Born on December 12, 1900, in Altenlohm, the electrician Erich Baumgart began working at the Schauspielhaus as a lighting technician in August of 1921. In 1924, he joined the Social Democratic Party and the works council. When workers from the opposition displayed the slogan “The Red Front lives” on the opera house in August of 1933, Baumgart and six of his colleagues were arrested and detained for several weeks. He was deemed “politically unacceptable” and relieved of his duties on September 25. In 1934, he returned to his former position, where he stayed until the theater’s closure in September of 1944 because of the war. Drafted into the military, he was captured by the Americans in April of 1945. He returned to Dresden after the war and worked at the State Theaters until 1966. To commemorate his services as a lighting inspector and trainer, he was made an honorary member of the State Theaters in 1961. Erich Baumgart died on December 6, 1977, in Dresden.
1900 Altenlohm
1977 Dresden