RIP Jochen Bludau

 

"Karl May... so I now..." – On the death of Jochen Bludau

Karl May & Co.

By Michael Kunz

March 12, 2023

That was such a thing with Jochen Bludau and Karl May. The long-standing managing director of the Elspe Festival has hinted several times that he did not really appreciate him as an author. But of course he has earned a lot of money with the name and the figures of the Mayster and last but not least reputation. This is becoming abundantly clear these days; in these days, which follow the news that the Sauerlander died on 9 March at the age of 82.

In fact, he already had a very special relationship with Karl May, despite occasional considerations of opening "his" stage to other topics. Thousands of viewers saw him, especially in the 80s and 90s, how he came to them, raving about the sun regardless of the weather, which was "popping from the sky" in Arizona and began to transform. "My name is Jochen Bludau, and I'm here to play the role of Karl May," he greeted the audience, telling how he, "Karl May, so me now," had invented this very special universe and the hero Winnetou, "all in my imagination. I've never been there!" Well, that was a certain freedom, but he knew the books of the Saxon like no other in the scene.

Already in 1958 as Winnetou on stage

In 1958 he had already appeared alternately with a colleague as Winnetou. His mother Maria was one of the founding members of the Elsper Theaterverein. Jochen Bludau, born in 1941, later joined the Federal Border Guard and trained as a social pedagogue and primary school teacher. At the same time, he played Old Shatterhand and Kara Ben Nemsi in the late 60s, and a little later began to write the lyrics. Until then, books from Bad Segeberg had been played predominantly. The North Germans took over his "Unter Geiern" in 1973.

Stuntman training and partnership with Pierre Brice

From the mid-1970s, the number of spectators increased every year, Jochen Bludau and some companions relied on stuntman training and speech lessons. His plays were and are a mixture of elements of the Karl May films, with borrowings from John Wayne Westerns and not least the humor of Spencer and Hill. The last missing element came in 1976 with Pierre Brice. The "Film-Winnetou" was engaged for one summer and remained the same until 1980. After a break, he was back in Elspe from 1982 to 1986. Until the "doer" Bludau decided to put the business on his own two feet without being dependent on Brice. He made Brice an offer that he could only refuse. The Frenchman should once again be on stage in a kind of "Best Of" from all plays, then take off the costume and become a kind of marketing representative for Elspe.

Bludau knew that Brice felt too agile for such a step. According to his own statement, he then spread the rumor that Pierre Brice wanted to establish a new Winnetou show in a North German amusement park and thus opened the way to Bad Segeberg for him. That's how he told it, but there are other versions as well.

Behind the scenes after 1993

He himself had no problems with the stage farewell. After Brice's departure, the pure May stage became a show park, with stunt and animal performances, country music and circus. Private customers and companies were able to book the site. The festival went on, but Jochen Bludau had not been there as an actor since 1993. Only occasionally he was drawn back to the natural stage. In 1997 he played the aging Karl May. In 2011, he stepped in as Lord Castlepool in the premiere of "Half-Blood" when the actual actor suffered a collapse shortly before the break. In 2012, he almost epically passed on the Henrystutzen to his son Oliver, who had also taken over the management at that time. A serious illness forced the young man to leave the stage, and father Jochen returned to the office for several years.

No friend of big performances

Despite his enormous success as Old Shatterhand – Pierre Brice later described him as credible in the role – the Sauerlander apparently found greater satisfaction behind the scenes. When Brice died, he did not accept the invitation to the funeral and later wanted to visit his grave in peace. At the premiere in the Corona year 2021, the CDU deputy Jochen Ritter wanted to call him on stage, because the season opener fell exactly on Bludau's 80th birthday. He did not come. He was only present at the annual press conferences for a long time, but finally left them to his successor in the management, Philipp Aßhoff.

Earned a lot of respect

Jochen Bludau last appeared on the big stage in 2013, when he sent his long-time companion Meinolf Pape into retirement at the end of the last performance and expressed respect for a "unique character actor". Anyone who reads the condolences and respects that have been pouring in on all possible channels since Friday morning will be reminded that Jochen Bludau was also a unique character. Benny Armbruster, who rode for many years as Winnetou at his side, called him only the " boss ".

The current Winnetou, Jean-Marc Birkholz, has often told the story of how at his last performance in Rathen, Saxony, in 2006, the whole Bludau family sat in the front row. Bludau had asked him a few weeks earlier if he could imagine playing the Apache on another stage. Birkholz has been involved in Elspe since 2008. A few comrades-in-arms stayed only briefly. But many others kept coming back when Bludau called.

He had perhaps his most memorable appearance in 2013 at the Karl May Festival by Michael Petzel, during which he received the "Scharlih" of the Karl May Archive in Göttingen. When asked why there has only been a manageable series of unchanged pieces in Elspe for years, Jochen Bludau leaned back calmly: "Andrew Lloyd Webber has it written into his contracts that his pieces may never be changed. And I'm supposed to do it differently??" There was silence in the room. Self-confident and a pinch of humor. A true Sauerlander.

Critically up to date

By the way, Jochen Bludau was on the net like no other, perceiving all discussions and debates very closely. Anyone who had a question for him received an answer by e-mail within minutes. And even the current dispute over the "Indian question" had moved him 50 years ago. While Pierre Brice tried to bring his interpretation of Winnetou ever closer to reality, Bludau was the first to write a Winnetou trilogy for the stage, in which he dealt very clearly with the themes of land grabbing and annihilation of the indigenous world. His "Winnetou I" was preceded by a prologue in which he confronts his imagination with the sober reality, with drunken Indians from the reservation, with the cavalry blowing up a tipi with a peaceful family. Should he throw all his books in the trash, or should he continue to take people for two hours into a world of decency and justice, he asked as Karl May on stage. This was not completely surprising in the wake of films like "Little Big Man" or "Soldier Blue", but ultimately for a family show after Karl May. He stayed with the more or less perfect world, but it was not quite so intact. In the first adventure comes the railway and with it the greedy and murderous gold prospectors. In "Winnetou II" oil is drilled, a white man is made chief. And in the third piece, the Indians move across the stage with sack and pack, are more and more displaced and even for a Winnetou there is only room as a legend.

Jochen Bludau has created something big and lasting in the Sauerland. He was not without controversy due to his simplification of May's basic ideas and the adherence to a few pieces. But with him goes a nevertheless very important and influential personality. Without "his" Elspe" there would not have been many other stages.

In the summer of 2013, Jochen Bludau was presented with the aforementioned "Scharlih", the honorary award of the Karl May Archive, which until then had mainly only been awarded to participants in the Karl May films. This showed the special status that the festival maker from the Sauerland enjoyed in the scene and will probably always enjoy.

He will be missed.

Michael Kunz

BLUDAU, Jochen

Born: 7/2/1941, Krefeld-Hüls, North Rhine-Westfalen Germany

Died: 3/9/2023, Elspe, Sauerland, Germany

 

Jochen Bludau’s westerns – producer, director, playwright, writer, actor:

Winnetou – 1958 [Elspe stage play Winnetou]

Elspe stage play -1966-1993 (Old Shatterhand)

In the Valley of Death – 1970 [playwright]

The Oil Prince – 1971 [playwright]

Among Vultures – 1972 [playwright]

Unter Geiern - Der Geist des Llano Estacado – 1973 [writer]

Half-breed – 1974 [playwright]

Treasure of Silver Lake – 1977 [playwright]

Winnetou 1 – 1978 [playwright]

Winnetou II – 1979 [playwright]

Winnetou 3 - 1980 [Elspe stage play Shatterhand]

Elspe – Germany’s Wild West – 1981 [writer]

Texas - Doc Snyder hält die Welt in Atem  - 1993 [producer]

Elspe stage play – 2011 (Lord Castlepool)

Elspe stage play - 2012 (Benjamin Armbruste)

Elspe stage play Winnetou 1 – 2017 (Karl May)