Trudi Gerster (6September 191927April 2013) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

actress, fairy tale

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

and politician.

Education and early life

Prior to attending school, Gerster was already well-educated and literate. As a student, she entertained her classmates by narrating her favourite fairy tales. Following her graduation from the gymnasium, she performed in several plays, singing and acting, while taking rhetoric lessons in Zurich. Around this time, she had been offered an education in

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, but her father did not support the idea of Gerster studying in

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due to the growing influence of

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

. In 1939, she was employed as a fairy tale narrator at the

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Children's Paradise of the . Her performance received wide acclaim, and in the following year she was employed by the National Swiss radio station SR DRS.

Professional career

While working as a fairy tale narrator, Gerster made extensive use of the

LP record The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and ...

a new medium at the time. She learnt new techniques so that she could adapt her voice to a multitude of characters through a variety of vocal ranges. She performed all of her characters' sounds and would rehearse all of the squeaks, grunts and hums specific to them. In 1941, Gerster received a contract as a "young naive" at the

Theater St. Gallen The Theater St. Gallen is a performing arts center for opera, musical, ballet, and theatre in St. Gallen, Switzerland, and considered to be the oldest professional theatre in Switzerland. It is a Swiss heritage site of national significance. A ...

and was a member of the ensemble until 1946. She then married Walter Jenny and moved to Basel. When her daughter was born in 1950, she adapted her professional life and focused once again on fairy tales. From 1950 onward, she moderated a children's program for the radio station

DRS 1 Radio SRF 1 is a Swiss radio channel, one of six operated by Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF), with its headquarters in Zürich. It was launched in 1931 as Radio Beromünster (named after the Beromünster municipality on which its original ...

. As some opponents tried to ban her from the state radio, it caused fierce resistance by her listeners, whose protests were more successful than her opponents. She also appeared as a guest on the Swiss TV soap opera '' Lüthi and Blanc'' in 2005. Her last public appearance, at over 90 years of age, was in

Fribourg , Location of , Location of () () or , ; or , ; gsw, label=Swiss German, Frybùrg ; it, Friburgo or ; rm, Friburg. is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), ...

Political career

After Basel allowed women to take part in political life in 1966, she became a member of the

Grand Council of Basel Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and com ...

in 1968, which she stayed until 1980. She was elected as an independent in 1968, the first elections of the council which allowed women to run. She later joined the

Alliance of Independents The Alliance of Independents, Ring of Independents, or National Ring of Independents, (german: Landesring der Unabhängigen (LdU), french: Alliance des Indépendants (AdI), it, Anello degli Indipendenti) was a social liberal political party in ...

. She advocated for the abolition of

nuclear power plants A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces ele ...

, the protection of trees, and supported initiatives related to cultural affairs. Due to her proficiency in public speaking, her speeches in parliament were often acclaimed.

Personal life

Gerster married Walter Jenny in 1946. They had two children, a son and a daughter.

Legacy

Trudi Gerster was well known amongst the general public and by the early 1970s has recorded over fifty LP's. But she also performed in cafes or warehouses and often disguised as a fairy lady. The Swiss actor and talk show moderator Viktor Giacobbo described her as a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are al ...

for fairy tales in the Swiss-german region. In 2009, the film ''Trudi Gerster– Die Märlikönigin'' (Trudi Gerster–Fairy Tale Queen) was released.

Awards

* 2005

Prix Walo The Prix Walo is the most important award in Swiss show business. It is known as the " Swiss Oscar". Awards since 1994 Honorable - Walo - awards * 1983: Charly Fritsche * 1991: Eynar Grabowsky * 1992: Willi Schmidt, First Harmonic Brass Band ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerster, Trudi 1919 births People from St. Gallen (city) 20th-century Swiss women politicians 20th-century Swiss politicians 1993 deaths Fairy tales Swiss-German people Swiss German language 20th-century Swiss actresses 21st-century Swiss actresses