Kurt Kaiser (director)

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Kurt Kaiser (born November 17, 1912 in Prague , † July 15, 1988 in Vienna ) was an Austrian theater director , director , set designer and author . He was the founder of the Bregenz Festival and the Vorarlberger Landesbühne .

Live and act

He was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire , in Prague. His father Julius Kaiser was an economic manager of the German State Theater in Prague (today: Státní opera Praha ), which was built in 1886/87 by the Viennese architects Fellner & Helmer . The mother, a choir singer, was also employed at the Landestheater. After the end of the First World War and the proclamation of the Czechoslovak Republic , the father lost his job. The political circumstances gave him no chance of securing an adequate livelihood in Prague. In 1923 the family moved to Vienna. The father founded a theater group in Café Landtmann next to the Burgtheater . After graduating from middle school, Kurt entered the Elevenschule of the Vienna State Opera Ballet. In 1941 Kurt Kaiser applied to the Reich University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna , where he passed his school leaving examination in 1943. He then studied for two semesters as an external student at the Academy of Fine Arts.

Kurt Kaiser had been a member of the Vienna State Opera since 1929 and qualified as a solo dancer. Due to an occupational accident, he was no longer able to do his job and switched to directing. This was followed by instructive years as assistant director and evening director at the Vienna State Opera under Oscar Fritz Schuh and Lothar Müthel .

In 1943 he was drafted into the Wehrmacht, but due to his occupational accident he was released and conscripted into the military.

In 1945 Kurt Kaiser founded the “Vorarlberger Landesbühne” in Bregenz and, as director, also took on the first productions.

In 1946 he initiated and founded the “Bregenz Festival”, was its director until 1947 and a member of the board of trustees. Parallel to the management of the festival, he also worked as a director and set designer.

In 1947 he took over the Landesbühne under the name "Vorarlberger Landestheater" and became its director.

In 1949 he returned to Vienna with his family and worked for "Wien Film am Rosenhügel" in the field of architecture and management. The Rosenhügel film studios were under Soviet management ( USIA ) until 1955 . After the conclusion of the state treaty and the withdrawal of the Allies, the film studios became the property of the Austrian state. A continuation of the Vienna film structured by the Soviets was not wanted. All employees were dismissed without notice. Kurt Kaiser developed new projects, designed stage sets, built stage models for the performance of “Kain” (wild goose) in the Mödling quarry and for summer games in the Schönbrunn Palace Park , below the Gloriette by the fountain “The Night in Venice”. However, these projects failed. Neither the palace administration nor the state government believed that these places were suitable for theater performances. He wrote several scripts and plays and was hired as a director and set designer at the “ Theater der Jugend ”, where Hans Niederführ entrusted him with the reorganization of the theater.

1962 was the foundation of the theater "Der Feuervogel". Subsidies and subscription were not approved. Kurt Kaiser then financed the theater with his own funds and loans. He was the owner and director, director and set designer until 1964. From 1964 he worked in the advertising industry and created decorations and exhibition booths.

From 1977 to 1988 Kurt Kaiser lived in Laxenburg near Vienna.

Awards

  • October 15, 1982: Great Merit of the State of Vorarlberg.
  • July 20, 1986: Honorary membership and ring of honor of the festival community of Bregenz.
  • August 21, 1986: Gold medal of merit from the state capital Bregenz.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d e Kaiser, Kurt In: Rudolf Vierhaus (Ed.): German Biographical Encyclopedia. Volume 5, 2006, p. 457.