The islanders
Die Insulaner was a cabaret show founded by Günter Neumann , which was part of the program of the Berlin broadcaster RIAS from 1948 to 1964 .
history
In the middle of the Berlin blockade - Christmas 1948 - Günter Neumann presented a cabaret program at RIAS under the title Der Club der Insulaner . The program was part of a local patriotic anti-communism , as it could only arise during the Cold War . The program consisted of jokes, satire and irony as well as a portion of seriousness and was linked to the name of Günter Neumann, from whom the lyrics and the music came.
The show was very popular in East and West for a long time and became the trademark of RIAS. The theme song was the island song , which with its refrain "The islander does not lose his calm" appeared in countless variations in every program.
Other fixed components of the program were “Sehn'se das ist Berlin”, which, like the island song, was varied countless times, Mr. Kummer , who phoned his imaginary interlocutor Mr. Pollowetzer , the Jenosse Funzionär , who embodied the SED with thrashing phrases and by Professor Quatschnie from the Soviet Union as well as the gossip ladies who met in the middle of the Kurfürstendamm .
Elements of the program as well as several of the islanders actors can also be found in the film Berliner Ballade with Gert Fröbe, written by Neumann and produced at the same time , which premiered on New Year's Eve 1948.
After the Wall was built in 1961, Günter Neumann was of the opinion that the global political situation was too serious for jokers, so the program was finally stopped. There was another attempt in 1968, but it only showed how little the islanders had their finger on the pulse.
The Trümmerberg Insulaner in the Berlin district of Schöneberg is named after the islanders.
The islanders were embodied by:
- Günter Neumann (1913–1972) - texts and on the piano
- Olaf Bienert (1911–1967) - composer
- Bruno Fritz (1900–1984) - Mr. Kummer
- Joe Furtner (1893-1965) - Professor Quatschnie
- Walter Gross (1904–1989) - Jenosse Funzionary
- Tatjana Sais (1910–1981) - gossip lady, married to Günter Neumann
- Edith Schollwer (1904-2002) - Insulanerlied
- Ilse Trautschold (1906–1991) - The quick-witted Berliner
- Ewald Wenck (1891–1981) - Berlin inventory
- Agnes Windeck (1888–1975) - gossip lady
There was a long-term collaboration with Hans Rosenthal (1925–1987), who was the recording manager of the radio broadcasts and who also directed one of the few television appearances in 1962 .
Audio recordings
- Günter Neumann and his islanders. Recordings from the years 1948–1964. RIAS Berlin, Bear Family Records, CD 16005 HD.
- Look up at Neumann. Chansons, hits, songs from the boss of the "Insulaner". Double CD with extensive booklet, duo-phon-records Berlin, 2011.
literature
- Günter Neumann: The islanders . Blanvalet, 3 volumes, Berlin 1954/1957.
- Regina Stürickow: The islander does not lose his calm. arani, Berlin 1993.
- Bryan T. van Sweringen: Cabaret artist on the frontline of the Cold War. Günter Neumann and political cabaret in the programming of the RIAS 1948–1968. Rothe, Passau 1995, ISBN 3-927575-41-0 .
- Sabine Zurmühl: We meet ... The thistle and the islanders. Cabaret and politics in the “Cold War” . Published by the Günter Neumann Foundation, Berlin 1998.
