ABSTRACT
German conductor, born in Berlin. He began conducting at the Strasbourg Opera in 1910, going on to concerts in Lübeck from 1911 to 1915. He became conductor of the Mannheim orchestra (1915-1918), and then of the Vienna Tonkünstler Orchester (19191924). While in Vienna he also directed the Gesellschaft für Musikfreunde. Furtwängler was appointed to the directorship of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in 1922. He held concurrent posts with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra from 1927, and with the Berlin State Opera from 1933. He had problems with the Nazi government, but remained in Germany until the final months of World War II; then he emigrated to Switzerland. After the war he resumed relatively normal duties, despite growing deafness. He died in Ebersteinburg.
