Heilige Nacht von Ludwig Thoma - Pfarrer Rainer Maria Schießler und Geschwister Siferlinger und Matthias Pürner
Heilige Nacht
A Christmas Legend by Ludwig Thoma
Pastor Rainer Maria Schießler
musically accompanied by the trio Geschwister Siferlinger - Matthias Pürner / accordion with the original Heilige Nacht songs by Ludwig Thoma
Performance time without intermission: approx. 70 min.
The great people's poet wrote his lyrical-Bavarian Christmas story in 1916 on his beloved 'Tuften' above Lake Tegernsee. The verses tell simply and therefore touchingly the biblical tale, as it was likely heard in peasant living rooms over generations on Christmas Eve. Memories awaken: of a warm room, of the smell of cookies, of the security of childhood years.
Rainer Maria Schießler
Pastor Rainer Maria Schießler grew up in the district of the parish "To the Holy Twelve Apostles" in Munich-Laim.
In 1980, he completed his Abitur at the Wittelsbach Gymnasium in Munich with the Bavarian diploma. From 1981 to 1986, he studied theology at the University of Munich and the University of Salzburg. In 1986/1987 he spent a pastoral year in the pastoral care unit of Bad Kohlgrub. He was ordained a priest on June 27, 1987, in Freising. From 1987 to 1991, he was a chaplain at the church "St. Nikolaus" in Rosenheim. From 1991 to 1993, he served as a chaplain at the church "Heiligkreuz" in Munich-Giesing. Since 1993, he has been leading the parish of St. Maximilian in Munich as a pastor (officially appointed in 1995).
From 2006 to 2012, Schießler worked every year as a waiter in the Schottenhamel tent at the Oktoberfest in Munich. He donated his salary from this job to a charity. After a two-year break, he returned to work at the Oktoberfest in 2015 and donated his earnings to a charity project for Syria initiated by Bavarian comedian Christian Springer.
Since 2011, he has also been managing the parish of Heilig-Geist at Viktualienmarkt alongside the parish of St. Maximilian. From 2012 to 2015, Rainer Maria Schießler hosted his own talk show called "Pfarrer Schießler," produced and aired by Bayerischer Rundfunk.
He often receives public attention for his progressive and often provocative statements for a lively and active church. Not just believing, but credibly "appear instead of leaving" – is the appeal of Rainer Maria Schießler. In a time when more people than ever are leaving the Catholic Church, the nationally known pastor from Munich manages to see his congregation grow and be enthusiastic about worship. His recipe is straightforwardness. His sermons on ecumenism and celibacy often receive applause. He indeed has his own unique style: in spring, the passionate motorcyclist blesses the machines of fathers and the toy cars of the little ones, and on Christmas Eve, he has a DJ play music and serves sparkling wine – after all, the birth of Jesus is being celebrated.
As the city pastor of Munich, Rainer Maria Schießler is an important part of this institution. And as a churchman with unconventional views, he tries to loosen up the rigid structures from within. Pastor Schießler is firmly rooted in faith – but he does not let it stop him from blessing divorced and same-sex couples or initiating media-effective discussions. What drives him? His joy in giving people support and a home. His new book is a Christian guide intended to provide "strength for all situations in life." The basis for his guide? The Bible. "The Schießler Bible" combines Rainer Maria Schießler's modern way of thinking with one of the oldest and most influential books in the world.
Rainer Maria Schießler's books, with a fifth book already in the works, achieve bestseller status, which proves that the path of Pastor Schießler is followed by a broad congregation.
Ludwig Thoma
"Now, folks, now listen up! ... The holy night is coming. And the forest is awake, Look at the hares and deer, Look at the stag over the snow. Nobody asked them, Nobody said anything this year, And soon they will know, The mother of God in the woods."
Ludwig Thoma was born as the fifth child of a forester in Oberammergau. One of his most popular works, the "Lausbubengeschichten," undoubtedly reminds us of the not always easy and certainly not always humorous years of his childhood.
Thoma wanted to become a forester like his father and began studying forestry in Aschaffenburg, but dropped out after the first year and switched to law, which he studied in Munich and Erlangen. From 1890 to 1893, he was a legal intern in Traunstein. In 1894, his mother died, and in the same year, he established himself as a lawyer in Dachau. Here, he got to know "his farmers," whom he later described so aptly. In 1897, he moved to Munich, where he came into contact with the employees of the satirical weekly "Simplizissimus," founded in 1896 by Albert Langen. This led to first publications in this magazine under the pseudonym "Peter Schlemihl." In 1899, he gave up his work as a lawyer and became a permanent staff member of "Simplizissimus," and a year later its editor-in-chief. In the following years, he traveled through Europe and engaged in prolific writing. He wrote the plays "Die Medaille" and "Die Lokalbahn," among others. In 1905, he married the 25-year-old dancer Marietta di Rigardo, known as Marion, a woman who was emancipated for those times. The marriage did not last long, as their temperaments were too different; Marion became increasingly bored and began to have affairs. The marriage was divorced in 1910, but the two remained friends.
In 1906, Thoma, along with Hermann Hesse, became editor of the magazine "März." In the same year, he was sentenced to six weeks in jail for "insulting some members of a morality association" due to a poem published in "Simplizissimus," which he had to serve in Stadelheim near Munich. In 1908, one of his biggest successes, the comedy "Moral," premiered. Here, he had a representative of a morality association, who had committed a serious offense against the principles of such an association, say: "Being moral, I can manage that alone in my room, but that has no educational value. The main thing is to publicly commit oneself to moral principles. That has a positive effect on the family, on the state."
In 1908, he moved into his house "Auf der Tuften" in Tegernsee.
Ludwig Thoma found his final resting place in Rottach-Egern on Lake Tegernsee. His grave is next to that of his longtime friend, the writer Ludwig Ganghofer.
Dreigsang:
Geschwister Siferlinger -
Traudi, Maria, and Hermann Siferlinger
Even as children and teenagers, the Siferlinger siblings performed at many high-profile folk music events. Maria, Traudi, and Hermann have repeatedly accompanied readings of "Heilige Nacht" with luminaries such as Fritz Straßner, Karl Obermeier, or Gustl Bayrhammer with their singing. Even now, when they are performing together publicly again for the first time in many years, they delight the audience with their unpretentious-authentic, finely attuned sibling voices, thus providing the perfect musical framework for Ludwig Thoma's touching texts.
Traudi Siferlinger, a native of Chiemgau, comes from a folk music family, attended the artistic Ignaz Günther Gymnasium in Rosenheim, studied violin and music education at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich, and completed an advanced degree at the Carl Maria von Weber University in Dresden.
For many years, she has been working for Bavarian Radio, initially as a radio presenter and later as an author of magazine shows and feature films. Since 2005, she has been the musical architect of the program "Wirtshausmusikanten beim Hirzinger," which she has also moderated since 2006 along with a co-moderator (until 2017 Wolfgang Binder, since 2017 Dominik Glöbl). With this show, which is popular far beyond Bavaria, she reaches a million-strong audience.
Matthias Pürner – (accordion)
Matthias Pürner, born in 1990 in Trostberg in northern Chiemgau, is studying in the bachelor’s program for folk music with a focus on the Styrian harmonica (class of Alexander Maurer) at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich.
Besides traditional Alpine folk music, his focus is on exploring various genres from classical to jazz to pop music. With effect devices and loops, he expands the possibilities of the instrument to experiment with new sounds and playing techniques.
With his band Großstadt Boazn, he performs at festivals, cabaret stages, and inns from Verona to Berlin.
In addition to folk music pieces in traditional style and a variety of compositions for Großstadt Boazn, he also has works that include commission compositions for theater and television.
Admission: 7:00 PM
Hallo, ich bin Maya.
