Harald Schwarz

Harald Schwarz (* 1921 in Teplitz-Schönau , Czechoslovakia ; † October 11, 1995 in Svitavy , Czech Republic ) was a German puppeteer and the last stage manager of the Hohnstein puppet theaters .

Life

After graduating from high school , Schwarz began training as a puppeteer with Max Jacob , the founder of the first Hohnsteiner puppet theater .

After Max Jacob had retired as stage manager , the Hohnsteiner Harald Schwarz stage was the second in the tradition of the Hohnsteiner puppet show after the theater of the puppeteer Friedrich Arndt . Soon, however, Schwarz turned away from the tradition of this style of play, for example, abandoned the classic peep box stage in favor of a simple play screen and had large-format stick figures made in Prague instead of continuing to work with the small, wood-carved puppets of Theo Eggink or Till de Kock .

Harald Schwarz directed his travel theater from Essen . The success of the Hohnsteiner Bühnen made it possible in October 1962 to set up a third playgroup, which also traveled from Essen under the direction of Erich Kürschner , but had to stop playing in the mid-1970s after Kürschner's untimely death. When Friedrich Arndt finally retired, Harald Schwarz's theater remained the only Hohnsteiner puppet theater that was the direct successor to Max Jacobs.

A constant burden for Harald Schwarz was the fight against plagiarists , against puppeteers who adorned themselves with the name "Hohnsteiner" without actually feeling committed to the Hohnsteiner ideal (for example in questions of puppet management or toys). But since he had neglected for too long to have the name of the "Hohnsteiner" protected under trademark law, he was powerless to face these mostly inferior stages without their own profile.

Schwarz showed his pieces for children and adults throughout Germany , in the Czech Republic , Italy , South America and the USA and acted as stage manager, puppeteer, lyricist and musician. His Bohemian homeland has always been a preferred travel destination for him, especially after the collapse of socialism in Eastern Europe in 1989. Within the puppet theater scene, he was a sought-after advisor, especially for the puppeteers' offspring.

On October 11, 1995, Schwarz's wife visited a hall in Svitavy, where a children's performance had been scheduled for the following morning. This appearance of the last Hohnstein puppet theater was not to come again: At the same time as his wife was inspecting the event hall, Harald Schwarz died unexpectedly while taking a walk. This ended the story of the Hohnsteiner Puppet Show, which began with the founding of the first stage by Max Jacob in 1921.

Stage productions Harald Schwarz (selection)

• The red Lu
• The mysterious egg
• The barometer maker on the magic island
• The robber Hotzenplotz
• Undine
• The memoirs of Mr. Schweijk
• Bacon king, cake king and cat prince
• The fox hunt
• Three pigs who don't fear the wolf
• The island of the blue dogs

literature

• Obituary for Harald Schwarz by Otfried Preußler in the culture magazine Sudetenland , No. 3/1995.

source

• Literature in the puppetry collection Gerd J. Pohl