Otto Hofner

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Otto Hofner (born August 14, 1915 in Munich , † November 30, 2006 in Cologne ) was a German singer , actor and entrepreneur .

Career

Otto Hofner grew up in Schwabing and attended in Munich, the business school . He then went through a three-year music and singing training with Kammersänger Wilhelm Staufen . Engagements as a singer at the Hamburger Volksoper, the Grenzlandtheater Tilsit, the Stadttheater Elbing and the Mellini-KDF Theater in Hanover followed. In 1940 he was drafted into the military and served in the intelligence department. The young Otto Hofner experienced the war as a soldier in France, Poland and Russia, was captured by Russia and, after the end of the war, by American captivity. After the war, he returned to the theater and acted in different places. Most recently in Frankfurt he sang Count Danilo in “Lustige Widow” with the then popular singer Heidi von Nießen.

In Frankfurt he met the revue director Fritz Fischer , who hired him in 1950 as a singer and personal deputy for his production “Csardas-Fürstin”. Since Fritz Fischer had to resign for political reasons, Otto Hofner took over the management and production for a year and a half before accepting an offer as theater and concert director. After 1952 he independently arranged tours with numerous prominent artists such as B. Marika Röck , Johannes Heesters , Zarah Leander and the Don Cossack Choir under the direction of Serge Jaroff . As the organizer in the Millowitsch Theater in Cologne, Hofner was also responsible for countless productions with top stars of the guild such as Curd Jürgens , Trude Herr , Harald Juhnke , Heinz Erhardt , Heidi Kabel , Lotti Krekel , Willy Millowitsch , Karl Dall and many more. In addition, he was the source of ideas for extremely successful ones Productions like 10 Kanonen vom Funk, Schlagerexpress Wien-Berlin and the Film- und Funk Starparade.

For more than a decade he headed the International Variety, Theater and Circus Directors Association (today IFSU, International Association of Show and Entertainment Art), of which he was honorary president until his death. Otto Hofner invented the largest carnival event in Germany in 1965: "The Laughing Cologne Sports Hall". This successful event has also been held in other cities, such as Dortmund, Bremen, Münster, Duisburg, Bochum, Wuppertal and Essen. There are currently three other locations in addition to Cologne: Düsseldorf, Krefeld and Bonn.

In 1999 the event was relocated to the new Kölnarena, where it developed under the title “Die Lachende Kölnarena” and under the direction of Eberhard Bauer-Hofner into the largest carnival event in Germany. Due to the popularity and the very high demand for tickets, the “Laughing Kölnarena®” now takes place every year on 11 consecutive days. Until his death, Otto Hofner worked in his company, the Otto Hofner Theater, Concert and Guest Performance Directorate.

In 1972 Eberhard Bauer-Hofner joined the theater, concert and guest performance management team and found Otto Hofner to be one of the best teachers in the concert and theater industry. Over the years, Eberhard Bauer-Hofner was appointed managing director as his right-hand man and has been successfully managing Otto Hofner GmbH since 1996.

Awards

  • 1976 - Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon for his extraordinary commitment in the artistic field and in association activities
  • 1994 - Golden Association Badge of the International Association of Show and Entertainment Art
  • 2005 - Order of Merit of the Friends and Supporters of Cologne Customs, presented by Cologne's then Mayor Fritz Schramma
  • Honorary President of the International Association of Show and Entertainment Art

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kölner Stadtanzeiger from November 19, 2015: When 7000 Jecke Marika Rökk whistled mercilessly
  2. ↑ general-anzeiger-bonn.de: Laughing Cologne Arena. Giant carnival party for self-catering
personal data
SURNAME Hofner, Otto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German singer, actor and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH August 14, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH November 30, 2006
Place of death Cologne