FECHTER, PAUL

(1880-1958)

   Critic. Fechter began his career in 1906 as a theater critic in Dresden, and by the time he arrived in Berlin in 1911 to write for the Vossische Zeitung, he was convinced that theater criticism should have a political tendency. His politics were liberal and national, which meant he supported the German war effort from 1914 to 1918 while remaining critical of the kaiser and inherited privilege. After serving in the German army in World War I, he became chief critic for the Berlin Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, an appointment that complemented his political and theatrical interests. Among the playwrights he promoted was Carl Zuckmayer, awarding him the Kleist Prize in 1925. In the Third Reich, he remained active as a theater critic, writing "informative correspondence" for the Berliner Tageblatt and for the National Socialist literary organ Das Reich.