Topsy Küppers (17 August 1931 – 14 June 2025) was an Austrian writer, singer,

soubrette A soubrette is a female minor stock character in opera and theatre, often a pert lady's maid. By extension, the term can refer generally to any saucy or flirtatious young woman. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means " ...

, actress and

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

of German origin.

Life

Born in Aachen, Germany, the foundation stone for Küppers' career as an actress was laid by Ursula Staudte, who taught her according to the so-called '' Stanislawski principle''. However, according to her own statement, the greatest influence was

Trude Hesterberg Trude Hesterberg (2 May 1892 – 31 August 1967) was a German film actress. She appeared in 89 films between 1917 and 1964. Selected filmography * ''Ein Schwerenöter'' (1916) – Liddy * ''Die Eheschule'' (1917) * ''Die Reise ins Jenseits ...

, who taught her the chanson and its interpretation. Küppers then took her exams at the Bühnengenossenschaft, which had Gustaf Gründgens on its board of examiners. She worked on German stages and for German and Austrian television and from 1958 performed with her then husband Georg Kreisler in Munich, among other places. On 17 December 1976 she opened the ' in Vienna with four cabaret programmes, which was "dedicated to the preservation of Jewish literature and Jewish authors - both deceased and contemporary". In the 25 years that she voluntarily directed the theatre until January 2001, the "headmaster ..Urwienerin". During this time, she fought against

misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...

, anti-Semitism and fascism with musical-literary programmes such as ''Gehackte Zores,'' ''Weit von wo'' and ''Amoureuses, Scandaleuses, Heiteres und so Weiteres''.

Private life

In 1965, Küppers took Austrian citizenship. From her marriage to Georg Kreisler came her daughter , who also works as a singer, speaker and actress, as well as a son. Kreisler and Topsy Küppers separated in the mid-1970s. Küppers was married in second marriage to Karlheinz (called Carlos) Springer († 2013). In early August 2013, Küppers was diagnosed with colon cancer, which she described as "My Yucky-one" ( "Mein Ungustl" =Translation of an untranslatable word, which stems from the Austrian dialect expression for "gross", repulsive or "yucky") and which she dealt with in the identically titled 2014 book.

Awards

Küppers received awards at home and abroad for her work, including: * 1967: ''Trude-Hesterberg-Ring'' as beste deutschsprachige

chanson A (, ; , ) is generally any Lyrics, lyric-driven French song. The term is most commonly used in English to refer either to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval music, medieval and Renaissance music or to a specific style of ...

ette * 1976: Goldmedaille beim internationalen Konzertfestiaval ''Immer wieder Widerstand'' in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

* 1977: Kulturpreis der Stadt Wien * 1984: Goldenes Verdienstzeichen des Landes Wien * 1991: in Silver * 1992: * 1992: Bundesverdienstkreuz I. Classe of the Bundesrepublik Deutschland * 1998:

Austrian Decoration for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Orders, decorations, and medals of Austria, Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian Decoration for Science a ...

* 2003: ''Goldene Emmerich-Kálmán-Medaille'' in Budapest für die auf Hungarian verfasste

Emmerich Kálmán Emmerich Kálmán ( ; 24 October 1882 – 30 October 1953) was a Kingdom of Hungary, Hungarian composer of operettas and a prominent figure in the development of Operetta#Austria–Hungary, Viennese operetta in the 20th century. Among his most p ...

Biography ''Minden Álom Bésce Vezet'' (German: ''Alle Träumen führen nach Wien'') * 2011: Österreichisches Ehrenkreuz Wissenschaft und Kunst 1st Classe * 2012: Ehrenbotschafterin der Stadt

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

* 2012: (in appreciation of her outstanding artistic achievements)

Discography

* ''Frivolitäten'', LP (1963) * ''Gehn ma Tauben vergiften'', with Georg Kreisler, LP (1964) * ''Die heiße Viertelstunde'', with Georg Kreisler, LP (1968) * ''Der Tod, das muß ein Wiener sein'', with Georg Kreisler, LP/CD (1969/1994) * ''Anders als die andern'', with Georg Kreisler, LP (1969) * ''Heute Abend: Lola Blau'', Musical für eine Frau und zwei Klaviere von Georg Kreisler, Doppel-LP/CD (1971/1997) * ''Komm… 12 schicke Schlager'', LP (1971) * ''Immer wieder Widerstand'', LP (1973) * ''Das Ungeheuer Zärtlichkeit'', LP/CD (1974/2001) * ''Spiegelbilder'', LP (1980) * ''Anny macht Moneye'', (1987) * ''Lieder nach Lust und Laune'', LP (1989) * ''Die Zunge der Kultur reicht weit''. Lieder and text by Erich Kästner, CD (2007) * ''Signale aus dem Jenseits'', Gastrolle bei den drei ???, CD (2017)

Books

* ''Freie Bühne Wieden.'' Einführung Topsy Küppers. Graphische Gestaltung Johann Hofmann. Freie Bühne Wieden, Vienna 1977. * Erwin Brecher: ''Jedes Wort Gedankensport.'' Bearbeitet von Topsy Küppers und Elke Browne. htp, Vienna 1995, . * ''Lauter liebe Leute. Ein dicker Brief an mein Publikum.'' Kremayr & Scheriau, Vienna 1996, . * ''Alle Träume führen nach Wien. Ein Tatsachenroman.'' Ibera, Vienna 2001, . * '' Wolf Messing. Hellseher und Magier.'' Langen Müller, Munich 2002, . * ''Wenn dein Leben trist ist – erleuchte es mit Humor! Erlebtes – Erhörtes – Erdachtes …''''Wenn dein Leben trist ist – erleuchte es mit Humor! Erlebtes – Erhörtes – Erdachtes …''
on WorldCat Ibera, Vienna 2009, . * ''Mein Ungustl. Ein widerlicher Gast.'' Langen Müller, Munich 2014, . * ''Die Brüder Saphir. Ein Tatsachenroman.'' Verlag Der Apfel, Vienna 2018, .

Filmography

* 1954: '' Guitars of Love'' * 1955: '' Three Girls from the Rhine'' * 1955: ''La Gondola'' (TV) * 1956: '' Die wilde Auguste'' * 1956: ' * 1956: ''Uns gefällt die Welt'' * 1956: ' * 1960: ''Der Liebesonkel'' (television recording from the

Millowitsch-Theater The ''Volkstheater Millowitsch'', also known as the ''Millowitsch-Theater'', was a medium-sized theatre in Cologne, Germany where popular, low-brow comedy, comedies were performed. History The Millowitsch family had been active in theatre befor ...

) * 1961: ''Paganini'' (TV) * 1962: ''Gasparone'' (TV) * 1963: ''Berlin-Melodie'' (tv) * 1969: ''Ein Abend zu zweit'' (tv) * 1972: ''Außenseiter'' (tv)

References

External links

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Topsy Küppers
(Facebook) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuppers, Topsy 1931 births 2025 deaths Austrian film actresses Austrian stage actresses 20th-century Austrian women singers Austrian theatre directors Austrian women theatre directors 21st-century Austrian writers 21st-century Austrian women writers Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class Actors from Aachen Actresses from North Rhine-Westphalia