkable monuments. it has the principal tobacco and cigar factory of the state monopoly, which employs about 2500 hands, and has besides a large and important textile and glass industry, corn and saw-mills, pottery and brewing. fairs are periodically held in the town; and the trade in timber, cereals, and linen and woollen goods is generally brisk. iglau is an old mining town where, according to legend, the silver mines were worked so early as 799. king ottakar i. (1198-1230) established here a mining-office and a mint. at a very early date it enjoyed exceptional privileges, which were confirmed by king wenceslaus i. in the year 1250. the town-hall contains a collection of municipal and mining laws dating as far back as 1389. at iglau, on the 5th of july 1436, the treaty was made with the hussites, by which the emperor sigismund was acknowledged king of bohemia. a granite column near the town marks the spot where ferdinand i., in 1527, swore fidelity to the bohemian states. during the thirty years' war iglau was twice captured by the swedes. in 1742 it fell into the hands of the prussians, and in december 1805 the bavarians under wrede were defeated near the town.