Hermann Weigert was born to Jewish parents on October 20, 1890, in Breslau (present-day Wrocław). He studied piano and conducting at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin from 1909 until 1911. He then worked as a répétiteur at the Lübeck Stadttheater and later as a chorus director in Magdeburg. In 1914, he was appointed assistant to the opera chorus director at the Königliche Hofoper in Berlin, but had to interrupt this work during the war due to his military service. In 1919, Weigert resumed his work as a répétiteur at the opera, which had since become the Berlin State Opera. Because of his skills, he often conducted performances as a substitute for the opera directors and oversaw all rehearsal activities. From 1924, he also taught at the Berlin Academy of Music.
After losing this teaching position in October of 1932, he was dismissed from the State Opera in June 1933 “for racial reasons.”
Weigert fled with his family to Cape Town, South Africa, but when he could not find employment there, he briefly returned to Europe. In desperation, he even asked the State Opera for financial help, but received none. In 1934, he accepted an offer from the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where he led musical preparation for over a decade. After the war, he resumed taking engagements in Germany. He served as musical assistant at the Bayreuth Festival and, in October 1953, oversaw a radio production of Boris Godunov in Munich. Hermann Weigert died on April 12, 1955, in New York.
1890 Wrocław
1955 New York