Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1930s-1940s (Creation)
Extent and medium
170 frames
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
The Laterndl theatre opened on 21 June 1939 at the address of the Austrian Centre, 126 Westbourne Terrace. It was conceived of as a Kleinkunstbühne. Kleinkunst was a term created in the 1930s for a type of anti-Nazi cabaret. It is described as being at the serious end of the comic market, and whilst it included many of the elements common to cabaret, it didn't include the more frivolous and bohemian.
Martin Miller was responsible for production as well as being one of the main character actors. The writers were Franz Hartl, Hugo Königsgarten, Rudolf Spitz, and Hans Weigel. Kurt Manschinger dealt with the music, décor was by Carl Josefovics and costumes by Käthe Berl. The actors were Lona Cross, Greta Hartwig, Willy Kennedy, Jaro Klüger, Fritz Schrecker, Sylvia Steiner and Marianne Walla.
The theatre moved to 153 Finchley Road and then to 69 Eton Avenue by November 1941. One of the most famous achievements associated with 'das Laterndl' was the Martin Miller's spoof Hitler broadcast on April Fools' Day, 1940, in which Hitler claimed that Columbus had discovered America with the aid of German science, giving Germany territorial claim. A text of the speech is included in this collection.
Repository
Archival history
GB 1556 WL 599b 1930s-1940s Collection level 170 frames 'Das Laterndl' theatre
The Laterndl theatre opened on 21 June 1939 at the address of the Austrian Centre, 126 Westbourne Terrace. It was conceived of as a Kleinkunstbühne. Kleinkunst was a term created in the 1930s for a type of anti-Nazi cabaret. It is described as being at the serious end of the comic market, and whilst it included many of the elements common to cabaret, it didn't include the more frivolous and bohemian.
Martin Miller was responsible for production as well as being one of the main character actors. The writers were Franz Hartl, Hugo Königsgarten, Rudolf Spitz, and Hans Weigel. Kurt Manschinger dealt with the music, décor was by Carl Josefovics and costumes by Käthe Berl. The actors were Lona Cross, Greta Hartwig, Willy Kennedy, Jaro Klüger, Fritz Schrecker, Sylvia Steiner and Marianne Walla.
The theatre moved to 153 Finchley Road and then to 69 Eton Avenue by November 1941. One of the most famous achievements associated with 'das Laterndl' was the Martin Miller's spoof Hitler broadcast on April Fools' Day, 1940, in which Hitler claimed that Columbus had discovered America with the aid of German science, giving Germany territorial claim. A text of the speech is included in this collection.
Hanna Norbert, wife of Martin Miller
Material relating to the Austrian exile theatre, 'Das Laterndl', including performance programmes, press cuttings and reviews, photographs, Fritz Gross poem dedicated to Jura, 'Zyklus'. Also included in the collection is material relating to the life and work of Jura Soyfer, a young Austrian communist party member who was recognised as leading social commentator in the 1930s and who was arrested after the Austrian Anschluss in 1938 and died in Buchenwald in 1939.
Filmed in no discernible order
Open
Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.
German, English
Microfilm
Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk.
Entry compiled by Howard Falksohn.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
November 2007 Das Laterndl Exiles Gross , Fritz , 1887-1946 , author Migrants Miller , Martin , fl 1939-1941 , actor Nazism Political doctrines Political theatre Soyfer , Jura , 1912-1939 Theatre Third Reich Totalitarianism Performing arts
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Hanna Norbert, wife of Martin Miller
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Material relating to the Austrian exile theatre, 'Das Laterndl', including performance programmes, press cuttings and reviews, photographs, Fritz Gross poem dedicated to Jura, 'Zyklus'. Also included in the collection is material relating to the life and work of Jura Soyfer, a young Austrian communist party member who was recognised as leading social commentator in the 1930s and who was arrested after the Austrian Anschluss in 1938 and died in Buchenwald in 1939.
System of arrangement
Filmed in no discernible order
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
German, English
Finding aids
Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk.
Access points
Subject access points
Description control area
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Language(s)
- English