Kurt Hirschfeld (born 10 March 1902 in

Lehrte Lehrte () is a town in the district of Hanover, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approximately 17 km east of Hanover. In the 19th century Lehrte was the most important railway junction in the former Kingdom of Hanover. As of the 2 ...

, Germany; died 8 November 1964 in

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

) was a German

theater director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

and

dramaturg A dramaturge or dramaturg (from Ancient Greek δραματουργός – dramatourgós) is a literary adviser or editor in a theatre, opera, or film company who researches, selects, adapts, edits, and interprets scripts, libretti, texts, and pr ...

Life and career

Kurt Hirschfeld was born on 10 March 1902 in

, Lower Saxony, Germany to the Jewish merchant Hermann Hirschfeld (1871–1941) and his wife Selma Zierl (1877–1926), the daughter of a rabbi. After completing primary school in Lehrte, Hirschfeld transferred in 1914 to the Realgymnasium on Aegidientorplatz in

Hannover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

, where he composed poetry and essays. He studied philosophy, sociology, German, and art history in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, and

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

. Beginning in 1930, he worked as a dramaturg at the Hessischen Landestheater Darmstadt. He made his directorial debut with

Erich Kästner Emil Erich Kästner (; 23 February 1899 – 29 July 1974) was a German writer, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known primarily for his humorous, socially astute poems and for children's books including ''Emil and the Detectives'' and '' Lisa an ...

s ''Leben in dieser Zeit''. He was dismissed from this post after the Nazis came to power in March, 1933. He received a job offer from Ferdinand Rieser, director of the Pfauenbühne in Zurich and emigrated to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, where he transformed the provincial stage into one of the most important German-language theaters outside Germany. In 1934, he was dismissed from his post after differences with Rieser and spent time working in a publishing house. In 1935, he traveled to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

as a correspondent for the

Neue Zürcher Zeitung The (''NZZ''; "New Newspaper of Zurich") is German language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zurich. The paper was founded in 1780. It has a reputation as a high-quality newspaper, as the German Swiss newspaper of record ...

, where he also worked briefly as a directorial assistant for

Vsevolod Meyerhold Vsevolod Emilyevich Meyerhold (; born ; 2 February 1940) was a Russian and Soviet theatre director, actor and theatrical producer. His provocative experiments dealing with physical being and symbolism in an unconventional theatre setting m ...

. After the dissolution of Meyerhold's theater, he returned to Zurich, where he helped to found the "Neues Schauspiel AG", which became the legal successor to the Schauspielhaus in Zurich. He served as the new company's first dramaturg and became its vice director in 1946. In 1961, he became the artistic and managing director of the Schauspielhaus Zurich.

Role in German-language Drama

Hirschfeld was one of the discoverers and early supporters of the Swiss playwrights

Max Frisch Max Rudolf Frisch (; 15 May 1911 – 4 April 1991) was a Swiss playwright and novelist. Frisch's works focused on problems of identity (social science), identity, individuality, Moral responsibility, responsibility, morality, and political commi ...

and

Friedrich Dürrenmatt Friedrich Dürrenmatt (; 5 January 1921 – 14 December 1990) was a Swiss author and dramatist. He was a proponent of epic theatre whose plays reflected the recent experiences of World War II. The politically active author's work included avant- ...

. He had a special interest in the dramatic works of

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

. Thanks to his personal friendship with Brecht, he was responsible for three premieres of Brecht's work during World War II.

Personal life

In 1952, Hirschfeld married Tetta Scharff, daughter of the sculptor Edwin Scharff. A year later, his daughter Ruth was born. He died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant tumor that begins in the lung. Lung cancer is caused by genetic damage to the DNA of cells in the airways, often caused by cigarette smoking or inhaling damaging chemicals. Damaged ...

in a sanatorium on the

Tegernsee Tegernsee () is a Town#Germany, town in the Miesbach (district), Miesbach district of Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the banks of Tegernsee (lake), Lake Tegernsee, which is 747 m (2,451 ft) AMSL, above sea level. A spa town, it is su ...

in 1964 at the age of 62. Kurt Hirschfeld was buried in Zürich's Israelitischer Friedhof Oberer Friesenberg.

References

Literature

Wendy Arons Wendy Arons (born 1964) is an American dramaturg, drama professor, and critic who specializes in ecodrama and German translation. She is currently a Professor of Dramatic Literature, Area Chair of Dramaturgy, and Director of the Center for the Ar ...

: “Kurt Hirschfeld and the Visionary Internationalism of the Schauspielhaus Zürich.�
''Theatre Survey'' 60.3
(September 2019): 385-413. * Doris Beckmann et al. (eds.): ''Kurt Hirschfeld'', Lehrte: Stadt Lehrte 1985 *

Hannes Heer Hans Georg Heer (known as ''Hannes'') (born 16 March 1941) is a German historian, chiefly known for the ''Wehrmachtsausstellung'' (German: "Wehrmacht Exhibition") in the 1990s. While controversial at that time, the exhibition is nowadays widely c ...

; Sven Fritz; Heike Brummer; Jutta Zwilling: ''Verstummte Stimmen: die Vertreibung der "Juden" und "politisch Untragbaren" aus den hessischen Theatern 1933 bis 1945''. Berlin: Metropol 2011 , pp. 228-230 * ''Lexikon deutsch-jüdischer Autoren'', vol. 12, Munich: Saur 2005, pp. 72–76

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hirschfeld, Kurt Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Switzerland German theatre directors 1902 births 1964 deaths Deaths from lung cancer in Switzerland