November 6

© 1997, 1998 by Paul A. Schons

November 6, 1672

Death of Heinrich Schütz in Dresden, Germany. One of the most talented early German composers, Schütz was given the position of court composer in Dresden. Works by Schütz include Dafne, Musikalische Exequien, and Kleine geistliche Konzerte.

November 6, 1771

Birth of Alois Senefelder in Prague (now in the Czech Republic). Senefelder studied at the University of Ingolstadt and aspired to be an actor and writer. In attempting to do some other things to supplement his lack of income from his chosen career, he quite accidentally invented lithography. Ultimately he earned a nice living from it but never did fulfill his original dreams.

November 6, 1880

Birth of Robert Musil in Klagenfurt, Austria. A novelist, Musil is known for Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften, Die Schwärmer, and Vinzenz und die Freundin bedeutender Männer. In the face of the German annexation of Austria, he fled to Switzerland.

November 6, 1911

Death of Joseph Viktor Widmann in Bern, Switzerland (born in the Austrian Empire). Widmann spent his career in Switzerland where he was the literary editor of the Bern newspaper, Der Bund. He himself wrote very popular travel books.

November 6, 1931

Birth of Mike Nichols (Michael Peschkowsky) in Berlin, Germany. Peschkowsky was only 7 when his family immigrated to the United States. He studied at the University of Chicago and then formed a performing group, "Second City". There he began his work with Elaine May. On Broadway he performed in Barefoot in the Park, and The Odd Couple. He directed the films, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Graduate, Catch-22, Silkwood, and Postcards from the Edge.

November 6, 1945

The War Crimes Trials start in Nürnberg.

November 6, 1960

Death of Erich Raeder in Kiel, Germany . Raeder was commander of the German navy from 1928-1943. Immediately upon his appointment he began to work for the building of a submarine fleet although this was forbidden by the Versailles Treaty. He also began to build cruisers. He came into disputes of strategy with Hitler and was thus replaced in 1943. After the war he was tried for war crimes and sentenced to life in prison, but was released in 1955 due to ill health. (He lived until 1960.)

November 6, 1978

Franz Josef Strauß becomes the Ministerpräsident (governor) of Bavaria.

November 6, 2007

Chancelor Angela Merkel is awarded the Leo Baeck Prize for for her efforts fostering positive relations between Jews and non-Jews.