Reinhard Schwabenitzky

Reinhard Schwabenitzky (23 April 1947 – 9 February 2022) was an Austrian film director, producer and screenwriter.

Life and career Reinhard Schwabenitzky was born in his maternal grandmother's pub in the remote hamlet of Bucheben, a long walk along the valley to the south of Rauris, which is a small town in the mountains of the State of Salzburg, positioned an hour or so by car (in the summers) to the south of Salzburg itself. Gerhard Klingenberg, his father, was an actor. He now had more time for cinema visits, and he resumed playing in a band. During summers in 1967/68 he took work as a lighting technician during the Salzburg Festival, which led to encounters with the musical stars of the day, including Herbert von Karajan, Karl Böhm, Jacqueline du Pré and Oscar Fritz Schuh. He gained admission to the University of Vienna to study not the film directing course but the camera course. He had by this time taken to 8 mm film photography as a hobby. However, once he had enrolled at the university, he was eventually able to switch to a more appropriate curriculum package. He also found time to take plenty of casual work in film and television production, and when there was no casual work he could sometimes be found in a dark corner at the Burgtheater during rehearsals, watching and learning. While still a student Reinhard Schwabenitzky married. His son, Markus, was born a year later: his daughter, Martina, two years after that. There were also various cinema movies produced with the stage polymath Dieter Hallervorden.

After more than fifteen years in Bavaria, Schwabenitzky returned to Austria, by now accompanied by Elfi Eschke, his second wife. He continued to enjoy popular success, notably with the Austrian television series Kaisermühlen Blues (1992/93) and Oben ohne (2005-2011), both of which achieved cult status. In 2018 Schwabenitzky published his novel Stille Nacht und das Geheimnis der Zauberflöte.

Schwabenitzky died on 9 February 2022, at the age of 74 and was buried in Irrsdorf near Straßwalchen.

Selected filmography (1977, TV film) (1979, TV film) Parole Chicago (1979, TV series) Tour de Ruhr (1981, TV miniseries) (1984) (1988) Eis am Stiel, 8. Teil – Summertime Blues (1988) (1991) Verlassen Sie bitte Ihren Mann (1993) An Almost Perfect Affair (1996) Hannah (1996) She, Me & Her (2002)