The Theater am Hechtplatz is a theatre in the German-speaking Switzerland situated at Limmatquai in Zürich. Founded in 1959 as a Cabaret, it's owned and provided by the government of the city of Zürich.
19-594: To give a solid performance venue to the Swiss cabaret, Theater am Hechtplatz was founded on the initiative of Dionysius Gurny, secretary of Emil Landolt, then the mayor of the city of Zürich. On 25 April 1959 the opening took place with the program "Eusi chliini city" by the Cabaret Fédéral . The city loaned the theater to Otto Weissert, director of the Cabaret Fédéral, under the preserve that it had to serve temporarily as
38-503: A Class B object of regional importance. Cabaret F%C3%A9d%C3%A9ral The Cabaret Cornichon (English: Gherkin cabaret ) was a Swiss cabaret company. It existed from 1934 to 1951 and was founded by Otto Weissert, Walter Lesch , Emil Hegetschweiler and Alois Carigiet . They were later joined by, among others, Max Werner Lenz, Elsie Attenhofer , Voli Geiler, Margrit Rainer , Ruedi Walter , Heinrich Gretler , Zarli Carigiet , Karl Meier and Alfred Rasser . The musical director
57-575: A "Ehepaar Ehrsam" in the popular satirical radio program "Spalebärg 77a" (1955–1965, filmed in 1957, in 1962 as a musical) and in numerous popular dialect plays and farces. Walter and Rainer were during thirty years probably the most popular entertainment duo in Switzerland. At the Schauspielhaus Zürich , they had great success in "Die Kleine Niederdorf-Oper" (1951 and 1959) and in 1954 in "Der schwarze Hecht". Great touring successes were among others
76-466: A knee surgery: Ruedi Walter rests at the cemetery of Buch am Irchel . The appreciative designation Volksschauspieler used by the Swiss press, remained for years without a comment by Ruedi Walter. Shortly before he died, Walter said: The term takes me proud, because I feel accepted by the people as one of them . Ruedi-Walter-Strasse in Zürich-Oerlikon was named after the popular actor. Walter
95-529: A second stage of Schauspielhaus Zürich . Schauspielhaus soon suspended for financial reasons, the Cabaret Fédéral was resolved, and Weissert was appointed as director of Schauspielhaus. In 1961 the operation of the theater was therefore associated to a department of the Zürich mayor's office, the present Präsidialdepartement ; since 1971 the theater is subsidized by the city of Zürich. Headed by Gurny, Felix Rogner, Rudolf Sauser, Nicolas Baerlocher and Dominik Flaschka,
114-776: A volunteer and later as an administrator in London at the Twining-Crossfield tea company. In 1939 Walter returned to Switzerland where he initially was hired as an employee of the advertising department of the Maggi company in Kemptthal (and end of 1940 in Basel). In August 1939 Ruedi Walter was drafted on occasion of the mobilization of the Swiss Army to perform military service during World War II. Trained by Eva Bernoulli and Margit von Tolnai and at
133-690: The Cold War . While some of its members sided with the political left, those in opposition founded the Cabaret Fédéral in 1949. Ruedi Walter Rudolf " Ruedi " Walter (born Hans Rudolf Häfeli , 10 December 1916 – 16 June 1990), was a Swiss comedian, actor and radio personality usually starring in Swiss German-language cinema and television and stage productions. Born in Solothurn to Pauline née Furter and Rudolf, Hans Rudolf Häfeli's family moved from Solothurn to Basel in 1921. There he attended
152-569: The Zürcher Märchenbühne which annually produces a fairy tale for children during the winter months, starring among others Vincenzo Biagi, Paul Bühlmann , Inigo Gallo , Walter Andreas Müller , Bella Neri, Margrit Rainer , Jörg Schneider , Peter W. Staub, Schaggi Streuli , Ines Torelli , Erich Vock and Ruedi Walter . The theatre respectively building is listed in the Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance as
171-743: The Basel conservatory, from 1941 Ruedi Walter and his sister Gertrud Heffler, worked as side jobs in small roles at Stadttheater Basel . From 1943 to 1946 Walter played in Alfred Rasser 's Cabaret Cactus in Basel, among others in Rasser's productions "HD soldier Läppli" and "Democrat Läppli". In 1944 he joined the Swiss soldiers stage Bäretatze , and from 1948 to 1950 he was a member of the Cabaret Cornichon ensemble in Zürich. There he met Margrit Rainer , with whom he first appeared as cabaret duo in 1951, then as
190-546: The Zürcher Märchenbühne, literary matinees and jazz concerts, are also part of the small theater's program. The theater is located at the small Hechtplatz square on the upper Limmatquai , opposite of the Bauschänzli respectively Frauenbad Stadthausquai , near the present Bellevueplatz in Zürich. It was built by Leohnard Zeugherr as a one-story commercial building to house shops and small business in 1835, later it
209-465: The dialect adaption of Arthur Lovegrove 's "Goodnight, Mrs. Puffin!" in 1969, in 1977 "D'Mueter wott nur s'Bescht", and in 1980 "Potz Millione", both directed by Rainer's spouse Inigo Gallo . At Schauspielhaus Walter played among others, in 1956 the blind eunuch Loby in the premiere of Friedrich Dürrenmatt 's play Der Besuch der alten Dame (The Visit of the Old Lady), and in 1984 the title role in
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#1732876202388228-681: The premiere of "Dr neu Noah". In addition, Walter worked from 1969 to 1985 under the direction of Jörg Schneider in several children's fairy tales and musicals at the Bernhard-Theater Zürich , where in 1980 Walter played alongside Jörg Schneider in the Swiss German adaption Warte uf de Godot ( Waiting For Godot ). After Margrith Rainer's death, Walter toured from 1983 to 1985 with "Drei Männer im Schnee" and in Mary Chase 's "My Fründ Hanspi" (Swiss German version of Harvey ). Ruedi Walter
247-585: The primary school, the college for mathematics and natural sciences ( Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliches Gymnasium ) and the business school where he graduated at the Maturität level. Still in Basel, Walter began an apprenticeship at a company for bakery and confectionery supplies that went bankrupt, and assumably in 1937 he moved to France, where he attended lessons at the Sorbonne and language lessons in Paris. He worked as
266-624: The strong and widespread political will of the Swiss to defend the country’s independence and democratic constitution against the Nazis. The cabaret was established in opposition to the right-wing organization known as the ‘Frontenbewegung’, whose views mirrored those of the National Socialist Party in Germany. After the Second World War , the cabaret split up amid the political tensions of
285-819: The theater became one of the main stages for cabaret in Switzerland. In guest performances of varying length, it shows mainly domestic, but also cabaret of artists from outside of Switzerland, among others by Alfred Rasser , César Keiser and Margrit Läubli , Franz Hohler , Georg Kreisler, Kaspar Fischer, Joachim Rittmeyer, and Lorenz Keiser. Chanson, folklore, pantomime and clowns, as Dmitri and Gardi Hutter and puppet theater. A second program focus form – often as equity or co-productions – musicals, and comedies by Swiss authors, among them Ursula Schaeppi , Jörg Schneider , Hans Gmür and Peter Zeindler , with popular Swiss actresses and actors, such as Ruedi Walter , Walter Roderer , Ines Torelli , Stephanie Glaser and Anne-Marie Blanc . Children's shows such as guest performances by
304-629: Was a citizen of the municipality of Dübendorf in the Canton of Zürich where he lived in his late years, and citizen of Seengen in the Canton of Aargau . Irène Camarius, a Swiss actress born as Marthe Irène Liechti, and Walter married in 1962. They had two children, and lived in Gockhausen , a locality of Dübendorf. Until his death Walter stood on the stage and on the movies, though his eyesight greatly subsided. He died unexpectedly on complications after
323-632: Was a popular actor who played adorable-smart roles, shaping the hearts of his audience. He sat always for professional dialect theater and appeared in numerous vernacular versions of modern dramas, including as Karl Knie in Jörg Schneider 's dialect edition of Carl Zuckmayer 's "Katharina Knie" in 1985 in a circus tent at Zürichhorn , and in the title roles of television adaption of Molière's The Miser and The Imaginary Invalid . Walter embodied numerous other roles in film and television, and in various recordings of Swiss German language farces. Walter
342-414: Was the pianist, Nico Kaufmann . From autumn 1950 to spring of 1951, Margrit Läubli appeared in the last programs of Cabaret Cornichon. The Cabaret Cornichon was essentially an entertainment cabaret but, inspired by the ideals of what later became known as 'Geistige Landesverteidigung' ('national' spiritual defence ), it also opposed fascism and Nazism . The term "Geistige Landesverteidigung" refers to
361-607: Was used as a fire station at the Limmatquai . In 1958/59 it was rebuilt by Ernst Gisel in a theatre with adjacent café/bar, since 1981 the theater is a listed building. Its exterior was renewed and the foyer was rebuilt by Martin Spühler in 1987. The theater houses a proscenium stage (7m x 3,6m/5.8m x 4.8m) with an auditorium that haves a seating capacity of up to 260 spectators. As well as the Bernhard-Theater in 1961/63, it also houses
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