Peter Raabe

Peter Raabe was the son of a painter and a piano teacher. He first studied at the Berlin University of the Arts and completed his studies at the Jena University in 1916 with a doctorate. In 1894, he began his career as a conductor. From 1899-1903 he conducted the Dutch Opera in Amsterdam and from 1903-07 the People’s Symphony Concerts in München. In 1907, he became court conductor in Weimar and in 1910 also curator of the Liszt Museum there. From 1920-34, he was musical director in Aachen and honorary professor at the Aachen Technical University. In the 1920s, his repertoire still included works of Viennese Classicism and Romantic music as well as the contemporary music or New Music of the time.

In 1935, Raabe replaced Richard Strauss (1864-1949) as chairman of the Reichsmusikkammer (Reich Chamber of Music). In this capacity, and as chairman of the “Deutscher Tonkünstlerverein”, he implemented the directives of the Nazi regime. He ensured that over 3,000 representatives of modern music and especially “non-Aryan” musicians were either not admitted to the Reichsmusikkammer or were dismissed. He appeared as a conductor at Reich Party conventions and, in 1937, became a member of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterparte (NSDAP / Nazi party). He was also a member of the board of trustees of the “Goebbels-Stiftung für Kulturschaffende” and of the advisory board of the “Kameradschaft der deutschen Künstler”.

Raabe’s writings include “Die Musik im dritten Reich” (Music in the Third Reich, 1935) and “Kulturwille im deutschen Musikleben” (Cultural will in German musical life, 1936). However, he also produced some academically valuable treatises, especially on the lives and works of Franz Liszt, Carl-Maria von Weber, and Anton Bruckner. Raabe died shortly before the total collapse of the Third Reich, which he tried to serve as best he could. His son Felix (1900-96) was also General Music Director in Aachen from 1946 to 1953.