Elisabeth Schwarz (editor)

Elisabeth Schwarz (born in Trier in 1925 ) was a German television editor who mainly dealt with the development of children's and youth formats in early German television since the 1950s.

Life

Elisabeth Schwarz was born in Trier in 1925 and grew up as an only child. Her parents were involved in the resistance against the Nazi dictatorship and were persecuted by the regime. Schwarz graduated from high school in Kassel. She then studied theater studies, French and German in Mainz. In her doctoral thesis she dealt with acting gestures in the Silesian high baroque.

In 1955, Elisabeth Schwarz went to the still young television department of the SDR , which since 1954 contributed the first programs to the program of "German Television" (today: " Das Erste "). At first she worked in the current editorial team, but then switched to the afternoon program in order to finally take over the management of the family program.

Design of the family program at SDR

Elisabeth Schwarz was the first director of the family television program from 1955 to 1985. The broad definition of a department enabled her to implement a wide range of television productions, such as live shows, television games and entertainment series, documentaries, cartoons or puppet shows.

As an editor in a still new medium in the 1950s and 1960s, Schwarz showed a knack for attracting various actors, media professionals and experts for their formats.

Schwarz brought people from very different backgrounds and formats in front of the camera. For example, she developed the program “Telemekel” with the marionette player Albrecht Roser . With the narrator Otfried Preußler , she brought stories such as "Krabat", "The strong Wanja" or "The little witch" onto television. In the series “Dangerous Living”, artist Arnim Dahl, known from movies, performed breakneck stunts in front of the camera. In addition, the marine researcher and diver Hans Hass , the racing driver Richard von Frankenberg , the mountaineer Reinhold Messner and the social psychologist Tobias Brocher were in front of the camera.

The directors working with Schwarz included Hark Bohm , Michael Verhoeven , Theo Mezger and Dieter Schlotterbeck. Films such as “ North Sea is Mordsee ”, “ Kai out of the box ”, “Visiting the Karzer”, “ Krempoli - A Place for Wild Children ” or “Tears in Cocoa” were made.

Schwarz also made an early effort to bring young people into contact with music. For this purpose, she won over the jazz musicians and songwriters Wolfgang Dauner , Eberhard Weber , Wolf Biermann , Franz Josef Degenhardt , Hannes Wader , Hanns Dieter Hüsch and the United Jazz + Rock Ensemble , who helped shape television programs.

In the 1970s, Schwarz developed the children's news “Durchblick”, thus creating a new format that had never existed before on German television.

Schwarz was the first and only woman in a leadership position on SDR television until the 1980s.

She retired in 1985. Schwarz did not start a family of his own and continued to live in Stuttgart when he was old.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Naegele, Manfred: We had paradise! . DOPPELPFEIL - The magazine of the Südwestrundfunk. March 1, 2005. p. 26.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Media women from SDR and SWF (ed.): Women in SDR and SWF 1946 to 1956 . 1st edition. 1998, pp. 97-98.