Franz "Wolferl" Wolfsecker / Josef "Pepi" Klugmayer / Carl Theodor Grohmann / Alois Neidhart / Karl Mühlberger

About three very famous musicians of the Hoch- und Deutschmeister under Carl Michael Ziehrer and Wilhelm Wacek, written by Mag. Raimund Sulz

Photo: Ronacher revue “Wien gib acht” – 1923 (private collection – Mag. Raimund Sulz)

 

Franz Wolfsecker – the famous Deutschmeister drummer

(August 26, 1869 – August 14, 1952)

During the time of Carl Michael Ziehrer with the Hoch- und Deutschmeister, there was a small drummer named Franz “Wolferl” Wolfsecker, who soon became famous as a true Viennese “original,” and who is still commemorated today by a memorial plaque.[1]

While playing the drum, Wolfsecker was the first to perform artistic juggling tricks with his drumsticks. He threw them into the air, caught them again, and thrilled the audience—thus becoming a pioneer of a performance element that has since become standard.[2] Newspaper reports described him as an “original Viennese type.”[3]

Several humorous anecdotes surround him: once, during the daily changing of the guard at the Hofburg, he was reprimanded for playing the drum “completely contrary to regulations.” He was sentenced to seven days in jail but never served the sentence. On the first day, for example, he was summoned to play the button accordion for Crown Prince Rudolf. On subsequent days, various high-ranking nobles also summoned him, so he never had to serve his punishment.

One day, the Hofburg was hermetically sealed, preventing the usual large audience from attending. What had happened? Archduke Wilhelm, then proprietor of the Vienna house regiment No. 4 “Hoch- und Deutschmeister,” had told Emperor Franz Joseph I about this drummer’s special skills. This prompted the emperor to attend the next Hofburg band performance in person. Wolfsecker performed flawlessly, and from then on his “non-regulation behavior” was tolerated.

Wolfsecker served for a total of 15 years as a musician in the Hoch- und Deutschmeister band before leaving military service and joining the Ministry of the Interior. By then, he had become a Viennese celebrity,[4] and C. M. Ziehrer later brought his former comrade into his private orchestra.[5]

[1] Hedwig Abraham, Franz Wolfsecker. In: Gedenktafeln in Wien, online unter: http://www.viennatouristguide.at/Gedenktafeln/pers/W/wolfsecker_3.htm (26.4.2023).

[2] Franz Wolfsecker. In: Wien Geschichte-Wiki, hg. von Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv (MA 8) und Wienbibliothek im Rathaus (MA 9), letzte Änderung am 5. November 2022 um 13:59 Uhr, online unter: https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/index.php?title=Franz_Wolfsecker&oldid=366266 (26.4.2023).

[3] Der Tambour vom vierten Regiment. „Wolferls“ sechszigster Geburtstag. In: Illustrierte Kronenzeitung, Jg. 30, Nr. 10.628 (24. August 1929) 6, online unter: http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=krz&datum=19290824&seite=6 (26.4.2023).

[4] Emil Bader, „Wolferl“. Der Tambour vom vierten Regiment. In: Neues Wiener Tagblatt (Tages-Ausgabe), Jg. 57, Nr. 325 (27. November 1923) 6f., online unter http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=nwg&datum=19231127&seite=6 (26.4.2023).

[5] Vom heutigen Hofballmusikdirektor. Erinnerungen seines „kleinen Tambours“. In: Neues Wiener Tagblatt, Jg. 47, Nr. 114 (27. April 1913) 15, online unter: http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=nwg&datum=19130427&seite=15 (26.4.2023).

Josef Klugmayer – the last regimental drum major

(July 14, 1869 – September 9, 1931)

Josef “Pepi” Klugmayer was born on July 14, 1869, and was in his 63rd year at the time of his death.[1] During his time with the Hoch- und Deutschmeister, “Pepi” became a Viennese legend. He joined the regiment in 1883 at the age of fourteen as a music pupil.[2]

Initially, he played flugelhorn under bandmaster C. M. Ziehrer and later rose to the position of regimental drummer under Ziehrer’s successor Wilhelm Wacek (1894). He became particularly well known as a singer of Viennese songs:

“A specialty of the Deutschmeister band was its Schrammel quartet, consisting of two ‘whining’ violins, a ‘bricklayer’s piano’ (accordion), and a ‘plucked instrument’ (guitar). Klugmayer sang Viennese songs full of humor and liveliness, such as ‘The Most Handsome Man in Vienna’ and ‘The Deutschmeister Georg about the Cold,’ […] songs he often had to perform before the Crown Prince, the regiment’s proprietor Archduke Wilhelm, or Archduke Karl Ludwig at Villa Wartholz in Reichenau.”[3]

Klugmayer’s love for Viennese songs even led him to incorporate these “cheerful Heurigen marches” into official military occasions:

“In 1897, he once accompanied the Deutschmeister to the Hofburg guard duty and led the relieved 84th regiment back to the barracks with musical accompaniment. While marching along the Graben, he had the band play the popular Viennese song ‘The City of Songs.’ ‘Servus Pepi!’ the fiaker drivers called out to him; many of them had also served with the Deutschmeister. ‘Bravo Pepi!’ shouted the regular spectators of the guard change. As the band played, everyone sang along—it was a typically Viennese uproar. But this did not go over well with the authorities. At the regimental report, he was scolded for treating a guard change like a tavern entertainment. He was sentenced to three days of room arrest, but the punishment remained on paper, as the band needed its regimental drummer—especially during the carnival season.”[4]

[1] Der Regimentstambour der Deutschmeister, Pepi Klugmayer †. In: Tiroler Anzeiger, Jg. 24, Nr. 207 (10.9.1931) 12, online unter: http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=tan&datum=19310910&seite=5 (26.4.2023).

[2] Eine spezifisch österreichische Form der „Militärmusikschule“. Siehe dazu: Militärmusikfreunde (Hg.), Die Glanzzeit der österreichischen Militärmusik, online unter: https://www.militaermusikfreunde.at/geschichte/allgemeines/die-glanzzeit-der-oesterreichischen-militaermusik (26.4.2023).

[3] Emil Bader, Der letzte Tambourstab der „Hoch und Spleni“. Aus den Erinnerungen des „feschen Pepi“. In: Neues Wiener Tagblatt. Demokratisches Organ, Jg. 57, Nr. 343 (16. Dezember 1923) 10, online unter: http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=nwg&datum=19231216&seite=10 (26.4.2023).

[4] Emil Bader, Der letzte Tambourstab der „Hoch und Spleni“. Aus den Erinnerungen des „feschen Pepi“. In: Neues Wiener Tagblatt. Demokratisches Organ, Jg. 57, Nr. 343 (16. Dezember 1923) 10, online unter: http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=nwg&datum=19231216&seite=10 (26.4.2023).

[5] Pepi Klugmayer †. Der letzte Regimentstambour der Deutschmeister. In: Kleine Volks-Zeitung, Jg. 77, Nr. 249 (10. September 1931) 4, online unter: http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgicontent/anno?aid=kvz&datum=19310910&seite=4  (26.4.2023).

 

Carl Theodor Grohmann – friend and close collaborator of Ziehrer

(October 7, 1861 – July 21, 1922)

Karl Theodor Grohmann was an important musician of the Deutschmeister under bandmaster Carl Michael Ziehrer. He possessed absolute pitch, mastered many instruments, and was an excellent violinist.

In 1893, he was appointed Ziehrer’s deputy in the Deutschmeister band during Ziehrer’s absence at the World’s Fair in Chicago. He worked not only as a conductor and bandmaster (including for the municipal band of Gmunden), but also as a composer and as a music sergeant serving as Ziehrer’s arranging assistant.

Grohmann often arranged pieces overnight for Ziehrer or transcribed and orchestrated them from Ziehrer’s whistled ideas when Ziehrer lacked time due to social obligations.

His work includes numerous marches (likely also for the Deutschmeister band), as well as arrangements and orchestrations of works by Richard Wagner (such as fantasy pieces on Wagner operas) and other composers. He collaborated with major music publishers such as Cranz in Leipzig and Berlin and was acquainted or friends with musicians like Carl Goldmark.

After his military service ended in 1894, he became municipal and spa bandmaster in Gmunden (Upper Austria), which became his adopted home. He led the spa orchestra there to a high artistic level, also directed the town band, and worked as a music educator. He maintained close contact with the Duchess of Cumberland, who regularly attended his concerts. He died in 1922, shortly after the spa orchestra had been dissolved due to financial difficulties following World War I.

Source: Many thanks to Dr. Helmut and Ilse Stadler (great-granddaughter of Grohmann) for this valuable information!

Alois Neidhart – regimental drummer and student of Ziehrer, later military bandmaster (IR 34)

(April 20, 1856 – August 4, 1935)

Alois Neidhart was born in 1856 in Matzen (Lower Austria). He served from 1875 to 1878 in Infantry Regiment No. 50, and from 1880 as principal flugelhorn player in IR 34 (“Wilhelm I, German Emperor and King of Prussia”).

From 1885 to 1895, he served in IR 4 (“Hoch- und Deutschmeister”), where he studied harmony and instrumentation under bandmaster Carl Michael Ziehrer and rose to the rank of regimental drummer. During Ziehrer’s absence in 1893 (World’s Fair in Chicago), he co-directed the band together with Carl Theodor Grohmann.

From 1895 onward, he became military bandmaster of IR 34, where he had previously served as principal flugelhorn player, and remained in that position until 1912. Neidhart also composed marches and waltzes (including “Wiener Fiaker-Marsch,” “Nach Nußdorf,” and “Rheinwogen-Walzer”) and received numerous distinctions.

Sources:

Joseph Damánski, Die Militär-Kapellmeister Österr.-Ungarns (Wien/Prag/Budapest 1904), 52.

Alexander Rausch, Art. „Neidhart, Alois“, in: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon online, begr. von Rudolf Flotzinger, hg. von Barbara Boisits (letzte inhaltliche Änderung: 16.5.2004, abgerufen am 8.9.2024), https://dx.doi.org/10.1553/0x0001daed