Ausstellung: »Der Hohnsteiner Kasper - Der Puppenspieler Harald Schwarz«

Vernissage on 07.12. at 6 pm
with an introduction by Markus Dorner, the director of the Museum für PuppentheaterKultur Bad Kreuznach and live puppet scenes from Hohnstein.

Duration of the exhibition: 07. December 2023 to 24. February 2024

The Hohnstein Kasper is famous. Since 1928, his creator Max Jacob and his puppet stage were based in Hohnstein in Saxon Switzerland. From here the characteristic figures with the carved heads went out into the world. Soon the "Kasperle Theater" developed from popular entertainment, which also served to inform, gossip, to a sophisticated theater genre. In 2021, the German UNESCO Commission finally included the traditional play principle of the "Kasper Theater" as a cultural asset worthy of protection in the "Intangible Cultural Heritage" list.

The puppeteer Harald Schwarz came from the Sudetenland. He was born in 1921 in Teplitz-Schönau - today's Teplice - on the German-Czech border and, after graduating from high school, began training at Max Jacob's stage. Harald Schwarz was extremely musical, a very experienced composer and accomplished performer. He was also the last Hohnstein stage manager who continued the Hohnstein tradition the longest and until 1995. For decades (from 1939 to the end of the 1960s) he performed the traditional or slightly modified Hohnstein Punch and Judy show of Jacob's style, which was popular with the general public. From 1970 he had completely different hand and stick figures made in Prague for a changed and strongly musical style of playing. These were made exclusively for Harald Schwarz by Vaclav Havlik and were distinguished by their size and long-distance effect. One of his most successful adult productions of this new era was the puppet theater adaptation "Der brave Soldat Schwejk" (1971).

Schwarz showed his plays for children and adults throughout Germany, in the Czech Republic, Italy, South America and the USA, acting as stage manager, puppeteer, lyricist and musician. Within the puppetry scene, he was a sought-after advisor, especially for young puppeteers.

By the way: Harald Schwarz was associated with the GHH for decades, at that time still called "Haus des Deutschen Ostens" (House of the German East), was a guest here a lot, was a friend of our former director Oskar Böse and also gave several puppetry courses in our house. Even the 50th stage anniversary of the Hohnsteiner Bühne was celebrated and performed in our house in Düsseldorf at that time.

Further plays in our house:

23.2.2024, 10.30 a.m.: Puppet theater children's performance "The Frog Prince".

23.02.2024, 19.00 clock: adult performance "Don Camillo and Peppone".

In cooperation with: Museum of Puppet Theater Culture, Cultural Department for the Bohemian Countries in the Adalbert Stifter Society