Heinrich Kreuzer (16 February 1819 – 26 October 1900) was a well-known Austrian Jewish opera singer.

Biography

Kreuzer was born in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 and received his singing education at the Vienna Conservatory as well as from Giuseppe Ciccimarra

Giuseppe Ciccimarra

Giuseppe Ciccimarra was an Italian tenor, closely associated with Rossini roles.-Career:Ciccimarra was born in Altamura...

. In 1835, he performed at the Theater am Kärntnertor

Theater am Kärntnertor

Theater am Kärntnertor or Kärntnertortheater was a prestigious theatre in Vienna during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries...

 in Vienna, 1836 in Laibach

Ljubljana

Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...

 and further in Bruenn

Brno

Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...

, Frankfurt am Main, Koeln

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

 and Mannheim

Mannheim

Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....

. After two guest appearances in 1844 and 1847, he was engaged by the Vienna Court Opera

Vienna State Opera

The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian...

 as Principal Tenor on 19 May 1849 . He temporarily retired from singing on 31 March 1856 due to a vocal cord ailment, but returned to perform there from 1 April 1861 to 31 October 1866.

In 1867, he took over the directorship of the Court Theatre in Coburg

Coburg

Coburg is a town located on the Itz River in Bavaria, Germany. Its 2005 population was 42,015. Long one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined with Bavaria by popular vote in 1920...

 and in 1870 that of the municipal theatre in Koblenz

Koblenz

Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...

. Kreuzer died on 26 October 1900 in Baden bei Wien

Baden bei Wien

-Points of interest:The town offers several parks and a picturesque surrounding, of which the most frequented is the Helenental valley. Not far from Baden, the valley is crossed by a widespread aqueduct of the Vienna waterworks...

His daughters, Elisabeth ("Elise") and Marie were also opera singers. Elise's relationship with Prince Paul of Thurn and Taxis

Prince Paul of Thurn and Taxis

Paul Maximilian Lamoral, Prince of Thurn and Taxis, full German name: Paul Maximilian Lamoral Fürst von Thurn und Taxis; 27 May 1843, Castle Donaustauf near Regensburg – 10 March 1879 Cannes, France), was the third child of Maximilian Karl, 6th Prince of Thurn and Taxis and his second wife...

, which started in October 1866, caused a major scandal. Their eventual morganatic marriage

Morganatic marriage

In the context of European royalty, a morganatic marriage is a marriage between people of unequal social rank, which prevents the passage of the husband's titles and privileges to the wife and any children born of the marriage...

 resulted in her husband having to give up his title and rank and change his name to "Paul von Fels". His younger daughter, Marie (born on 11 March 1839 in Salzburg

Salzburg

-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...

, died on 7 January 1904 in Ulm

Ulm

Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...

), married the actor Ludwig Barnay

Ludwig Barnay

Ludwig Barnay, born Ludwig Weiß was a German actor, born at Pest. He made his debut in 1860 at Trutenau and appeared in Pest the following year, after which he had engagements of varying length in Graz, Mainz, Vienna, Prague, Riga, Leipzig, and Weimar.In 1864 he married Marie Kreuzer, daughter of...

in 1864. The couple divorced in 1880.