Irmgard Wassmann

Irmgard Waßmann (born February 4, 1926 in Hamburg ; born Wesemann ; † September 10, 2010 there ) was a German puppeteer , radio play speaker and musician .

Life

In December 1945, at the age of 19, she met Max Jacob , the director of the Hohnsteiner Puppet Drama , and made the decision to become a puppeteer herself. Jacob engaged the passionate accordion player as a “force for music and thunder sheet”, at the same time he taught her the art of puppet leadership.

In these post-war years, stage performances by Jacobs u. a. in prisoner of war camps , internment camps , rest homes for former concentration camp inmates and orphanages . The encounters there shaped the life of the young artist.

In 1949 Wesemann switched to the north German playgroup of the Hohnsteiner , who had long since become known throughout Germany, under the direction of Friedrich Arndt . Together with the puppeteer Claus Gräwe , she was part of Arndt's first ensemble and played for both children and adults. The work of this playgroup also included performances on the North German plateau , which Wesemann - although born in Hamburg - first had to learn like a foreign language.

Irmgard Wesemann stayed with Friedrich Arndt for about ten years until she was "married away" from the ensemble and from then on called herself Waßmann.

Together with Friedrich Arndt, Wolfgang Buresch and Rudolf Fischer , Waßmann was also one of the speakers of the well-known Hohnsteiner- Kasper radio plays; She also composed the music and songs for some of these records.

She also worked on a number of Arndt's television films .

Radio plays (selection)

In the series "Der Hohnsteiner Kasper" (currently at Deutsche Grammophon ), Irmgard Waßmann has published:

Episode 1:

• Kasper becomes king (with Max Jacob as Kasper spokesman)
• The bear goes for a walk
• The tourist train
• The curious princess

Episode 2:

• The mysterious coffee grinder
• The fun with the giant
• The fearful ghost
• The magic betting

Episode 3:

• An adventurous air journey
• The green balloon (Max Jacob: Wachtmeister)
• The devil carousel
• The strange marmot (without a water man, Max Jacob: magician)

Episode 4:

• The flying house (Waßmann also as a composer)

Episode 5:

• The Bridge of Lies
• Kasper catches the pirates
• Sorrow with the cuckoo clock
• ( Kasper and Seppel with the Indians without a water man)

Episode 6:

• A kind of dates
• The bewitched cone ball (Max Jacob: Man in the moon)
• Aquarius treasure
• Exciting visit (Max Jacob: robbers)

Episode 7:

• The lucky bird (with Max Jacob as Kasper speaker)
• The raven prince
• The Rain Guessing (Max Jacob: Klingelmann)
• It doesn't take much to be happy

Episode 8:

• The Butzemann in the sack
• Strolling philipp

Episode 9:

• The honey cake horse

Episode 10:

• A dog is shopping

(Unless otherwise stated: Friedrich Arndt in the role of Kaspers)

literature

• German Institute for Puppet Play (Hrsg.): Master of Puppet Play. Issue 14: The Hohnstein Stage Friedrich Arndt , Bochum o. J.
• Harder, Claus: Friedrich Arndt. From my life as a puppeteer , Hamburg 1986
• Waßmann, Irmgard: Encounter with Friedrich Arndt , in: Harder, Claus and Hans-Joachim Just: Encounters with the puppeteer Friedrich Arndt , Hamburg 1981

swell

• Literature and radio play archive in the Gerd J. Pohl puppet theater collection

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Biography at MUGI