Peter Schnitzler

Peter Schnitzler (born February 19, 1927 in Erftstadt / Erp ; † May 13, 2019 in Erftstadt ) was a German dancer and choreographer . From 1959 to 1984 he was ballet master at the Stadttheater Aachen . Peter Schnitzler is considered to be the inventor of the lifting figures in the Mariechentanz in Cologne Carnival .

Career

Peter Schnitzler was born the son of a farmer. After elementary school he completed a commercial training from 1941 to 1944. In 1944 he was drafted into the military and in 1945 he was taken prisoner by the British in France. There he had first contact with the theater stage when he performed to entertain his fellow inmates in the prisoner of war camp.

From 1947 he worked, together with his future wife Hilde, at the traveling stage in Bad Nauheim and completed an apprenticeship as a ballroom dance teacher in Cologne by 1948 and then a stage dance education until 1950. In the same year he got his first engagement at the Cologne Opera , where he became first solo dancer from 1956, and met his long-time dance partner Biggi Fahnenschreiber . Jacques Königstein invited him to Aachen in 1958, where he was finally ballet master at the city theater from 1959 to 1984.

From the 1960s he was a choreographer of various dance groups and corps societies in Cologne (including the Hellige Knäächte un Mägde dance group ) and Aachen carnival as well as for numerous dance performances. Especially the introduction of the lifting figures in the Mariechentanz , under his guidance and in cooperation with the dancer Gerdemie Basseng , caused a sensation and was an innovation in the carnival dance.

In 2003 he was awarded the Willi Ostermann Medal for his long service to the Cologne Carnival . On his 90th birthday, Peter Schnitzler was made an honorary member of the Altstädter Köln 1922 eV .

Private

From 1950 until her death in 2016, Peter Schnitzler worked with the theater actress and dancer Hildegard Schnitzler, geb. Nießen, married. After the death of his wife, he lived in a retirement home in Erftstadt-Liblar , where he passed away peacefully and quietly with his family in May 2019 after a long illness. Peter Schnitzler was buried in an urn in Erftstadt-Erp on May 24, 2019 .

Honors (selection)

• 2002: Rhineland thaler
• 2003: Willi Ostermann Medal
• 2017: Entry in the Golden Book of the City of Cologne

Individual evidence

1. ↑ [1] www.ksta.de
2. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from February 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. www.karnevalinaachen.de 
3. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated February 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. www.koelnerkarneval.de 
4. ↑ [2] www.koelschefastelovend.de
5. ↑ [3] www.ksta.de
6. ↑ [4] www.radiokoeln.de

Web links

• Biggi Fahnenschreiber and Peter Schnitzler in an interview
• Altstadt dance corps
• Dance groups, Cologne