The New International Encyclopædia/Birch-Pfeiffer, Charlotte

BIRCH-PFEIFFER, bērK'pfīf'ẽr, Charlotte (1800-68). A German actress and playwright, born in Stuttgart. She made her début in Munich at the age of 13, and played with great success in Berlin, Vienna, Hamburg, Saint Petersburg, Pesth, Amsterdam, and other places. In 1825 she married Dr. Christian Birch of Copenhagen. She managed the theatre in Zurich from 1837 to 1843, and then, after visiting professionally most of the cities in Germany, made an engagement with the Royal Theatre in Berlin, which continued until her death. Her plays, although of no high artistic merit, showed true dramatic talent, and a thorough knowledge of stage effects, and met with popular success throughout Germany. Most of her plays were dramatizations of popular novels. The following were especially successful: Pfefferrösel; Hinko; Die Günstlinge, probably her best; Der Glöckner von Notre Dame, after Victor Hugo; Die Frau in Weiss, after W. Collins, and Die Waise von Lowood, after Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. A complete edition of her writings was published in 1862.