William Tell (play)
Performance history and influence
Performance history and influence
---------------------------------

[thumb\|*Wilhelm Tell* by Ferdinand Hodler (1897\)](/wiki/File:Hodler_Tell_1897.jpg "Hodler Tell 1897.jpg")

The first public performance of Schiller’s *Wilhelm Tell* was staged in [Weimar](/wiki/Weimar "Weimar") under the direction of Johann Wolfgang Goethe on 17 March 1804\. In the summers of 1912 to 1914 and again between 1931 and 1939, Schiller's play was staged in [Interlaken](/wiki/Interlaken "Interlaken"). It was filmed in both German and English versions in 1934, both versions starring the same leading actors ([Conrad Veidt](/wiki/Conrad_Veidt "Conrad Veidt") was Gessler). Since 1947 the play has been performed annually in Interlaken at the [Tellspiele](/wiki/Tellspiele "Tellspiele"). In 2004 Schiller’s play was staged for the first time at the [Rütli Meadow](/wiki/R%C3%BCtli_Meadow "Rütli Meadow") (German: *Rütliwiese*), on the occasion of its 200th anniversary. Since 1938 it has also been performed every [Labor Day](/wiki/Labor_Day "Labor Day") weekend in [New Glarus, Wisconsin](/wiki/New_Glarus%2C_Wisconsin "New Glarus, Wisconsin") in [English](/wiki/English_language "English language"), and until recently also in [German](/wiki/German_language "German language").

The characters of the play are used in the national [deck of cards of Hungary](/wiki/Playing_card%23Central_European "Playing card#Central European") and [Austria](/wiki/Austria "Austria") and are known as Tell pattern cards. The deck was born around 1835 in the times before the [Hungarian Revolution of 1848](/wiki/Hungarian_Revolution_of_1848 "Hungarian Revolution of 1848"), when revolutionary movements were awakening all over in Europe. The Aces show the four [seasons](/wiki/Season "Season"). These cards spread across the [Austro\-Hungarian Empire](/wiki/Austro-Hungarian_Empire "Austro-Hungarian Empire") and are still the most common [German\-suited playing cards](/wiki/German-suited_playing_cards "German-suited playing cards") in that part of the world today. Characters portrayed on the [Obers](/wiki/Ober_%28playing_card%29 "Ober (playing card)") and [Unters](/wiki/Unter_%28playing_card%29 "Unter (playing card)") include: Hermann Geszler, Walter Fürst, Rudolf Harras and William Tell.[*Pattern Sheet 90 \- Tell pattern Type I*](https://i-p-c-s.org/pattern/tell-1.html) at i\-p\-c\-s.org. Retrieved 29 Nov 2019\.

It was long believed that the card was invented in [Vienna](/wiki/Vienna "Vienna") at the Card Painting Workshop of [Ferdinand Piatnik](/wiki/Ferdinand_Piatnik "Ferdinand Piatnik"), however in 1974 the very first deck was found in an English private collection, and it has shown the name of the inventor and creator of deck as József Schneider, a Master Card Painter at [Pest](/wiki/Pest%2C_Hungary "Pest, Hungary"), and the date of its creation as 1837\. Had he not chosen the Swiss characters of Schiller's play, had he chosen Hungarian heroes or freedom fighters, his deck of cards would never have made it into distribution, due to the heavy censorship by [the government at the time](/wiki/Austria-Hungary "Austria-Hungary"). Although the characters on the cards are Swiss, these cards are unknown in Switzerland.

[Jose Rizal](/wiki/Jose_Rizal "Jose Rizal"), the famous [Philippine](/wiki/Philippines "Philippines") revolutionary nationalist and author, translated the drama into his native [Tagalog](/wiki/Tagalog_language "Tagalog language") in 1886, having drawn much of his literary and political inspiration from Schiller and his works. During the 19th century, *William Tell* inspired many freedom fighters, e.g. in Italy and the Russian Empire.

Although Schiller’s play was frequently staged during the [Nazi regime](/wiki/Nazi_regime "Nazi regime"), it was banned from public performance in 1941\. Adolf Hitler, who had only narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by the young Swiss [Maurice Bavaud](/wiki/Maurice_Bavaud "Maurice Bavaud") (who was later dubbed the “New William Tell” by [Rolf Hochhuth](/wiki/Rolf_Hochhuth "Rolf Hochhuth")), is reported to have publicly announced his regret that Friedrich Schiller had immortalized the Swiss sniper William Tell (“Ausgerechnet Schiller musste diesen Schweizer Heckenschützen verherrlichen” – "Of all people Schiller had to glorify this Swiss sniper").


What is the first public performance of Schiller's Wilhelm Tell?