Ferdinand Rieser (theater director)

Ferdinand Rieser (born February 18, 1886 in Riesbach ; † June 27, 1947 in Rüschlikon ) was a Swiss wine wholesaler and theater manager and director. From 1929 to 1938 he was director of the Zurich theater .

Life

Rieser was originally a wine wholesaler. In 1926 he acquired the Zurich Schauspielhaus on “Pfauen” ( Heimplatz ) and converted it; In 1929 he also took over the artistic direction of the house. From 1933 he engaged many actors and directors who had emigrated from Germany and performed numerous plays that critically dealt with developments in National Socialist Germany, which led to violent protests by the front movement .

In 1938 Rieser emigrated to the USA with his family. He rented the property at the "Pfauen" to Neue Schauspiel AG, which continued to run the theater under the artistic direction of Oskar Wolderlin .

In 1947 Rieser returned to Zurich from exile , but died shortly afterwards from the consequences of a fall.

Rieser had been married to Marianne Werfel, Franz Werfel's sister, since 1924 and had a daughter with her.

literature

• Peter Exinger: Ferdinand Rieser . In: Andreas Kotte (Ed.): Theater Lexikon der Schweiz . Volume 3, Chronos, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-0340-0715-9 , p. 1495 f.
• Hervé Dumont . The Zurich theater from 1921 to 1938. Lausanne 1973.
• Peter Exinger. The foolishness of an idealist or dazzling, evil, great - Ferdinand Rieser [1886-1947] and the Zurich theater. In: Maske and Kothurn, ISSN  0025-4606 , 40, 1998, pp. 169-187.
• Rico Bandle. The dark side of the emigre theater. World Week 37/2013.
• Eveline Hasler . Stormy years: The Manns, the Riesers, the Schwarzenbachs. Munich, Nagel & Kiemche, 2015, ISBN 978-3-312-00668-7 .
• Alexis Schwarzenbach. Homage to a courageous artistic director. NZZ am Sonntag, August 30, 2015, supplement “Books on Sunday” p. 6.