Ferdinand Weisheitinger ‘Weiß Ferdl’ (28.6.1883 Altötting – 19.6.1949 Munich)

The illegitimate child of a waitress, Ferdinand Weisheitinger grew up with his grandmother, who fostered his singing talent and sent him to join the cathedral choir academy in Salzburg. He then completed an apprenticeship as a typesetter in Altötting and went to Munich in 1902 in search of work. Joining various folk singing societies, he secured his first engagement in 1907 at the Platzl, a local theater opposite the Hofbräuhaus. He quickly became a star there, performing every evening to sold-out audiences until a heart condition forced him to end his career in 1943. He was also director of the theater from 1921 onwards.

For Weiß Ferdl, as he styled himself, the First World War was a turning point. Wounded as a soldier, he established a singing society in a reserve unit which performed to the troops. This was where he first achieved success writing his own lyrics and songs in which he gave a voice to the man on the street and simple soldiers. As a war returnee, Weiß Ferdl rejected the revolution and joined the local right-wing militia. From then on he mocked the Weimar Republic in his stage appearances, invoking both the old order and “national renewal”. He gave his first performance for the Nazi Party at their ‘Great German Christmas Party’ on January 9, 1922. Weiß Ferdl was friends with prominent Nazis such as Hermann Esser and even boasted of his personal acquaintance with Adolf Hitler.

In the 1930s he also appeared in numerous films, becoming one of the showcase comedians of the Third Reich. He did not join the Nazi Party until 1940, however. Due to his enormous popularity, he was even able to write critical lyrics and make jokes at the expense of unpopular National Socialists such as Hermann Göring. Latterly a policeman was even assigned to monitor his performances as a censor.

Initially banned from performing after the end of the war, Ferdl claimed to be a victim of fascism and a resistance fighter: the tribunal categorized him as a ‘follower’ in October 1946, sentencing him to pay a penalty of 2,000 reichsmarks. Weiß Ferdl died in 1949, and in 1953 a fountain monument was installed on Munich’s Viktualienmarkt in his memory.