Berndt Schmidt

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Berndt Schmidt (born January 3, 1964 in Bruchsal ) is a German cultural manager and artistic director .

Life

Schmidt studied economics and social sciences in Augsburg. From 1990 he was a research assistant at the University of Augsburg at the chair for business administration, with a focus on corporate management and organization. There he was in 1993 on the subject of corporate management, an empirical study for Dr. rer. pole. PhD .

Berndt Schmidt (2014)

After starting his career at Bertelsmann AG in New York, he became commercial director of a subsidiary in Frankfurt am Main and managing director of its foreign subsidiaries in New York and London. He then worked as an interim and cultural manager at first and second management level in the areas of film and games production, the music industry and publishing.

From 2002 to 2004 he was at the Neuschwanstein Music Theater in Füssen ( Ludwig II - Longing for Paradise ), most recently as General Manager. In 2004 he joined Stage Entertainment , initially at the company headquarters in Hamburg, then as regional managing director of the Apollo and Palladium theaters in Stuttgart.

Since November 1, 2007 he has been the general manager and sole managing director of the Berlin Friedrichstadt-Palast , as well as the producer of numerous shows. He managed to bring the Friedrichstadt-Palast out of the red and achieve the highest ticket sales in the history of the house in the 2009-2019 financial years. To mark the centenary of the stage in 2019, it achieved another record year with 545,000 guests.

From 2010 to 2014 he taught as a lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and Humanities at the Free University of Berlin . He is regularly invited as a guest speaker at the University of Music and Theater in Munich . In 2011 he was a speaker for the Chinese advanced training program "Theater Management for Practitioners" at the Shanghai Theater Academy in cooperation with Poly Culture & Arts Co. Ltd. (Beijing).

Political commitment

With his directorship, Schmidt essentially pursues three goals: the modernization of the art form of the revue in the 21st century, the maintenance of the palace as a historical building testimony and the standing up of the stage for freedom and tolerance.

His decision to no longer invite ambassadors from countries that discriminate against people on the basis of their sexual orientation by the state caused a national stir. A spokesman for the federal government criticized the so-called "Pink List", which includes 83 countries.

On November 18, 2015, on Schmidt's initiative, a memorial was unveiled for the founding fathers of the Friedrichstadt-Palast , Max Reinhardt , Hans Poelzig and Eric Charell , all of whom were later persecuted by the Nazi regime. As early as 2010, the historical context of the palace was processed in a permanent exhibition in the foyer and supplemented with the last remains of the Great Playhouse, which were found and secured in the proverbial last second in the excavation pit of the Yoox new building, including parts of Max Reinhardt's original stage machinery.

As spokesman for the competition jury, Berndt Schmidt announced the winning design for the Berlin memorial for the first homosexual emancipation movement in November 2015 . Schmidt is also a member of the Jewish Forum for Democracy and Against Anti-Semitism .

With the 'Respect Each Other' initiative he launched in August 2016, Friedrichstadt-Palast clearly stands for diversity, freedom and democracy both internally and externally. This also includes the 'KartenGegenTaten' campaign developed in June 2018, with which the theater awards free tickets to people who suffer verbal or physical hatred, racism, sexism, discrimination, homophobia or anti-Semitism through no fault of their own.

Schmidt was the first director of a state stage (the Friedrichstadt-Palast is 100 percent owned by the State of Berlin), who distanced himself from the world view of the alternative for Germany in national media after the 2017 federal election . At the beginning of October 2017, a nationwide discussion broke out about how theaters can and should deal with racism and right-wing extremism. As a result, he received numerous hate mail and death threats. After a bomb threat shortly before the start of the Saturday evening performance on October 7, 2017, the Friedrichstadt-Palast with 1,800 guests and almost 200 employees was briefly evacuated until the security authorities gave the all-clear. The AFD Berlin called because of the statements Schmidt in the budget discussions in the Culture Committee of the Berlin House of Representatives , to cut the national stage, the grant funds. Instead, the grant was increased, also with the votes of the opposition parties, except for the AfD.

Together with the Jewish Forum for Democracy and Against Anti-Semitism e. V. and in the presence of the Ambassador of the State of Israel, Jeremy Issacharoff , and Lala Süsskind , Schmidt invited to a Hanukkah celebration in the Friedrichstadt-Palast for the first time in December 2017 . With the prominent celebration of the Jewish Festival of Lights on the largest stage in the Federal Republic of Germany, a clear signal should be set against the renewed increase in hatred of Jews in Germany. In 2018, the Hanukkah celebration took place on December 10th.

Berndt Schmidt is one of the first signatories of the Declaration of the Many campaign launched on November 9, 2018 in Berlin .

Stage plays

  • 2008: Qi - a palace fantasy (Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin), producer: Berndt Schmidt, director: Jürgen Nass
  • 2009: The Snow Queen (young ensemble Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin) Producer: Berndt Schmidt, Director: Klaus Seiffert
  • 2009: Winter dreams (Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin), producer: Berndt Schmidt, director: Winfried Schneider
  • 2010: Yma - too good to be true (Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin), producer: Berndt Schmidt, director: Jürgen Nass
  • 2010: Dreams need a run-up (young ensemble Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin), producer: Berndt Schmidt, director: Klaus-Dieter Rentel
  • 2011: berlin ENLIGHTENED - Winter Show (Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin) Producer: Berndt Schmidt, Director: Jürgen Nass
  • 2012: SHOW ME - Glamor is back (Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin), producer: Berndt Schmidt, show concept & staging: Jürgen Nass & Roland Welke
  • 2012: Quite different (young ensemble Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin), producer: Berndt Schmidt, director: Johannes Grebert
  • 2013: Keinschneechaos (young ensemble Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin), producer: Berndt Schmidt, director: Roland Welke
  • 2014: THE WYLD - Not of this world (Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin), producer: Berndt Schmidt, director: Manfred Thierry Mugler
  • 2016: THE ONE Grand Show (Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin), producer: Berndt Schmidt, director: Roland Welke
  • 2016: Verrückte Sonne (young ensemble Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin), producer: Berndt Schmidt, director: Andreana Clemenz
  • 2017: Playing with Time (young ensemble Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin) Idea & producer: Berndt Schmidt, director: Andreana Clemenz
  • 2018: VIVID Grand Show - A declaration of love to life (Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin), producer: Berndt Schmidt, author & director: Krista Monson
  • 2019: Belief in the possibility of a complete renewal of the world (Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin), producer: Berndt Schmidt, director: René Pollesch and Fabian Hinrichs
  • 2019: In the labyrinth of books (young ensemble Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin), piece idea & producer: Berndt Schmidt, director: Andreana Clemenz

honors and awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A musical professional pulls the strings ( Memento from February 12, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ). In: Superillu . October 17, 2007.
  2. ↑ Eva Kalwa: The Qi Factor . In: Der Tagesspiegel . January 31, 2010, accessed February 10, 2010.
  3. ^ Theater: Records in the Friedrichstadt-Palast. In: Focus . January 7, 2014, accessed on January 26, 2014 (Text: dpa).
  4. ↑ Great balance sheet. Friedrichstadt-Palast continues to dance on the road to success. (No longer available online.) In: Berliner Kurier . January 8, 2018, formerly in the original ; accessed on July 25, 2018 (no mementos).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.berliner-kurier.de
  5. ↑ Tsp: Friedrichstadt-Palast breaks its own records. In: Der Tagesspiegel. January 9, 2020, accessed April 1, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Lecturers | Speakers at the Munich University of Music and Theater. Overview of the lecturers / guest speakers. University of Music and Performing Arts Munich , accessed on January 26, 2014.
  7. ↑ Frederik Hanssen: “Berlin finds the palace chic again”. Portrait of Berndt Schmidt Friedrichstadtpalast. In: Der Tagesspiegel. January 8, 2014, accessed March 14, 2016.
  8. ↑ Thomas Loy: Friedrichstadt-Palast takes a stand against homophobia. Berlin revue theater invites diplomats from homophobically ruled countries. In: Tagesspiegel . July 28, 2014, accessed August 28, 2014.
  9. ↑ Thomas Rogalla : No invitation for diplomats because of homophobia: Federal government criticizes Friedrichstadt-Palast. In: Berliner Zeitung . July 30, 2014, accessed August 28, 2014.
  10. ↑ mw: memorial inaugurated. Friedrichstadt-Palast: Memory of the Founding Fathers ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). In: Berliner Abendblatt . December 1, 2015, accessed February 29, 2016.
  11. ↑ (dapd): Friedrichstadt-Palast honors Max Reinhardt ( memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). In: T-online.de . November 6, 2010, accessed February 29, 2016.
  12. ↑ The winning design for the memorial for the first homosexual emancipation movement. In: Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg . November 13, 2015, accessed December 3, 2015.
  13. ↑ Supporters. Supporter overview. In: jfda.de , Jewish Forum for Democracy and Against Anti-Semitism, August 20, 2014, accessed on August 28, 2014.
  14. ^ "Respect each other" - Friedrichstadt-Palast Berlin sets standards. In: Berlin Week . August 31, 2016, accessed July 25, 2018.
  15. ↑ Cards AgainstDeeds. In: Friedrichstadt-Palast . June 8, 2018, accessed July 25, 2018.
  16. ↑ Helmut Herold: Free tickets for victims of violence. In: Berlin Week . June 21, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  17. ↑ kae: Frederick City Palace. Intendant goes tough with East Germans. In: Spiegel Online . October 4, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  18. ↑ Anna Fastabend: Glitter party in East Berlin. Report. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . December 29, 2018, accessed on January 9, 2019 (beginning of article freely available).
  19. ↑ Sarah Borufka: After fire letter. Friedrichstadt-Palast director: AfD voters are also welcome. Berndt Schmidt had clearly distanced himself from AfD voters. The party launched a protest that ended in conciliatory terms. In: Berliner Morgenpost . October 7, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  20. ↑ (dpa): After a fire letter against AfD: Intendant of the Friedrichstadt-Palast receives death threats. In: Berliner Zeitung . October 7, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  21. ↑ Sigrid Kneist: bomb threat against the Frederick City Palace. Revue theater cleared. In: Der Tagesspiegel . October 8, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  22. ↑ hs / lj: Berlin director criticizes AfD - hate mail and protest ( memento from July 25, 2018 in the Internet Archive ). In: 3sat . October 9, 2017, accessed July 25, 2018.
  23. ↑ AfD wants to cut funds for Friedrichstadt-Palast ( memento from July 18, 2018 in the Internet Archive ). In: Süddeutsche Zeitung . October 9, 2017, accessed on July 25, 2018 (source: dpa-Newskanal).
  24. ↑ Culture Committee decides on higher grants Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg , October 9, 2017, accessed on July 25, 2018.
  25. ↑ ddk: "These times need light". In: Jüdische Allgemeine . December 14, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  26. ↑ ddk: On the biggest stage. The Hanukkah celebration took place on Monday evening in the Friedrichstadt-Palast. In: Jüdische Allgemeine . December 11, 2018, accessed January 9, 2019.
  27. ↑ Felix Wellisch: Declaration of the Many. “Artists don't have to be neutral”. In: Spiegel Online . November 9, 2018, accessed January 9, 2019.
  28. ^ Prices for Corny Littmann and the Friedrichstadt-Palast. In: Mann-O-Meter . September 3, 2014, accessed September 8, 2014.
  29. ↑ Dietmar Schwenger: Third Listen To Berlin: Award conferred. In: MusikWoche . November 7, 2018, accessed November 8, 2018.
  30. ↑ Ulrike Borowczyk: Berliner of the year. Friedrichstadt-Palast director Berndt Schmidt honored. January 2, 2020, accessed January 10, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Schmidt, Berndt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German cultural manager and artistic director
DATE OF BIRTH January 3, 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH Bruchsal