Grünbach – The cleaning lady as a stage star: “Frau Franzi” celebrates her birthday

With “Frau Franzi” many things look a little different. A certain English playwright named William “Schäggsbia”, became the e-circular of “Njusledda”. Understanding problems? It’s rare, says Marika Reichhold, who has been imitating the quick-witted cleaning lady 15 years ago. “In Germany, not a single joke works: because they only know ‘Schränkchen’, not ‘Kastl’.”

The fact that the former art therapist and drama teacher, who was born in Neunkirchen and raised in Grünbach am Schneeberg, gave birth to her cabaret character a decade and a half ago has to do with the old mining museum in her home country. After her mother died, she inherited it – and was faced with the question of how to carry on. “I was of the opinion that the show needed a proper character. There’s not much to laugh about anyway, and mining itself is a rather dry subject,” Reichhold recalls of the beginnings. And she created – in a blue and white coat, old glasses and the obligatory headdress – the intelligent, eloquent cleaning lady. “Since the first round, ‘Frau Franzi’ has been well received.” It was important to her from the start to create her character as “weird” but not “stupid”.

Success proved Reichhold right. The appearance of “Frau Franzi” was initially limited to the museum, but later it became more. “More and more people have been asking: Why should I go to the museum if I want to see Frau Franzi.” From 2009 Reichshold has also been on stage outside the museum – marking Haydn’s year for which she wrote the very first programme. This was followed by such classics as “Hamlet”, “Magpies” or “Romeo and Julia”. Reichshold is currently touring the country with “Don Quijote, Oh My God”, and most recently she performed with her in Grünbach. “Each story should have something the other didn’t have. I appreciate it being entertaining,” she explained. Reichhold has now written a good 15 programs.

The cleaning lady, a fictional character – and the owner of the tavern

You can now reserve “Frau Franzi” for the living room. “I play at birthdays and weddings—and once I played when divorced,” Reichhold reveals—and nodded when asked again. Last but not least, the school’s classes are also found in the “Frau Franzis” calendars.

Reichhold, who has lived in Sudstadt in the Mödling district since 1987, has two children and two grandchildren, and is grateful to all her frequent guests. “I value personal contact with people, I even host them myself. Since I’m a cleaning lady, I can’t do anything anymore!”

Finally, on July 16, “Mrs. Franzi” invites you to the annual summer party in “Paradiesgart’l” at the Mining Museum in Grünbach – where the character’s story once began. “I spent my youth here, helping out at my father’s lodge,” Reichhold recalled.

If you want to stay up to date with the activities of “Frau Franzis”, you can use bergbaumuseum-gruenbach.at Inform – or subscribe to “Njusledda”, of course …