Bernhard Bötel

German operatic tenor (born July 3, 1883 in Hamburg, Germany – died November 3, 1953 in Berlin, Germany) The son of the opera singer Heinrich Bötel (1854-1938), Bötel junior studied voice first with Mathieu Lorent in Hamburg, then under Ernst Grenzebach in Berlin. In 1905, he made his debut at the Municipal Theater of Aachen as Lancelot in the operetta "La Poupée" by Audran. In 1906, he had great success in the role of Hoffmann in Offenbach's "Hoffmanns Erzählungen" at the Komische Oper, Berlin. After singing in Berlin for four years, he moved to Vienna where he performed first at the Opera House, then from 1912 to 1914 at the Raimund Theater. At the world premiere of Franz Lehár's operetta "Der Graf von Luxemburg" at the Vienna Opera House on November 17, 1909, Bötel sang a supporting role. During the 1914-1915 season, Bötel worked at the Municipal Theater of Halle/Saale, then he moved back to Berlin where he spent the rest of his career as a well-known tenor-buffo at the Städtische Oper Berlin, except for the 1928-1931 seasons when he was engaged by the Kroll Oper in Berlin. Bötel retired from the stage in 1935.