After a short serious illness, theater maker and longtime Frankfurt artistic director Prof. Claus Helmer passed away last weekend at the age of 79. Head of Culture Ina Hartwig said, "With Professor Claus Helmer, the city loses one of its most passionate representatives and enablers of theater, who enriched Frankfurt's cultural life in an inimitable way with his theatrical art as well as his creative drive and his charismatic and fun-loving manner.
First in February 2022, we celebrated his triple anniversary: 50 years of directing comedy, 25 years of directing the Fritz Rémond Theater and the pandemic-related after-celebration of his 65th stage anniversary. Not only his countless stage works will remain associated with his impressive life, but above all the Komödie and the Fritz Rémond Theater. He saved the latter from imminent closure in 1995, and it now represents one of the most important cornerstones for the planned children's and youth theater at the Zoogesellschaftshaus. Claus Helmer always understood his theatrical work in a cultural-political context, for whom it was equally important to "give people a treat" and to "entertain" them in the Brechtian manner. He managed to do that throughout the decades.
I would like to express my deepest condolences to the Helmer family, who supported and made possible his passion and zeal for work. Especially to his wife, actress Christine Glasner, with whom he was not only married for over 35 years, but also shared the stage together. Claus Helmer has achieved a singular position in the Frankfurt theater scene, which will continue to have an impact beyond his death."
Helmer was born in Brno on February 23, 1944. He spent his childhood in Vienna. He first appeared on the theater stage there when he was only twelve years old. From 1959 to 1962, Helmer studied acting at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna. After working in Aachen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Stuttgart, he came to Frankfurt in 1965. In 1972, at the age of only 28, Helmer took over the management of the tradition-rich boulevard theater "Die Komödie," succeeding Helmut Kollek, who had founded the stage in 1950. In 1995, he also took over the management of the Fritz Rémond Theater. Helmer directed numerous plays and often appeared on stage as an actor himself. He has received many awards for his artistic work, such as the Federal Cross of Merit in 1998, the Hessian Order of Merit in 2004 and the Goethe Plaque of the City of Frankfurt am Main in 2017.
