Josefine Gallmeyer by Rabending (2)

Josefine Gallmeyer (1838-1884); Austrian soprano.
She was the illegitimate daughter of actress Katharina Tomaselli (1811-1857). Her father was the opera singer/tenor Michael Greiner (1798-1862).
When later her mother married the actor Christian Gallmeyer (1816-1867) Josefine decided to adopt his name. In 1853 -at the age of 15- she debuted at the Stadttheater in Brno as "soubrette". In the following years she performed in Dresden, Leipzig, Budapest and other Hungarian cities. In 1862 she was engaged by the "Theater an der Wien" in Vienna. Here she had a sensational success and she became the most popular Viennese actress and singer for a whole generation. She had all the prerequisites for the roles in her repertoire: an attractive stage appearance, a brilliant acting talent, a complete training as a dancer and a lovely, moving soprano voice. The Viennese denoted her lovingly as "Unsere Pepi" or "Die fesche Gallmeyer". She also performed at the Viennese Carl-Theater and Strampfertheater. She made very successful tours through Austria, Germany and even the USA. Her last performance was in 1884 as Rosa in Raimund's "Der Verschwender" at the Landestheater von Graz.

On the photo she is seen in Offenbach's "Pariser Leben".