Karl Gemperle was born in
Vienna, the son of Anton Gemperle, a
coffee substitute manufacturer. His grandfather, the Swiss Johann Baptist Gemperle, had founded the first Viennese surrogate coffee factory. After a technical school education Lindau turned to theatre and made his debut on 20 October 1870 in
Graz in the title role of Schiller's
Don Carlos. Engagements followed at the
Deutsches Theater in
Pest, in
Frankfurt am Main and in
Dresden, in 1879 again in Graz and in 1880 briefly in
Olomouc. During this time, Lindau slowly turned from classical roles to comic roles. In 1880, he toured successfully through the United States and Canada with
Josefine Gallmeyer,
Wilhelm Knaack and
Franz Tewele. In 1881, he was finally engaged by director
Franz Steiner as a comedian at the
Theater an der Wien and was a member of the ensemble until 1901. His roles in
operettes and Wiener Possen made him a darling of the audience. He played Süffle in the premiere of Zeller's
Der Vogelhändler on 10 January 1891. From 1876, Lindau was also active as a writer for the stage. In total he wrote more than 100 full-length plays, including
s, farces and
libretti for operettas, some of which became very popular. Together with Leopold Krenn (1850–1930), he wrote farces (''
) such as Heißes Blut
(Hot Blood
, 1892), Ein armes Mädel
(A Poor Girl
, 1893) and Der Nazi
(1895). In their operettas, Krenn and Lindau provided parade roles for Alexander Girardi, such as Korporal Kratz in Der Fremdenführer'', with music by
Carl Michael Ziehrer. Lindau also translated French comedies into German. Lindau died in Vienna. == Works ==