Ladislaus Löwenthal

Ladislaus Löwenthal (born December 11, 1879 in Pilsen , † 1942 in Izbica ) was an Austrian violinist and conductor. During the German Empire and the Weimar Republic, his ensembles were among the best dance and entertainment orchestras in Germany.

Gramophone record of the Löwenthal Chapel (Haus Vaterland), Berlin 1930

From Pilsen via Vienna to Berlin

Ladislaus Löwenthal comes from a Jewish family and was born on December 11, 1879 in Pilsen (Bohemia). After brief stays in Vienna, from 1908 he can be found in the Berlin address book with the job title "Kapellmeister". In the following years, the spelling of his first name (Ladislaus, Laczi or Ladislaw) varies, depending on the influence of the language.

As a standing violinist , Löwenthal leads an eleven- piece salon orchestra (violins, cello, double bass, clarinet, flute, percussion and piano).

Musical success

Ladislaus Löwenthal (standing, 7th from left) with his chapel in "Zelt 4", Berlin 1912

Postcards, photos and the diary of his pianist, Pieter Herfst , show that the Löwenthal band performed in well-known Berlin concert cafés (including “Equitable”, “Frankonia”, “Astoria”) from 1909 to 1912, but in the tents during the summer season ( today: John-Foster-Dulles-Allee) moves into quarters and gives open-air concerts in "tent 4". Particular highlights are the participation of his ensemble in the opening of the “Palais de Danse” (1910) or the subsequent engagement in the neighboring “Pavillon Mascotte” (1911).

In the troubled times after the end of the First World War, Löwenthal moved back to Vienna for a short time. After returning to Berlin, he made recordings with salon music, dance and revue titles in 1920. At the same time, Löwenthal is praised as one of Berlin's great Kapellmeister in the “Artist” magazine.

From 1928 Löwenthal was committed to the “ House of Fatherland ” on Potsdamer Platz . From 1929 to 1930, the “Kapelle Löwenthal (Haus Vaterland)” made further recordings with salon music and drinking songs.

Death from the Holocaust

In 1933 Löwenthal was still in the Berlin address book, but the National Socialist cultural policy forced him to flee. On February 8, 1942, his name was on the list of a transport from Prague to the Theresienstadt ghetto . One month later, on March 11, 1942, Löwenthal was transferred from Theresienstadt to the Izbica ghetto (near Lublin). According to information from the Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem , Ladislaus Löwenthal was a victim of the Holocaust.

Löwenthal's arrangement of the “ Pizzicato-Polka ” by Johann Strauss is still on the “playlist” of radio stations today.

literature

• Alfred Hagemann: Ladislaus Löwenthal . In: Alfred Hagemann, Elmar Hoff (eds.): Gronau - Enschede - Berlin: A musical journey through the world of entertainment from the Weimar Republic to the post-war period , Klartext-Verlag, Essen 2011, ISBN 978-3-8375-0537 -5 , pp. 71-74.
• Rainer E. Lotz: Discography of German Dance Music (= German National Discography ). Vol. 8, Bonn 1993.
• Willemijn Krijgsman: Pieter Herfst . In: Alfred Hagemann, Elmar Hoff (ed.): Island of dreams. Music in Gronau and Enschede (1895–2005) . Klartext-Verlag, Essen 2006, ISBN 978-3-89861-620-1 , p. 80 f.

Web links

• Ladislaus Löwenthal in the Lexicon of Persecuted Musicians of the Nazi Era (LexM)