Abel Seyler

On both his parent’s sides, Seyler descended from some of the most prominent families of Basel. The son of a Basel clergyman, Seyler was a Swiss-born merchant and banker who become one of the great theatre principals in the 18th century Europe.

Seyler established himself in Hamburg where he amassed a large fortune. With his business partner Johann Martin Tillemann, he founded “Seyler and Tillemann bank” which was involved in a large scale currency debasement during the Seven Years’ War. Although the bank went into bankruptcy with a huge debt, Seyler and other founders were able to retain some of their fortunes for the future business investments.

Therefore, Seyler who was a passionate lover of theatre used his funds to finance Hamburg National Theatre (the Hamburgische Enterpise) which, unfortunately, closed after just two years. In 1769 he founded the Seyler Theatre Company, which became one of the most famous theatre companies of Europe, and the best theatre company in Germany at the time.

One of the numerous plays written for the Seyler theatre was “Sturm and Drang” that gave its name for “Sturm and Drang” period, a proto-Romantic movement in German literature and music.