Fathers shape our lives – but what remains of them? Twice a month we survey celebrities about their relationship with their father. This time: the actress Birgit Steinegger.
“I admired and loved him all my life”: Birgit Steinegger and her father, Hans Félix, around 1955.
1. Describe three characteristics of your father.
He was inquisitive, empathetic and charming. And, if I may name more qualities: He was also extremely communicative, sensitive, hardworking, humorous and endowed with a lot of noblesse. And he was a brilliant chess player – in every sense.
2. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree: What are typical characteristics that characterize you as your father’s daughter?
In terms of looks, we’re both slim in build. We both also loved having an open house. When I was a child, we had regular house concerts, and we often had a lot of guests. My father knew how to entertain them brilliantly, he told exciting stories, acted like a clown and parodied various personalities in different languages. I particularly remember his imitation of Mussolini, Hitler and Charles Chaplin.
I liked how he could make people laugh. And it rubbed off on me: Even as a small child, I used to dress up on the attic for those occasions and then continued to entertain the guests during the cozy part.
“My father knew how to entertain people”: Hans Félix Steinegger, 1955.
3. Complete the following sentence: Unlike my mother, my father was . . .
. . . stricter than my mother. Sometimes stubborn and almost relentless.
4. What did your father teach you about life?
Tolerance and respect, especially towards people who think differently. It was his great gift to approach people. As a polyglot and thanks to his enormous knowledge, it was helpful to be open to foreign cultures and people. But I don’t think I can do him justice by trying to describe him. I have admired and loved him all my life. We had a very intimate relationship.
5. . . . about love?
I found some love letters my father wrote to my swedish mother during the war. The two lived in Milan for years, both studied there. It was written in Italian, English, German, Swedish and also French, and some of the letters were censored. “Being able to love is vital. To be loved, a gift from God!” My father wrote this quote in his agenda.
6. . . . about money?
He was an economist and repeatedly insisted on the importance of “instinct”. On the one hand, he could be a “rap splitter”, on the other hand he was always very generous.
About Birgit Steinegger and her father:
Birgit Steinegger is a Swiss actress, cabaret artist and parodist. She was born in Bern in 1948, the third child of a Swiss father and a Swede. Her mother was a musician, which is why Birgit Steinegger took violin and piano lessons at an early age. After training as a kindergarten teacher, she took acting lessons and attended the Lecoq acting school in Paris.
She first played on various theater stages before presenting “Das Spielhaus” on Swiss television for 14 years and appearing in several television plays. Between 1998 and 2015, Steinegger became known to an audience of millions with her show “Total Birgit” on Swiss television. She slipped into over a hundred roles for the show, including her most famous character, Ms. Iseli. Birgit Steinegger also parodied numerous prominent personalities, for example in the programs “Biddens” or “Classe Politique”. For decades she could also be heard in numerous radio plays on Radio SRF with “Zweierleier” or as the presenter of “Guete Morge”. Birgit Steinegger has received numerous awards for her work, including the “Salzburger Stier” (together with Viktor Giacobbo), twice the “Prix Walo”, the “Berner Bäredräck” and the “Tele Preis”.
Her father, Hans Félix Steinegger (1917–2009), was an economist (lic. rer. pol.) and managing director of a factory.
7. Tell about your most formative experience with your father.
When I was in preschool, I contracted polio while on vacation in Denmark. Suddenly I was paralyzed on one side. After a long stay in hospital – I was lying lonely and isolated in a single room – the journey home to Switzerland was planned. The only companion I was allowed to have with me the whole time was my «Bäremani», a plush teddy bear.
The doctors forbade me to let these “Bear Mani” travel to Switzerland. A disaster for me! So my father fought against the doctors’ decision and worked with them to find a solution. This was soon found: The “Bäremani” had to be boiled! So the beloved teddy bear – a little paler on the outside – was allowed to return to Switzerland after all. I still have him.
The actress Birgit Steinegger.
8. What do you want to do differently than your father?
I was just about to Nothing do differently than my father. I always emulated him, he had my boundless admiration.
9. What always annoyed you about your father, but now you do the same thing?
He was a . . . today one would probably say «news junkie»: a passionate reader of the NZZ, which was published three times a day at the time. And if he wanted to hear the news at the lunch table, you had to keep quiet during that time. That annoyed me. I would much rather have told him about my experiences, but I would never have dared to intervene because of it. Well, today you could also call me a «news junkie».
10. A phrase your father often said to you?
There were a few: “Live and let live”, or: “C’est le ton qui fait la musique” and: “Bhüet di Gott”. “God protect you” is now written on his gravestone.
11. What did you always want to say to your father?
Nothing – I told him everything and asked him everything. Still, I miss him every day.
