Heinz Schröder (April 24, 1928 – April 22, 2009) was a German

puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the ...

. He became known in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

(German Democratic Republic) for puppeteering popular characters such as Pittiplatsch and Herr Fuchs (Mr. Fox) in the children's program of the East German television. From 1993 to 2009, Schröder continued to portray his characters in live performances.

Life and career

Heinz Schröder was born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and grew up in the borough

Friedrichshain Friedrichshain () is a quarter (''Ortsteil'') of the borough of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg in Berlin, Germany. From its creation in 1920 until 2001, it was a freestanding Boroughs of Berlin, city borough. Formerly part of East Berlin, it is adjace ...

. Early in his life, he became interested in puppets and made figures out of potatoes. After Schröder broke from an apprenticeship as a design draughtsman, he got by taking odd jobs. After 1945 he worked in the

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

and later in the district committee of the

Free German Youth The Free German Youth (; FDJ) is a youth movement in Germany. Formerly, it was the official youth wing of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. The organization was meant for young adults, both male a ...

. From 1953, he performed in the newly founded puppet theater of the Berlin

Pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a person who is among the first at something that is new to a community. A pioneer as a settler is among the first settling at a place that is new to the settler community. A historic example are American pioneers, perso ...

Park "

Ernst Thälmann Ernst Johannes Fritz Thälmann (; 16 April 1886 – 18 August 1944) was a German communist politician and leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) from 1925 to 1933. A committed communist, Thälmann sought to overthrow the liberal democr ...

" and from 1957 he finally started puppeteering on East German television, which should continue for over 30 years until 1991. The most famous character Schröder portrayed and still puppeteered and voiced after his television career is Pittiplatsch, who first appeared in 1962. He was also one of Pittiplatsch's creators since he originally came up with the idea for a

kobold A kobold (; ''kobolt'', ''kobolde'', cobold) is a general or generic name for the household spirit (''hausgeist'') in German folklore. It may invisibly make noises (i.e., be a poltergeist), or helpfully perform kitchen chores or stable work. ...

character and also reworked the first Pittiplatsch model before the first appearance on television. In 1991, the production of new television episodes with characters Heinz Schröder portrayed had been discontinued. However, from 1993 to 2009 he had been performing live with a puppeteer ensemble puppeteering characters originating from East German children's television. Schröder stated that making children's eyes shine with his performances is his life. He also said that the good thing about his time at the East German television was that he and the other puppeteers were not constrained politically, commenting that one couldn't put a pioneer scarf on a fox. Heinz Schröder was married and lived in

Schöneiche Schöneiche is a municipality in the Oder-Spree District of Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated directly at the edge to Berlin/ Friedrichshagen and next to Rüdersdorf and Woltersdorf, Brandenburg on the eastern edge of the German capital Berlin ...

near Berlin. The last time he performed was on March 29, 2009. He died unexpectedly on April 22, 2009. One day before his death, a

spinal tumor Spinal tumors are neoplasms located in either the vertebral column or the spinal cord. There are three main types of spinal tumors classified based on their location: extradural and intradural (intradural-intramedullary and intradural-extramedulla ...

was detected. Schröder was buried in Schöneiche in the presence of his immediate family circle.

Roles

Schröder mostly portrayed puppet characters appearing within the '' Zu Besuch im Märchenland'' ("Visiting Fairy Land") and ''

Sandmännchen ''Unser Sandmännchen'' ("Our Little Sandman"), ''Das Sandmännchen'' ("The Little Sandman"), ''Der Abendgruß'' ("The Evening-Greeting"), ''Abendgruß'' ("Evening-Greeting"), ''Der Sandmann'' ("The Sandman"), ''Sandmann'' ("Sandman"), ''Sand ...

'' ("Little Sandman") series. Characters he puppeteered and mostly also voiced include: * Pittiplatsch * Herr Fuchs (Mr. Fox) *Frau Igel (Mrs. Hedgehog) *Brummel the bear *Bummi the bear *Onkel Uhu (Uncle Eagle Owl) *Buddelflink the mole *Casimir in '' Das Spielhaus'' ("The Playhouse"), puppeteering only During his live performances, he still portrayed Pittiplatsch, Herr Fuchs, Frau Igel, Onkel Uhu, and Buddelflink.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schroder, Heinz German puppeteers People from Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg 1928 births 2009 deaths