Ernst Busch (actor)

Ernst Busch (22 January, 1900 - 8 June, 1980) was a German singer and actor. He was born in Kiel and died in Berlin.

Busch first rose to prominence as an interpreter of political songs, particularly those of Kurt Tucholsky, in the Berlin cabaret scene of the 1920s. He starred in the original 1928 production of Bertolt Brecht's "Threepenny Opera", as well as the subsequent 1931 film by Georg Wilhelm Pabst. He also appeared in the movie Kuhle Wampe.

A lifelong Communist, Busch fled Nazi Germany in 1933 with the Gestapo on his heels, eventually settling in the Soviet Union. In 1937 he joined the International Brigades to fight against fascism in Spain. After Spain fell to Franco, he emigrated to Belgium, where he was interned during the Nazi occupation and later imprisoned in Camp Gurs, France and Berlin. Freed by the Red Army in 1945, he settled in East Berlin, where he worked with Bertold Brecht and Erwin Piscator at the "Berliner Ensemble". A beloved figure in the German Democratic Republic, he is best remembered for his performance in the title role of Brecht's "Galileo", and for his stirring recordings of workers songs, including many written by Hanns Eisler.He also made a memorable and haunting recording of Peat Bog Soldiers.

Recordings of Spanish Civil War songs (incomplete list)

From "Canciones de las Brigadas Internacionales"

*Los Cuatro Generales
*Die Thaelmann-Kolonne "The Thaelmann Column"
*Hans Beimler
*Des Lied von der Einheitsfront "Einheitsfrontlied"
*Lied der Internationalen Brigaden "Song of the International Brigades" / "Lied Der Interbrigaden"
*Die Moorsoldaten - "Peat Bog Soldiers"
*Am Rio Jarama - "On the Jarama Front"
*Ballade der XI Brigade - "Song of the XIth Brigade" / "Lied von der XI Brigade"
*Peter, Mein Kamerad "Peter, my Comrade"
*Las Compañías de Acero
*Adelante Campesinos
*Nuestra Bandera - "Our Flag"
*El Himno de Riego - "Colonel Riego's Hymn" / "Riego Hymne"

Recordings of WWII and unsorted songs (incomplete list)

*Ach Ihr Wege
*Der Heimliche Aufmarsch
*Lied des Werktätigen
*Lied vom Vaterland
*Sehnsucht Nach Der Heimat
*Lied der Partei - 1950
*Links Rechts
*Marsch der Antifaschisten
*Matrosen von Kronstadt
*Sehnsucht nach der Heimat
*Solidaritäts lied
*Spaniens Himmel
*Stalin Freund Genosse - 1949
*Trotz alledem
*Vorwarts Bolschewik
*Ballade von den Säckeschmeissern
*Dank Euch Ihr Sowjetsoldaten
*Der Barrikaden
*Der Marsch Ins Dritte Reich
*Der rote Wedding
*Diplomaten
*Kämpfen wie Lenin
*Kampflied gegen den Faschismus
*Korea
*Lenin
*Lied Der Interbrigaden

Awards, medals, and recognition

Germany’s most prestigious school for stage acting and directing is named after the actor, the Ernst Busch School For Performing Arts in Berlin. Ernst Busch was awarded Lenin Peace Prize (for 1970-71).