Werner Wüthrich

Dr. Werner Wüthrich studied theater, german literature, and philosophy in Vienna. He has worked as a freelance dramatist and author since 1972 and has worked on various theatrical performances and publications, including the monograph Bertolt Brecht und die Schweiz. He has curated various exhibits, served on scholarly commissions, and lectured at universities with a focus on exile theater and Bertolt Brecht.

"This is Dr. Kurt Hirschfeld, chieftain of the courage Züricher Schauspielhaus…“—Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Hirschfeld and the Schauspielhaus Zurich

Like Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Hirschfeld, Dramaturg at the Schauspielhaus Zürich, was a refugee caught between worlds. Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Hirschfeld shared a homeland—whether they lived in Germany or in exile—their homeland was the theater.

This paper will address this “homeland,” the creation of experimental theater, as well as the major Brecht premieres at the Schauspielhaus Zurich, Brecht and Hirschfeld’s collaboration on the premiere of Mr. Puntil and his Man Matti in 1948, and the friendship between the two men, which survived the darkest years of exile and the cold war thanks to their joint engagement for contemporary theater.

Panel – Kurt Hirschfeld after 1945 –