Walter Bruno Iltz

Walter Bruno Iltz (17 November 18865 November 1965) was a German stage actor, drama producer and theatre manager.

Life Provenance and early years Walter Bruno Iltz was born at Praust (as Pruszcz was known) before 1945), a small manufacturing town just outside Danzig/Gdańsk. In 1907, as he set off the study Chemistry at Munich, he seemed to be destined to follow his father's example and make his way in life as a pharmacist but by 1908 he had become an actor. His first recorded stage appearance took place that year at Schweidnitz in Silesia. Stage roles at the City Theatre in Zittau followed in 1909: that was followed by a longer period as a member of the company at the Lobe Theatre in Breslau/Wrocław between 1910 and 1913. There were probably also stage appearances at Detmold during this time.

Dresden Iltz worked between 1913 and 1924 at Dresden's newly built Royal Playhouse, and was still there when, several years after the abdications of the King of Saxony and the German emperor, it was renamed State Playhouse (Staatsschauspiel) for a new republican age. During his first few years at Dresden the Playhouse was under the direction of Karl Zeiss. Iltz built his skills and his reputation as a youthful character actor, while a member of a theatre company that also included Maria Fein and Theodor Becker (who shortly afterwards became a husband and wife partnership). under the direction of Berthold Viertel and co-starring with Emanuel Raul and Alice Verden. The Dresden production of the play, intended to "invent a new dimension and language on stage", resonated strongly with audiences and critics. The production was subsequently toured, first to the Landestheater in Stuttgart and then, in 1922, to the Lobe Theatre in Breslau, where Iltz had been a member of the company before the war. Iltz had by this time acquired a high profile as a stage presence in the theatre world. Max Brod dedicated his one-act drama (The Height of Feeling) – written in 1911 and published in 1913 but premiered only in 1918, at Dresden – to Iltz, whom the playwright described as "the outstanding presenter of [the star role of] Orosmin". Some fellow thespians were more than bemused by his "dictatorial approach", and the trades union congress even referenced his "anti-social conduct". He was nevertheless very successful in terms of results. The auditorium had space for 1,100 and the recently renovated building was suitable for plays, stage shows, operas and operettas.

Iltz became known as a youthful modernising theatre director, open minded and enthusiastic. During his three seasons at Gera he incorporated many new dramatists into the theatre calendar. One was Ernst Barlach. Iltz himself staged Barlach's "" (1925) and "" (1927). There was an early production of Brecht's Man Equals Man. Other relatively youthful playwrights featured were Arnolt Bronnen, Walter Hasenclever, Georg Kaiser Carl Zuckmayer and Fritz von Unruh. Many plays had their world premieres at Gera under Iltz's direction. These included works by Alexander Lernet-Holenia ("Saul"), André Gide ("The prodigal's return"), Diderot ("Est-il Bon? Est-il méchant?") and Rosso di San Secondo. She opened with a dance evening comprising Felix Petyrek's "Arabian suite" (featuring Georgi herself in a solo dance performance), Darius Milhaud's "Saudades do Brasil" and "Persisches Ballett" by Egon Wellesz. Georgi's innovative cheerfully comedic choreography caused a sensation across Germany, although according to at least one source the conservative locally based theatre goers of Gera mostly stayed away. On New Year's Eve at the end of 1925 there was a production of Vittorio Rieti's and Diaghilev's only recently unveiled choral-ballet "Barabau". Even critics from Berlin attended, and the production was toured both to the Leipzig Playhouse and to the Berlin People's Theatre. During 1926 Giorgi also choreographed Stravinsky's Pulcinella to widespread acclaim. Nevertheless, as 1926 drew to a close the entire dance troupe at Gera's Princely Reuß Theatre was dismissed "due to lack of public interest". Yvonne Georgi moved on to Hanover where her first evening production was of her own version of Pulcinella.

Iltz actively sought out young talent, undertaking trips across Germany to attend performances at small provincial theatres unannounced and normally unrecognised, on his talent spotting missions. It was also on one of his talent scouting trips that he came across Dorothea Neff, whom many years later he engaged to work for him in a succession of leading roles at the People's Theatre in Vienna, and who would later pay tribute to Iltz's courage and steadfastness during a murderous time (after 1938).

Audience numbers at the Princely Reuß Theatre in Gera peaked under Iltz's directorship, at 240,832 for the 1925/26 season.

Düsseldorf Between 1927 and 1937 Iltz was employed as General Intendant (Theatre Director) at the City Theatre in Düsseldorf. The City Theatre was a large prestigious establishment with two auditoria, used not just for stage dramas but also for opera and operetta. Following the death of its formidable co-founder-director Louise Dumont, in 1933 the Düsseldorf Play House was forcibly placed under a compulsory lease arrangement which effectively removed control from her co-founder-director, Gustav Lindemann, who was still very much alive. But Lindemann was seen by the authorities as unreliable at best, which meant no more performances could be staged with Lindemann in charge. After the government backed "Fighters for German Culture" ("Kampfbund für deutsche Kultur") had successfully choreographed Lindemann's removal from his post, management of the Düsseldorf Play House was entrusted to Iltz, leaving him with a small portfolio of Düsseldorf theatres to manage and fill. It is impossible to consider Iltz's ten years as Theatre Director in Düsseldorf without reference to the political context. The years between 1927 and 1932 were marked by intensifying populism across Germany which was reflected in growing political polarisation in Berlin, which increasingly spilled onto the streets. With voters rejecting moderation, parliament became deadlocked and government became increasingly ineffective except where it was deemed necessary to enact legislation by "emergency decree". This situation ended in January 1933 when the Hitler government exploited the political chaos (which its supporters had done so much to generate) to take power. Germany was quickly transformed into a one- party dictatorship. During Iltz's final four years at Düsseldorf, between 1933 and 1937, the shrill racism and antisemitism which the populist leaders had used to stir up hatred and anxieties on the streets emerged as a core underpinning of government strategy. Theatres were particularly badly impacted because of the large number of theatre people whom the government identified as Jewish. The fact that many people involved in the theatre were also supporters of left-wing causes and parties attracted further unwelcome attention from government backers. Among set designers employed in theatres operating under Iltz's direction were Caspar Neher (a long-standing professional associate of the high-profile left-wing socialist Bertolt Brecht), Hein Heckroth (who displeased Germany's new political masters by refusing to divorce his Jewish wife) and Traugott Müller. The risk to Müller from the new politics were less immediately obvious, although for those who believe that World War II was caused by "Nazism" Müller was also a Hitler victim, in the sense that he was killed in an air raid against Berlin in 1944. Karl Paryla, a committed Communist lost his job at Düsseldorf in 1933 and spent most of the Hitler years living and working in Switzerland. Ludwig Schmitz, despite taking the precaution of joining the party in 1937, would find himself branded in 1941 as having undertaken "unworthy conduct" by the authorities, and banned from appearing in film roles. Hanne Mertens had joined the party even sooner, in 1933, but would nevertheless find himself identified as a "fellow traveller of the party's enemies" and then, in 1944, arrested on suspicion of undermining the war effort. During the early months of 1945 Mertens was badly tortured at the concentration camp to which he had been sent at the instigation of the security services in Hamburg, and then, on 21/22/23 April 1945, killed by hanging. To these can be added Wolfgang Langhoff (who also spent many of the Hitler years in Swiss exile) and the Jewish actor Leon Askin who following the murder of his parents and himself suffering serious torture at the hands of government paramilitaries, was able to escape to the United States in 1940.

With the conductor Jascha Horenstein alongside him as the theatre's musical director, Iltz could apply his ideas for supporting Avant-garde productions from the outset. The two of them developed a superb working partnership, which enabled the City Theatre to present, with its musical productions, its own unique profile comparable in its impact to that of the Kroll Opera in Berlin under Klemperer. The theatre's reputation began to resonate far beyond the confines of its home region. However, Horenstein only accepted a full-time appointment at Düsseldorf in 1929. Before that, during his first couple of years as General Intendant. Iltz staged several German modern opera premieres. These early productions were all directed by Friedrich Schramm, with the musical direction entrusted to the conductor Hugo Balzer. They included Hindemith's "Cardillac" in 1927, Stravinsky's "Oedipus rex" in 1928 and "The tsar gets himself photographed" by Kurt Weill, also staged in 1928. Hindemith wrote to Iltz appreciatively: "It was only your Düsseldorf premiere that showed me how "Cardillac" can survive as part of the regular opera repertoire".

In 1929 Jascha Horenstein marked his arrival as Düsseldorf "Kapellmeister" by conducting the world premiere of "Schwanda the Bagpiper" by Jaromír Weinberger. That was followed in 1930 by German premiers of Ernst Krenek's burlesque operetta "Schwergewicht" and Ibert's Angélique, along with a spectacular production of Alban Berg's "Wozzeck", performed in the presence of the composer. Berg wrote to Iltz with careful precision, "I am happier with this production than with some premieres: yes, it makes me proud". The artistically and financially successful 1930/31 season brought the world premiere of "The Soldiers" by Manfred Gurlitt, and based on the 1776 stage play of the same name by Jakob Michael Reinhold Lenz, and concluded with a "Modern Opera Week", which was advertised with the sub-title ""Hauptwerke der modernen Musik" ("Principal works of modern music"). The works featured were Janáček's "From the House of the Dead" (in a production which Iltz directed himself), "The Lindbergh Flight" by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, Stravinsky's "Soldier's story" and another performance of "Wozzeck". All were conducted by Horenstein. The world premiere of what turned out to be Hans Pfitzner's final opera, "Das Herz", came later in 1931. One Düsseldorf highlight of the 1932 season was a production of Verdi's Macbeth (opera). Another, in a production which Iltz directed personally, with Horesntein in charge of the music, was of the newly released opera "The Pledge", authored and composed by the formidable twosome, Kurt Weill of Caspar Neher. The Düsseldorf production opened on 12 April 1932, just a month after the work had its premiere at Berlin under the direction of Carl Ebert. "The Pledge" nevertheless created difficulties for Iltz when the "Fighters for German Culture" ("Kampfbund für deutsche Kultur") demanded that the production be closed down on race grounds. (Kurt Weill was Jewish.)

It would take some weeks to discover how change of government in January 1933 would impact theatres in general, and the Düsseldorf City Theatre in particular. That year's productions included Hermann Reutter's "Prodigal's return" (based on the short story originally written by André Gide in 1907), along with the world premiere of "Der Rossknecht" (based on Richard Billinger's 1931 stage drama, and featuring the dramatic soprano Erna Schlüter) by Winfried Zillig, whose work had been personally recommended to Iltz a couple of years earlier by no lesser authority than Zillig's teacher, Arnold Schoenberg. The performances of "Der Rossknecht" were all conducted by Jascha Horenstein. However, the Düsseldorf production had to be discontinued after the brutal change of government in January 1933. It is nevertheless apparent that by this time, even in Berlin, there was a widespread appreciation among the culturally aware that under the leadership of Iltz and Horenstein Düsseldorf had become a torch bearer for progressive stage productions in Germany. However, with antisemitism made newly respectable with the takeover of political institutions by populists, it had become necessary to pay attention to political voices asserting that Jascha Horenstein embodied the "Judaization" of German theatre. When it came to music-based stage performances, Balzer's repertoire at Düsseldorf concentrated on composers of whom the authorities approved, most particularly Wagner, Mozart and Richard Strauss. In 1934 there was a production of Ariadne auf Naxos which employed set designs by Caspar Neher. In the same year Iltz also staged "Tristan und Isolde" with Erna Schlüter, "Walküre" and "Magic Flute", together with Offenbach's ever-popular "Tales of Hoffmann". Newer works were not entirely overlooked. Krenek's evidently uncontentious burlesque operetta "Schwergewicht" was revived. 1935 saw a world premiere at Düsseldorf for Ludwig Maurick's "" (Jörg Tilmann's journey home), a production staged, according to one source, expressly for Alfred Rosenberg's "National Socialist Cultural Communities". In a pioneering move he set out to adapt the opera stage at an opera house as the "Dance stage for the City of Düsseldorf", with a ballet troupe given the independence to perform its own repertoire, rather than being permanently subservient to opera house programming when setting their programmes. Between 1929 and 1933 Loeser presided over a troupe of between 8 and 13 ballet dancers presenting "classical forms of dance in a sardonically "classical forms of dance in a sardonically modern style". She choreographed a new dance programme for Darius Milhaud's "Saudades do Brasil" and two ballet suites by Stravinsky "for small orchestra". Loesser had to be dismissed in 1933: she was Jewish. Other (subsequently forgotten) overtly political Düsseldorf stage productions from this time includes world premieres of "Das Gastmahl der Götter" by Paul Joseph Cremers and the so-called "Goya" drama, "Genie ohne Volk", written by Viktor Warsitz for inclusion in the "Fourth National Theatre Week" on 15 June 1937, with Werner Krauss in the lead role. On 23 September 1936, supported by a nationwide publicity campaign, the theatre unveiled a reworking by Iltz himself of Grabbe's nineteenth century stage drama Die Hermannsschlacht. The Iltz adaptation consisted of a heavily cut down "collage" based on what Grabbe had conceived as a three-day production. It was presented on the Düsseldorf stage as a so-called "Führerdrama", indicating official endorsement and, with the populists not yet discredited, virtually guaranteeing success with audiences. The Iltz version unapologetically referenced contemporary political trends.

Conflicts with the party In March 1932 Iltz had a serious disagreement with local leaders of the "Fighters for German Culture" ("Kampfbund für deutsche Kultur") when they called for the production of Kurt Weill's "The Pledge" at the City Theatre to be abruptly closed. "We want the German artists, who see themselves as the servants and creators of Germany's cultural assets. It troubles us to see the best German art twisted in a Jewish way." ("Wir wollen den deutschen Künstler, der sich als Diener und Gestalter deutschen Kulturgutes fühlt!) Wir sind es leid, beste deutsche Kunst in einer jüdischen Manier verborgen zu sehen! Colleagues and employees at the theatre were forbidden from complying with the invidious pressures. He also produced a nine-page carefully crafted reply on the racism issue, in which he attempted to argue the case in terms to which his populist opponents and their mentors might be able to relate. in which he pointed out how many of the greatest masterpieces in Germany's long cultural heritage had been the result of close collaboration between Jews and non-Jews. He cited the example of Mozart's work with Lorenzo Da Ponte and the productive collaboration of the composer Otto Nicolai with the (Jewish) librettist Salomon Hermann Mosenthal. He insisted on his duty to direct the theatre for which he was responsible and refused to implement the "personnel policy" demanded by the National Socialists. In summary:

"... the repertoire of a publicly subsidised playhouse has to be the based on a consistently applied will, and that will can only be that of the theatre director. He is required to combine expertise and theatre experience with an artistic sense informed by objectivity and a truly impartial judgment. ... While I am in fundamental agreement with your opinion on the 'foreigners question', that German personnel are to be preferred to foreigners of equal ability, when it comes to employing Jews I depart fundamentally from your viewpoint. ... Here there are differences that even a blind antisemitism – which you yourself do not represent here – could hardly dispute: namely the difference between the demon of Judaism, which is certainly worth fighting against, and the spirit of Judaism. To be sure we are all bound together by race and as a people, but alongside and above the laws of nature we still must take account of human spirit and will. In the performing and representative arts, in particular, there are many Jews who have a profound love and admiration for Germany's cultural richness, and who place themselv4es at the service of German artistry. Outsiders, in particular, can often recognise the cultural richness than we ourselves". Ernst Josef Aufricht – a Berlin theatre director who would emigrate to Switzerland in 1933, and later to France and then America – was among the first to congratulate Iltz: "I marvel at your incredibly clever and clean reply". Openly defending Jewish colleagues as he did, especially in the light of the government mandated intensification of race hatred after the 1933 change of government, led to a deepening hostility against Iltz in government circles. In February 1933, just a couple of weeks after the Hitler government took power in Berlin, he was the target of a deeply menacing and personalised press attack in "Volksparole", the Düsseldorf region daily newspaper of the NSDAP in connection with the fiftieth anniversary of the Wagner's death. The catalyst for the attack was the City Theatre's anniversary celebrations and the involvement in them of the venue's (Jewish) musical director, Jascha Horenstein:

"Unfortunately Mr. Horenstein conducted the opening concert. We must write 'unfortunately', because it is unthinkable that the German Theatre in Düsseldorf can find no German conductor for a Wagner celebration, meaning that Mr Sascha (sic) Horenstein must be called to the rostrum. This shows a total disregard for what is required. When a German is celebrated the matter is a German one and needs to be dealt with accordingly: this is not the case where Jascha Horenstein conducts. This should not upset Jascha Horenstein: it is no more than an irrefutable statement of fact ... Wagner was one of a few men who saw long before the rest just how Jews are able to endanger and damage the German way of life. ... Mayor Lehr and Theatre Director Iltz will need to adapt. Otherwise, some day soon it will become necessary to find a way to ensure that in German Düsseldorf the real German spirit and all the branches of German culture will be properly valued. ..... Mr. Iltz still has not understood the signs of the times, and does not want to be parted from his darling [Jewish music director]. Mr. Iltz, who did not want to hear when there was still time, will now have to watch while those things that he has neglected to undertake of his own free will, will be carried through in defiance of his will. The Russian Jew Horenstein must disappear from the Düsseldorf theatre." and by the end of March 1933 he had fled to Paris (where on account of previous tours under happier circumstances he already had an established professional reputation).

During 1933 company members identified as Jewish were made to leave the Düsseldorf Theatre. That meant the loss of Leon Askin (1907–2005), Leopold Lindtberg (1902–1984) and Erwin Parker (1903–1987). A number of other Jewish actors and chorus singers along with the dance mistress Ruth Loeser were also forced to leave. The continued presence in the company of the actors Bruno Hübner (1899–1983) and Wolfgang Langhoff (1901–1966) were also determined to be unacceptable by Düsseldorf party leaders. There was no suggestion that either of these last two was Jewish, but both were known communists. After 1933 Walter Iltz increasingly focused on opera productions, while leaving stage drama and concerts to Alexander Schneider, the dramaturge the party had inflicted on the theatre. In 1936 he confided his dissatisfaction to Joseph Goebbels, the Propaganda Minister in Hitler's government between 1933 and 1945, about the deathly atmosphere ("resonanzlose Atmosphäre"). Goebbels had been born in the Rhineland and grown up near Mönchengladbach, not far from Düsseldorf. During December 1933 he attended three productions at the Düsseldorf Theatre, after which he became a possibly implausible but nevertheless effective protector at the highest level of government for Wolfgang Iltz between the end of 1933 and 1945.

In 1937 Iltz's contract as Düsseldorf Theatre Director came up for renewal, but the city administration refused to renew it. His re-appointment was evidently vetoed by and/or on behalf of the local party. The detailed background is unclear, but the fact that Iltz was still not a party member, and the way in which he had stood out against government antisemitism, were clearly factors. Iltz secured a new position as a Theatre Director in Stuttgart, but the necessary arrangements were blocked after party leaders in the Düsseldorf city administration intervened with colleagues in Stuttgart. The mayor of Düsseldorf, Hans Wagenführ, told Joseph Goebbels that Iltz was "being badly treated by the [Düsseldorf] authorities". In a subsequent telephone conversation Goebbels obtained confirmation that the reason for the non-renewal of Iltz's contract by the authorities was that he had "given preferential treatment to Jews and Communists", [which was] contrary to National Socialism.

At the 1937 "Reichsfestspiele" drama festival in Heidelberg Iltz staged a production of Romeo and Juliet. The lead actors were Gisela Uhlen – still only 18, Lina Carstens and René Deltgen. The set designer was Traugott Müller. )

Vienna On 1 September 1938 the Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda appointed Walter Iltz General Intendant (Theatre Director) at the German People's Theatre (as it was commonly advertised at the time) in Vienna. He took care over the appropriate allocation of productions to play directors. Productions that risked becoming seen as politically he would direct himself, or allocate either to Walter Ullmann or to the uncompromisingly Hitlerite Günther Haenel. The actor-director Günther Haenel was given the "high-quality literary pieces" from 1942. During the final couple of years under Iltz's directorship there were even one or two productions that manifested unambiguous opposition to aspects of government policy. This development was consistent with Iltz's management style. After Erhard Siedel left the company he recruited Haenel, who soon became the centre of a group of artistes hostile to the government and were prepared, very cautiously, to express their political attitudes from the stage.

For attentive audience members Haenel's productions of Shaw's "Saint Joan" (1943) and of Ferdinand Raimund's magical fantasy piece "Diamond of the Spirit King" (1944), both using stage sets by Gustav Manker, were unmistakable invitations to political resistance, both of them tolerated by Iltz.

The significance of Iltz's instinctively liberal approach as Theater Director at the Vienna People's Theatre after 1938, and the ways in which – apparently through nothing more mysterious than the sheer force of his powerful personality and wide-ranging talent, political sensibilities, reputation and connections – he was able to look after the actors and other members of the company, was recalled appreciatively by the actress Inge Konradi long after Iltz himself had retired and died:

"That the People's Theatre became an island for us, is thanks to the huge commitment and courage of Theatre Director Iltz. You really have to set him on a podium: he was the life saver of the People's Theatre. He had many highly stressed artists in the company, whom he protected through the war years, and many of whom later achieved life-long successful theatre careers. He knew exactly the risk he was taking when he entrusted Haenel with the productions of "Saint Joan" and "Diamond of the Spirit King". He was a man of very exceptional personal courage." ("Daß das Volkstheater eine Insel für uns war, ist dem großen Einsatz und Mut von Walter Bruno Iltz zu verdanken.) Man müsste ihn eigentlich auf ein Podesterl stellen, denn er war der Lebensretter des Volkstheaters. Er hat viele belastete Künstler an seinem Haus gehabt, sie über den Krieg hin beschützt und viele unkündbare Stellungen erreicht. Er hat genau gewusst welches Risiko er eingeht, wenn er Haenel mit der Regie für ‚Die heilige Johanna' und ‚Der Diamant des Geisterkönigs' beauftragt. Sein persönlicher Mut besitzt Seltenheitswert".

After 1945 During 1946/47 Iltz was employed as General Intendant (Theatre Director) at the City Theatre in Nuremberg, with a contract that ran to 31 August 1947. Recognising the injustice of his situation, Iltz launched an appeal with the Nuremberg Court of Arbitration. He concluded with the assertion that he had "never sympathised with the [National Socialist] party". A Denazification Commission later backed his position with a clear assessment of their own: "... on the Jewish question, Iltz took a courageous attitude". ".... zu keiner Zeit in propagandistischem Sinne für die Partei [eingesetzt hatte]". Under Iltz' leadership the theatre acquired the "Wunder von Braunschweig" soubriquet in some quarters, attracting the largest audiences of any theatre in what became, after May 1949, the German Federal Republic (West Germany). in 1951 the opportunity arose to return to the Rhineland, where he had built his career and reputation during the 1920s and 1930. In 1951 he accepted the position of General Intendant (Theatre Director) at the City Theatre in Düsseldorf. The contract was concluded on 6 April 1951. Iltz was by this time 65, and his appointment to the Düsseldorf position was seen as a "short-term solution" by the theatre administrators, but he very quickly established himself for a new generation of critics and audiences for providing "solid musical theatre with interesting accents". A full return of live theatre to Düsseldorf after the war took some time to achieve, but when Iltz arrived in 1951, the stellar actor-director Gustaf Gründgens was already installed at the city theatre with a directorial remit, and a division of responsibilities was immediately established whereby Iltz handled the musical dramas while Gründgens organised and directed the speech drama side of the operation. Five months later, in September 1951, the speech drama was transferred out to the newly (re-)opened "New Playhouse" (subsequently superseded) nearby, along the Jahnstraße.

Walter Bruno Iltz died a couple of weeks short of what would have been his seventy-ninth birthday on 5 November 1965 at "Iltzenhof", his country home in Tegernsee, a small town set in the mountains east of Garmisch.