Spejbl and Hurvínek

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The entire “family” on a mural on the outside facade of the Prague Marionette Theater “Spejbl and Hurvínek” .
Plastic from Spejbl and Hurvínek in Pilsen

Spejbl and Hurvínek or Hurvínek and Spejbl are the two most famous puppets of the Czech puppeteer Josef Skupa . Father Spejbl was made in 1919/1920 by the woodcarver Karel Nosek from Pilsen based on Skupa's templates. In 1926 the son Hurvínek followed, made by Gustav Nosek, the nephew of Karel Nosek. In later years, other characters joined them: Hurvínek's girlfriend Mánička (1930), dog Žeryk (1930, German also Jerry ) and Mrs. Kateřina (1971), Mánička's grandmother.

The core of most of the pieces, especially the short ones, are the dialogues between the father Spejbl, who is often very convinced of himself and his knowledge, and son Hurvínek, who shakes his father's self-conviction with appropriate questions. The pieces are a mixture of grotesque humor and everyday satire.

Spejbl and Hurvínek have been performed by the Prague Spejbl and Hurvínek Marionette Theater in 31 countries and a total of 21 languages. While Kirschner's aegis was played in 18 languages, Klásek has 12 languages, some of which differ from Kirschner's. Often, an evening performance with a play for adults follows an afternoon performance with a children's program. The dolls were particularly popular in the German-speaking countries in the GDR . In addition to the many guest performances, numerous radio plays appeared there on record and compact cassette . Most of the Prague guest performances in Germany still take place in East Germany.

Spejbl and Hurvínek achieved their greatest popularity to date from the 1950s. This is attributed, among other things, to Miloš Kirschner , who was determined by Skupa as his successor and heir in his old age. From 1951 until his death in 1996, Kirschner gave father and son voice and appearance. His successor was Martin Klásek, who was trained by him and speaks Spejbl and Hurvínek to this day.
The female characters played Helena Štáchová , who was appointed director of the theater after the death of her husband Miloš Kirschner. She led and spoke until 2016, a year before her death, Mánička and the figure of Mrs. Kateřina, created for her at her suggestion and with her and Kirschner's collaboration. The dog Žeryk was played by Miroslav Černý .

In 2003 there was a minor scandal when the Canadian artist Tiga used copies of the Spejbl puppet for his music video for the cover version of " Hot in Herre ". At the responsible production company ! K7 Records in Berlin , they knew nothing of the enormous popularity of the doll in their homeland. The idea of ​​using the Spejbl puppet for a music video came after Tiga's brother found the puppet in Prague , where it is sold in large quantities in markets. The young man soon appeared with the doll in clubs in his hometown of Montreal and thus gained a certain prominence. Tiga himself then had the idea to use the doll for his new music video. This only caused outrage among the Czech fans of the two wooden dolls. But it soon became clear that the video also had advantages for the popularity of Spejbl and Hurvínek. Helena Stáchová got in touch with the production company! K7 Records and an out-of-court settlement was reached quickly. In 2008, a ten-year dispute with the city of Pilsen over the rights of use to the characters ended, which Štáchová and the theater were able to win. In 2013 the theater received the Thalia Prize .

The main belt asteroids (29471) Spejbl and (29472) Hurvinek were named after Spejbl and Hurvinek .

Puppeteer and speaker

Theater director

Radio plays and recordings (incomplete)

Sound carrier :

  • Spejbl & Hurvínek. Record, Supraphon, Prague 1968.
  • Amorosiada. Parody of love. , Record, Theater-Konzert-Direktion Heister und Sonopres, Hamburg and Gütersloh 1971.
  • Hurvínek's snowman. Record, Supraphon, Prague 1978.
    • Licensed edition GDR: German records, Berlin 1977.
    • Licensed edition FRG: Theater-Konzert-Direktion Heister, Hamburg 1978.
  • Spejbls warm metaferoses.
    • Licensed edition BRD: Mr. Spejbl's hearty Metaferosen. Theater-Konzert-Direktion Heister and Sonopres, Hamburg and Gütersloh 1978.
  • Hurvínek in Dreamland , record, Supraphon, Prague 1982.
  • The Christmas carp. EP (or single?)
  • Spejbl & Hurvínek for their birthday, record. Supraphon, Prague 1975.
  • Hurvínek among the beetles. Supraphon, Prague 1977.
    • Licensed edition BRD: Theater-Konzert-Direktion Heister and Sonopres, Hamburg and Gütersloh 1978.
  • Spejbl's vacation with Hurvínek. Record, Supraphon, Prague 1980.
  • Hurvínek is on vacation. Supraphon, Prague 1980.
  • The best of Spejbl and Hurvinek. 3 CDs, 2002 (compilation of various Supraphon recordings)
  • News from Spejbl and Hurvinek. 3 CDs, 2003 (compilation of various Supraphon recordings)

Video :

  • Spejbl & Hurvínek - Life is beautiful, DVD, 2004
  • Spejbl & Hurvínek - How it all began, DVD, 2004
  • Spejbl & Hurvínek - Hurvínek's Year, DVD, 2004
  • Spejbl & Hurvínek - DVD Collection (3 DVDs - compilation of the above three individual publications), 2004
  • Hurvinek and the Magic Flute, DVD 2005

Web links

Commons : Spejbl and Hurvínek  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg, Germany: KLEINKUNST: License to dance - DER SPIEGEL 31/2003. In: www.spiegel.de. Retrieved October 15, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Spejbl & Hurvínek Prague theater head, puppeteer Štáchová dies (English)
  3. ↑ JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (29471) Spejbl
  4. ↑ JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (29472) Hurvinek