Macku Commemorative Plaque

On the initiative of the Cultural Heritage Society of Bad Ischl (Ischler Heimatverein), the Municipality of Bad Ischl and the Lehár Festival donated a commemorative plaque for Eduard Macku. The plaque was made by master stonemason Günter Brucker, and installed at the Congress and Theater House at the beginning of November 2020.

Macku is the founding father of the Bad Ischl Operetta Festival, and was its director and artistic director from 1961 to 1995. Together with a group of enthusiastic people from Ischl, he founded the operetta weeks. The first performances were in 1961 with plays from Franz Lehár (The Merry Widow (Die Lustige Witwe)), Paganini, The Land of Smiles (Land of Smiles)), and Emmerich Kálmán (The Csárdás Princess (Die Csardasfürstin)). 

In 1981 he was awarded the Ring of Honour of Bad Ischl.

By decision of the Municipal Council of 5 April 2001, the square in front of the Congress and Theater House was named after Eduard Macku.

Life and work (excerpt from Wikipedia and Stüger's research):

Eduard Macku (30 June 1901, Linz - 11 April 1999, Vienna)

From 1934, he worked as a band master and singing teacher at the Landestheater and the Kolosseum Theater in Linz. In 1924 he passed the band master examination, then took singing lessons and gained stage experience at the Landestheater.  In 1936, Macku moved to Vienna. From 1944, he directed entertainment events at the Concert House (Konzerthaus) in Vienna.

In 1945, he founded the Vienna Concert and Entertainment Orchestra, which was renamed the “Franz Lehár Orchestra” in 1974.  Not only did Macku perform popular Sunday concerts with the orchestra, but he also arranged tours in Europe (Germany, France, Italy, and Scandinavia) as well as to Israel and North America (United States of America, Canada).

In 1964, Macku was made professor.

In 1972, he was awarded the Golden Badge of Honor of the Province of Vienna.

Macku composed about 60 pieces. His grave is in Vienna’s Rodaun Cemetery. The photos from the early days of the operetta weeks were provided to us by Dr. Silvia Müller.