Ludwigshafen, 1900 – 1974 Stockton, California
Rudolf Fetsch was born on 28 August 1900 in Ludwigshafen and was baptized in the Catholic Church of St. Ludwig. He came from a Catholic family; his father, August Ludwig Fetsch, worked as a postal clerk. A younger brother, Walter Fetsch, later practiced as a dentist in Ludwigshafen.
Fetsch pursued a musical career and married Hedwig Rosenstiel on 30 June 1923. Their son, Ulrich Wolfgang Fetsch, was born later that same year. At the time, Rudolf Fetsch was already active as a Kapellmeister with the Pfalzorchester. His promising career was strongly supported by the orchestra’s general music director, Ernst Boehe, who recognized him as a representative of the younger generation of Palatinate composers. In response to increasing economic hardship and political persecution, Boehe, with the assistance of Klaus Pringsheim, helped secure Fetsch a position at a private music and opera school in Japan. Fetsch arrived in Japan in 1937; his wife and son followed in 1938. His brother Walter was able to emigrate in 1939. In Japan, Fetsch initially continued his work as a musician and composer, but his professional activities became increasingly restricted as a result of the German–Japanese cultural agreement and, more severely, after Japan entered the war in 1941. The family endured extreme hardship, marked by unemployment, material deprivation, and the constant dangers of war.
