Wälterlin, Oskar

(1895-1961)

   Director, manager. Wälterlin was a native Swiss who from 1938 to 1945 ran the Zurich Schauspielhaus as the most important German-speaking theater in Europe. Wälterlin had begun his career in Basel as an actor and managed the theater there until 1932. For the next five years, he directed the Frankfurt am Main Opera, and in 1938 he assumed artistic leadership of a formerly private theater called the Volkstheater am Pfauen; that year, it had become the property of a private-public consortium, which renamed it the Schauspielhaus. Wälterlin hired several expatriate German performers, including Therese Giehse, Albert Bassermann, and Wolfgang Langhoff, presenting a repertoire that included contemporary plays by anti-Nazi playwrights. Among the most notable world premieres at the Schauspielhaus were Bertolt Brecht's MutterCourage und ihre Kinder (Mother Courage and Her Children) with Giehse in the title role. Pro-Nazi crowds in Zurich frequently but unsuccessfully attempted to shut it and other productions down, though many could continue only with protection from Zurich police officials. Wälterlin's political acumen with local officials, along with his ability to secure financial support from individuals, was instrumental in the survival of the Schauspielhaus. From the late 1940s through the 1950s, Wälterlin continued to stage world premieres, including plays by Carl Zuckmayer, Max Frisch, and Friedrich Dürrenmatt.