Georg Ruselli

Georg “Schorsch” Ruselli (born March 7, 1873 in Dresden ; † January 2, 1932 , ibid) was a German folk singer and comedian .

life and work

Ruselli was born in 1873 into the family of a Dresden master painter. After attending school, he was supposed to become a dental technician, but accidentally sat on a customer's finished dentition, which brought the training to an early end; An apprenticeship as a painter that he had started as a replacement with his father also failed. Ruselli ran away from home and joined the "Winter Tymian Singers" where he received thorough training as a comedian.

With eight other Saxon folk singer colleagues, including Paul Beckers , Bernhard Mörbitz and Alex Stamer , he went on tour for a long time. Then he switched to the “Dresdener Victoria Singers”, where he was seen as a “drastic comedian”, and then went to the “ Stettiner Singers ” in Berlin, with whom he performed in the Reichshallentheater . He not only presented his own texts, but also sang couplets by other authors. Nevertheless, these were also advertised with his name. On the sheet music titles of his 'Ruselli-Schlager', adorned with the stamp vignettes of the Stettiner, he is referred to as "The original Saxon type". Here he became the most popular Saxon in Berlin , who was soon called the “Saxon Max Adalbert ”, because like him he not only shone as a type comedian, but also as an actor and character actor.

From 1919 on, Ruselli appeared with the 'Elite Singers' in the Theater am Kottbusser Tor; he returned to them after a brief guest appearance at Carow's Lachbühne .

Ruselli spent the last decade of his life with this singing company, of which he was a celebrated star. But he could also be heard on the radio, where he became popular with special lectures he had written himself, the “Ruselli Schorsch”, under which name every child in Saxony knew him.

He got his best role in 1930 as Petrus in the Zille festival “Brush Heinrichs Himmelfahrt”, for which Peter Sachse and Max Neumann had written the textbook.

In the winter of 1932 he suffered a stroke on the way to a rehearsal. He died in hospital of pneumonia on January 2, 1932.

Ruselli left recordings on Menzenhauer & Schmidt's Kalliope and Lindström's Gloria and Odeon labels . A year before his death, he sang several parodies of folk songs for the latter, the lyrics of which were by Otto Krickel . He was accompanied by the Carl Woitschach Orchestra .

Sound documents (selection)

• We Saxons we are bright. Kalliope K 260, also 4946
• Da guggd mer with de Oochn / idiot verses. Calliope K 261

The DNB catalog has 7 titles:

• Waldeslust. (Text by Otto Krickel) Odeon O-11 441 (Be 9371)
• The girl from Weissensee. Folk song parody (text by Otto Krickel) Odeon O-11 441 (Be 9372)
• When the grandfather took the grandmother. Folksong parody (text by Otto Krickel). Odeon O-11 442 (Be 9373), also Gloria GO10 113 (Bi 203). March 1931
• I picture m'rsch. (Text by Otto Krickel) Odeon O-11 442 (mx. Be 9374), also Gloria GO10 113 (Bi 204). March 1931
• You have to know how to help. A musical joke. / Otto Bach: Georg Ruselli with ensemble. Gramophone brown No. 730 A (die number 1410 1/2 BH-IV)
• We Saxons, we are bright. Original lecture / By Georg Ruselli / In Saxon dialect / I. u. Part II. Georg Ruselli. Kalliope 4946 (die numbers 06951 and 06952).

Re-releases

• CD 3 of the series »Heimweh nach Berlin - 4 CDs« (label: FabFour, order number: 4925834, date of publication: June 24, 2011) contains as track 20 Das Mädchen vom Weissensee - Schorsch Ruselli [12]
• The CD "Rare Shellacs: Berlin - Grostadtklänge 1908-1953", Trikont US-0265, released 1999, contains as track 3 Das Mädchen vom Weissensee - Schorsch Ruselli with orchestral accompaniment [13]

literature

• Helga Bemman: Berlin Musenkinder memoirs. Berlin-Ost, Verlag "Lied der Zeit" 1981.
• John-Torley = John, Richard and Torley, Richard (Hrsg.): The German humorous gentlemen-singer-societies in words and pictures, by Richard John; with the participation of Richard Torley. Private printing Leipzig C 1, Scherlstr. 14: R. John, 1940.
• Artist on the radio. A pocket almanac from the magazine 'Der Deutsche Rundfunk'. Rothgießer & Diesing publishing house, Berlin 1932.
• Berthold Leimbach: Sound documents of cabaret and their interpreters 1898 - 1945, Göttingen, self-published, 1991, unpaginated.

Web links

• [14] Postcard, used in 1909: “Georg Ruselli, drastic comedian of the Victoria singers”. Title line “Nu kummt Ballet!”
• [15] Postcard with a picture of the elite singers.
• [16] Portrait of Georg Ruselli on the sheet music title of the Ruselli hit “Alcohol”.
• [17] Poster for Carow's Lachbühne on Weinbergsweg Berlin.

Single receipts

1. ^ Singspielgesellschaft in Dresden under the direction of the Saxon folk singer, salon humorist and theater director Emil Winter-Tymian (1860–1926). Postcard of the troops (JPG file)
2. ↑ so it is attested by the inscription on a postcard from 1909, on which he is so named. Two other artists of this company are showing the postcard Duett of the Dresden Victoria - singers “Sascha and Schimke” posted by user Starkton 'Sun Dec 23 2012, 18:39 ; The former shows the photo of the female actor of the troupe, Sascha von Günther, around 1910 (Deutsche Photothek)
3. ↑ z. B. von Max Neumann wrote the lyrics 'Alcohol!' to the melody 'Morgenrot'.
4. ↑ cf. the titulature “Ruselli-Schlager” attached to the lecturer, not to the author!
5. ↑ Two country gendarmes, one sky-long and thin, the other small and fat, cf. Illustration on a postcard from around 1905 ( Memento of the original from December 13, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ from this period two song documents have survived that are adorned with a portrait of Ruselli: cf. [1] (JPG file) Lyrics for: “The shirt!” A song of praise for our most intimate piece of clothing. Melody 'The mill rattles on the rushing brook'. Ruselli hit. Lecture in Reichshallen-Theater, Berlin, Leipziger Straße 77 (Dönhoffplatz). With a portrait of Georg Ruselli. 2 sheets with the portrait. 8 °. And: [2] Neumann, Max: Lyrics for: 'Alcohol!' Melody 'Morgenrot'. (A song that shows the lack of 'fuel'). Ruselli hit. Lecture in Reichshallen-Theater, Berlin, Leipziger Straße 77 (Dönhoffplatz). With the portrait of Georg Ruselli. Berlin: Print by Gülzow & Kornblum [1900]. 2 sheets with the portrait. 8 °.
7. ↑ cf. John-Torley p. 154, where the manner of his appearance is described: "A man of medium height ... in brown trousers, with a black 'Schniepelrock' [ie tailcoat], a very low turn-down collar, on his head a small gray bowler hat , forever the one Cigar between your lips ... that was Schorsch Ruselli, the most popular Saxon in Berlin " .
8. ↑ cf. Detlev Krenz [3] Where the elite singers once met, 'Bendow's Colorful Stage' was opened. The former cabaret had become Berlin's most modern film theater ...
9. ↑ cf. John-Torley p. 154
10. ↑ cf. John-Torley p. 39: "His Saxon manner also really liked the microphone"
11. ↑ On Sunday, March 21, 2010, at 6:05 pm, Deutschlandradio Kultur dedicated a commemorative program to the artist in its "Fundstücke" series: "Saxon Star on Berlin Variety Stages" - for the 125th birthday of the actor and speaker Schorsch Ruselli. Moderation: Claus Fischer. [4] , cf. playlist for the program [5]
12. ↑ cf. John-Torley p. 39: "How Schorsch Ruselli wandered through the sky with a kind sense of humor in a large dressing gown ... babbling in a Saxon manner, that was heavenly ..."
13. ↑ on the history of this company and its labels cf. [6]
14. ↑ Music archive . German National Library. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
15. ↑ The song is also known under the title “Das Mädchen vom Bodensee”, a singing waltz by [Egon] Zeilbeck, cf. Recording from 1928 on Adler Electro No. 5675 (mx. 2085 - 2086) [7] ; the text is reproduced at [8] .
16. ^ Back: Der Weltenbummler, solo scene / Emil Meysel  : Emil Meysel, humorist. Gramophone brown No. 730 B (die number 1252 BN-II) [9]
17. ↑ a recording on Clarus-Record order no. 7426 using the Kalliope Matr. 06951 and 06952 (“Clarus Record - Hans Hartmann AG Eisenach - Largest sports store in Central Germany”) is set on youtube [10] 1st part (06951) and [11] 2nd part (06952)