Helmuth Stapff-Gruppe

From 1928 Helmuth Stapff appeared at home evenings of the Erzgebirgsverein, initially alone as a singer and reciter. In 1936 he met the sisters Martha "Marthel" and Emmy Pimpl, who were successful singers as Grünhainer Pimpl-Maad. The joint appearances soon led to the fact that the three got together as a mixed three-voice (soprano, alto and baritone) and adopted the permanent name Helmuth Stapff Gruppe. Emmy left after their wedding in 1948 and was initially replaced by her sister-in-law Magda Reinwarth, who in turn was replaced a few years later by Else Seidel. Stapff and Marthel Pimpl married in 1954. In 1955 Stapff moved to West Germany and lived in Graefenberg for a good ten years, then in Buckenhofen (now Forchheim). In the west, too, the Helmuth Stapff Gruppe continued its vocal activity until the spring of 1978.