Oswald Hempel

Oswald Hempel (* 1895 in Dresden ; † February 13, 1945 there ) was a German puppeteer .

life and work

Hempel, born in 1895, became known as the “Dresdner Kasperle ” and was one of the first to use the medium of puppetry in the service of a specific cause - in his case, that of the Saxon Homeland Security . In addition to famous colleagues such as Max Jacob (" Hohnsteiner Kasper "), Walter Büttner ("Der Heidekasper") and Otto Schulz-Heising ("Ulenspeegel"), he was one of those who cultivated German puppetry, brought it down from the fair and became a recognized form of theater established.

He countered the time of the economic and social depression and National Socialism with one of his slogans: “You have to make people happy.” So he played a quiet protest from the stage, skillfully incorporated current events and local conditions into his performances and did not hesitate to let Kasper throw a crumpled newspaper into the audience with the request that one should please get an idea of ​​the things for oneself. Hempel was certainly not a resistance fighter in the classic sense, but he was someone who tried to counterbalance the dull slogans of the National Socialists with the means of culture, art and lifestyle, perhaps comparable to the swing youth who to jazz sounds against the prescribed lock step danced on.

Memorial cross for Oswald Hempel (center) on the Inner Neustädter Friedhof

Photos show Hempel with his modeled hand puppets as a man withdrawn behind his figures. He published a number of his pieces in the form of booklets - partly self-published, partly with the Leipziger Verlag Strauch - including classic Punch and Judy plays, homeland security games and adaptations of well-known fairy tales such as B. " Rumpelstiltskin ". With the self-published magazines, Hempel also proved himself to be an excellent draftsman, who illustrated his front pages himself.

On February 13, 1945, Oswald Hempel burned to death during the air raids on Dresden in the premises of his home venue, the Kurländer Palais ; Even his entire stage equipment fell victim to the flames, so that today only a few memorabilia remind of this remarkable puppeteer. The “Saxon Homeland Security Memorial” is located in the Inner Neustädter Friedhof in Dresden today: three metal crosses painted green are reminiscent of Hempel and two of his colleagues, but the grave below is empty - the puppeteer's corpse was never found.

Works (selection)

• The Dresden puppet . Strauch publishing house, Leipzig, 1931

1. The robber inn in the forest or that ends well, all well
2. Lügenhansel or the fairy tale of the bad witch Pampelmeier
3. The fairy tale of the poor captured robin

• Self-published by Oswald Hempel (around 1930)

1. The heather is green
2. Rumpelstiltskin
3. Lot Nr. 4311 or: The evil spirit Lumpazi-Vagabundus
4. The fairy tale of the hare who laid golden eggs
5. The funny story of the Kasper who always had to sneeze
6. Fairy tale of the lost toothbrush
7. The fairy tale of the frog prince
8. Räuberkarl and Räuberliesel
9. The old puppet show from the dance of death

• 10 years puppeteer. A book for happy people , self-published, Dresden 1934

literature

• Olaf Bernstengel , Manfred Scholze: Dresdner Puppenspielmosaik , Erfurt 2005, ISBN 3-89702-915-4 .
• Erna Kühn: Make people happy. A round trip through the realm of Heimatschutzkasperle Oswald Hempel , Dresden 1938.

swell

• Dresden puppet theater collection
• Puppet theater collection Gerd J. Pohl ( Piccolo puppet shows )

Web links

• Dorothee Carls: Hempel, Wilhelm Oswald . In: Institute for Saxon History and Folklore (Ed.): Saxon Biography .
• The history of the Dresden puppet show