Theatre director Kurt Hirschfeld used the 50th birthday of publisher Emil Oprecht on 23 September 1945 as an occasion to look back. Hirschfeld’s speech emphasised the many facets of Oprecht’s character, his helpfulness and cosmopolitan outlook, his diverse contributions to political and cultural life. At the same time, he touched on aspects of the personal and professional connection between them. Hirschfeld was another of the people for whom Oprecht had been “president [...] or a director, or a publisher, or an advisor, or a comrade, or a helper” (ed. trans); “Präsident […] oder ein Direktor oder ein Verleger oder ein Berater oder ein Genosse oder ein Helfer”]. Emil Oprecht had shaped Hirschfeld’s time in exile by performing several of these roles.

In 1934, following Hirschfeld’s dismissal from the Schauspielhaus theatre in Zurich, the publisher had offered him a position as a proofreader in his company, Europa-Verlag. In 1938, Hirschfeld in turn warned Oprecht that the Schauspielhaus was about to be sold. After the company “Neue Schauspiel AG” succeeded in buying the Schauspielhaus with Oprecht in charge of the negotiations, Oprecht took over the chairmanship of the administrative council and became the theatre’s commercial director in 1940. Hirschfeld was thus able to continue his work as a dramaturge at the Schauspielhaus.

The nickname “Opi”, which Hirschfeld uses in his speech, refers to Oprecht’s membership of the circle of artists at the Schauspielhaus, who referred to each other among themselves as “Hirschi” (Kurt Hirschfeld), “Thesi” (Therese Giehse), “Stecki” (Leonhard Steckel) and “Lindi” (Leopold Lindtberg).

Further reading:
Dejung, Christoph Emanuel: Emil Oprecht. Verleger der Exilautoren [Emil Oprecht. Publisher of Exile Authors]. Zurich: rüffer & rub 2020