Fritz Löhner-Beda

Fritz Löhner-Beda, born Friedrich Löwy (born June 24, 1883, Wildenschwert/Ústí nad Orlicí, Bohemia – December 4, 1942, Auschwitz) was a Czech-Austrian librettist, lyricist and writer.

Life

In the 1920s he became one of the most sought-after librettists and lyricists of Vienna. Together with Franz Lehár as composer, Ludwig Herzer as co-author and Richard Tauber as singer he produced the operettas "Friederike" "(Frederica)" (1928), "Das Land des Lächelns" "(The Land of Smiles)" (1929) and, with Paul Knepler as co-author, "Giuditta" (1934). Together with his friend Alfred Grünwald as co-author and Paul Abraham as composer he produced "Viktoria und ihr Husar" "(Victoria and Her Hussar)" (1930), "Die Blume von Hawaii" "(Flower of Hawaii") (1931) and "Ball im Savoy" "(Ball at the Savoy)" (1932).

In mid-March 1938 Fritz Löhner-Beda was arrested and deported to the Dachau concentration camp on April 1, 1938. On September 23, 1938 he was displaced to the Buchenwald concentration camp. There he composed, together with his fellow prisoner Hermann Leopoldi, in the end of 1938 the famous anthem of the concentration camp, "Das Buchenwaldlied" "(The Buchenwald Song)":

His initial hope for an intercession by Franz Lehár was deceptive. On October 17, 1942 he was deported to the Monowitz concentration camp near Auschwitz. The circumstances of his death have been described by Raul Hilberg in "The Destruction of the European Jews": After an inspection by directors of the syndicate IG Farben at which the already diseased Löhner-Beda was denounced as working not hard enough he was beaten to death on December 4, 1942.

Famous songs

Among the most famous songs for which he wrote the lyrics are:

* "In der Bar zum Krokodil" "(In the crocodile bar"), music by Willy Engel-Berger
* "Du schwarzer Zigeuner" "(You black gypsy)", Tango, an adaptation of "Cikánka" by Karel Vacek
* "Drunt' in der Lobau" "(Down there in the Lobau)", music by Heinrich Strecker
* "Ausgerechnet Bananen" "(Of all things bananas)", an adaptation of "Yes, We Have No Bananas"
* "Ich hab’ mein Herz in Heidelberg verloren" "(I’ve lost my heart in Heidelberg"), music by Fred Raymond)
* "Oh, Donna Clara", Tango by Jerzy Petersburski
* "Wo sind deine Haare, August?" "(Where is your hair, August?)", Foxtrot by Richard Fall
* "Was machst du mit dem Knie, lieber Hans?" "(What are you doing with the knee, dear Hans?)", Pasodoble by Richard Fall
* "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz" "(Yours is my heart alone)" from "The Land of Smiles"
* "Freunde, das Leben ist lebenswert" "(Friends, life is worth living)" from "Giuditta"
* "Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß" "(My lips, they kiss so hotly)" from "Giuditta"

Literature references

* Günther Schwarberg: "Dein ist mein ganzes Herz. Die Geschichte von Fritz Löhner-Beda, der die schönsten Lieder der Welt schrieb, und warum Hitler ihn ermorden ließ," Steidl, Göttingen 2000 (German) ISBN 978-3882437157 (hardback) ISBN 978-3882438925 (paperback)
* Barbara Denscher, Helmut Peschina: "Kein Land des Lächelns. Fritz Löhner-Beda 1883–1942," Residenz, Salzburg 2002 (German) ISBN 978-3701713028

External links

*PND|12183557X
*imdb name|0530485