Hermann Aicher
Hermann Aicher was the youngest of the three children of Anton Aicher (1859-1930), who founded the Salzburg Puppet Theater in 1913, and Rosina Deutsch. In 1926, Hermann Aicher succeeded his father as head of the family business. He paid more attention to the stage lighting, expanded the repertoire to include fantasy and science fiction, and deepened the sensitive and almost melancholic nature of the Salzburg Kasperl.
In 1936 and 1938, the Salzburg Puppet Theater visited the USSR, performing in St. Petersburg and Moscow, where it played in front of audiences of 2,500 people. This led him to increase the size of the puppets (1m) and the sets. He was rewarded with a gold medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1937. During the Second World War, he became an important propaganda tool and put on shows for the soldiers at the front.
The decision to replace live music with a recorded soundtrack in 1950 allowed the Strasbourg Puppet Theatre to further develop its international tours. When Hermann Aicher died in 1977, his daughter Gretl took over the artistic direction of the Puppet Theatre.