Kurt Schwabach

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Kurt Schwabach (left) with Willy Rosen

Kurt Schwabach (born February 26, 1898 in Berlin , † October 26, 1966 in Hamburg ) was a German writer , songwriter , cabaret artist , composer and singer .

Life

Kurt Schwabach grew up as the son of the factory owner Arthur Schwabach and the piano teacher Margarethe Schwabach, b. Jacobson in Berlin. In 1903 he had a sister, Ruth. Schwabach graduated at the Werner-Siemens-Gymnasium in Berlin-Schöneberg the Notabitur and was then from 1915 to the end of the First World War pilot in the Air Force . After the war he married Lisa von Huiden. In 1919 his father died at the age of 57,

Schwabach initially worked as a journalist and wrote texts for the " Kabarett der Komiker " and other Berlin cabarets such as "Die Gondel", "Das Morando" and the "Nelson Revue". He became a sought-after songwriter. He had his first success in 1921 with his " Lila Lied " set to music by Mischa Spoliansky , which he dedicated to the sex researcher Magnus Hirschfeld (1868–1935). His hits, written with the composer Willy Rosen in 1929/30, became well-known If you give away your heart and may I ask for the next tango . Another success was the hit song written with Jim Cowler in 1928 There is a woman who will never forget you . In 1932 he provided the libretto for the operetta " Happy Journey " by Eduard Künneke and wrote other texts on pieces by Walter Kollo and Walter Bromme . He also worked for the feature film and wrote scripts and film music .

In 1933 Schwabach was banned from working for “ racial ” reasons . He then tried to find connection in the London film industry . After completing his second script, however, he was refused a work permit in England, so that he returned to Berlin in 1935. In 1937 he left Germany again to avoid being arrested by the Gestapo .

Gravestone "Kurt Schwabach", Ohlsdorf Jewish Cemetery (Ilandkoppel)

He first came to Prague via Switzerland and Vienna , where he fought for a year. After the German occupation of Prague in 1939, he fled across the Polish border, was arrested and deported to Hungary . He reached Budapest on foot and was finally able to travel illegally by ship to Palestine from there . There he was sent to a British reception camp for 14 months before he could start working as a gas station attendant , waiter and bartender in Tel Aviv . He also wrote programs for the German-language cabaret Adi Körner in Haifa . His mother and sister were deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto and the Lodz / Litzmannstadt ghetto in the early 1940s and murdered.

In 1949 Schwabach returned to Germany and settled in Hamburg . He initially worked for the music and film music production of the Sikorski publishing house . In 1951 he initiated compensation proceedings in Berlin. He worked as a lyricist and librettist until the 1960s. In February 1960, the song he wrote Bonne nuit, ma chérie with the singer Wyn Hoop won the German preliminary decision for the 1960 Eurovision Song Contest . For the film hits from Prairie Saloon (1961) and Heimweh nach St. Pauli (1962) he provided the lyrics to the music of Lotar Olias . With around 2000 titles printed, Schwabach became one of the most successful hit writers on the German-speaking entertainment scene. On April 13, 1960, he married his second wife, Lea Fainleeb, in Ascona . He became a member of the advisory board of GEMA as well as a presidential advisory board and later president of the Association of German Stage Writers and Composers .

In 1961, doctors attested that he had "chronic subdepressive conditions" that were attributed to his persecution during the Nazi era . Kurt Schwabach committed suicide in Hamburg on October 26, 1966. He was buried in the Jewish cemetery Ilandkoppel in Hamburg-Ohlsdorf , grid square ZZ11-696. Carbon oxide poisoning was given as the cause of death .

Awards

  • 1960 1st prize at the Baden-Baden hit competition in 1960
  • 1963 Richard Strauss Medal on the occasion of his 65th birthday.

Works (selection)

Operettas, musicals

  • Happy Journey (Co-Text: Max Bertuch, Music: Eduard Künneke ), Berlin 1932,
  • Heart over board (co-text: Eduard v. Der Becke, M. Bertuch, music: Eduard Künneke), Zurich 1935,

Scripts

Film music

  • The Chaste Joseph, 1930
  • Country innocence, 1933

Songs

  • The purple song, 1920 (music: Mischa Spoliansky under the pseudonym Arno Billing )
  • If I didn't have a Dalles, 1925 (Music: Willy Rosen)
  • I'm going to my dear lady tonight, 1927 (music: Willy Rosen)
  • I need a new bride for Sunday, 1928 (music: Austin Egen );
  • No, Lucie doesn't do that, 1928 (music: Willy Rosen)
  • Why does the zebra have so many stripes? 1928 (music: Willy Rosen)
  • What were you going to do with Adelheid, 1928 (music: Willy Rosen)
  • What should I do, 1928 (Music: Willy Rosen)
  • First we have another drink, 1929 (Music: Willy Rosen)
  • If you're ever in Hawaii, 1931 (music: Willy Rosen)
  • What use are the most beautiful carnations to me ?, 1928 (music: Willy Rosen, Austin Egen);
  • What use is the most beautiful spring, 1928 (music: J. Cowler);
  • You can kiss me for a lilac bouquet, 1929 (music: Willy Rosen, Will Meisel);
  • I have a secret weakness for you, 1930 (music: Willy Rosen);
  • I have a heart that longs for love, 1931 (music: Hans May );
  • My dog ​​bites every pretty woman in the leg, 1930 (music by Leopold Krauss-Elka and Kurt Schwabach)
  • Kind, you don't need to cry, 1931 (music: Hans May);
  • Isn't that wonderful, 1932 (music: Will Meisel, Fred Raymond );
  • Are you already taken this evening ?, 1932 (music: Willy Rosen);
  • From the elevator to the bar chair, 1932 (music: Rudolf Nelson );
  • The little girls with the faithful look, 1933 (music: F. Wachsmann);
  • However, the Sphinx spoke, 1949, (Music: Michael Jary )
  • There is no woman who does not lie, 1950 (Music: Michael Jary)
  • When will you ask me, 1950 (Music: Michael Jary)
  • If God Wills, 1950 (Music: Michael Jary)
  • God's children don't need shoes, 1950 (music: Lotar Olias)
  • This is true love (Music: Michael Jary)
  • The Rainbow Children, (Music: Peter Kreuder )
  • The ballad from the seaman Franke, music: Michael Jary;
  • Fridolin, I have nothing to wear, (Co-Text: Bernard de Weille, Music: Willy Berking )
  • If the men only knew, 1950 (music: Lotar Olias );
  • Aladin, (Music: Lotar Olias)
  • It also works without women, (Music: Lotar Olias)
  • I'm homesick for St. Pauli, (Music: Lotar Olias)
  • I dance this tango only with you, (Music: Lotar Olias)
  • I'm so alone in the evening (Music: Lotar Olias)
  • Pst, someone stands behind you, 1951, (Music: Lotar Olias)
  • Prairie Saloon (several lyrics, book: Heinz Wunderlich , music: Lotar Olias), Hamburg 1958;
  • Homesickness for St. Pauli (several lyrics, book: Gustav Kampendonk, co-lyrics: Max Colpet, Fritz Graßhoff, Walter Rothenburg, Karl Vibach, music: Lotar Olias), Hamburg 1954/1962;
  • Thank you, 1962, (Music: Bert Kaempfert )

Texts

  • The queen of the night, musical. Schwank (music: Walter Kollo ) [1926];
  • Three men on a Pegasus - poems, songs, chansons, 1959, 1964, 1973.

literature

  • Matthias Bardong: Lexicon of the German hit . Ed. Louis, Ludwigsburg 1992, ISBN 978-3-9802891-5-3
  • Hans Brückner , Christa Maria Rock: Judaism and Music - with an ABC of Jewish and non-Aryan music enthusiasts , (ed.), 3rd edition, Munich 1938, (1st edition 1935, 2nd edition 1936).
  • Michael Hepp: The expatriation of German citizens 1933-45 according to the lists published in the Reichsanzeiger. Vol. 1: Lists in chronological order, Vol. 2: Name register, Vol. 3: Register of places of birth and last place of residence, (Ed.), Saur, Munich et al., 1985, 1988, ISBN 978-3-598-10537- 1
  • Volker Kühn:  Schwabach, Kurt. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 23, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-428-11204-3 , pp. 775 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Riemann Musiklexikon , supplementary volumes, Carl Dahlhaus (ed.), 12. completely revised. Ed., Mainz et al: Schott, 1972–1975.
  • Theo Stengel , Herbert Gerigk : Lexicon of Jews in Music. With a list of titles of Jewish works. Compiled on behalf of the Reich leadership of the NSDAP on the basis of official, party-checked documents (= publications of the Institute of the NSDAP for research into the Jewish question, vol. 2), Berlin: Bernhard Hahnefeld, 1941, (1st edition 1940).
  • Hans Christoph Worbs: The hit . Schünemann, Bremen 1963

Other sources

  • Compensation Authority Berlin, State Administration Office for Civil and Regulatory Affairs, Section 1: contains: Kurt Schwabach compensation files (file number 25.155, 315.180) [1] .
  • Political archive of the Foreign Office Berlin: contains: Personal files for the expatriation procedure Kurt Schwabach (Sign .: R 99846). [2]
  • State Archive of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Kurt Schwabach Compensation File, Sign .: Inventory 351-11, Office for Reparation [3] (formerly: Social, Family, Health and Consumer Protection Office, Hamburg Pension Office, Reparation Office, FS 5344, file number 260.298 [4] ).
  • University of Hamburg [5]
  • German biography [6]

Web links

Commons : Kurt Schwabach  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Schwabach, Kurt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH February 26, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH October 26, 1966
Place of death Hamburg