Alfred Paul Hetschko (24 August 1898 – 18 April 1967) was an Austro-German music educator, Kapellmeister and composer, who rendered outstanding services to men's choir.
[2] After passing his school-leaving examination (Matura) in 1916 at the Protestant Lehrerbildungsanstalt [de] in Bielitz, he served in the First World War as a soldier in the Österreichisches Heer.
[7] The predominantly Protestant student body, originating from West Prussia, was there educated to the German Volkstum and to loyal citizenship of the Polish state.
[7] He was also director of the Singakademie in Graudenz,[5] which merged with the men's singing society "Liedertafel" in 1930,[14] with which he gave public concerts.
[14] Among others, he performed the oratorios Christ on the Mount of Olives by Ludwig van Beethoven (1927) and The Seasons by Joseph Haydn (1932).
[15] He also maintained a close exchange with his Polish colleagues, making music with the Graudenz Conservatory Director Ignaci Tomaszewski.
[7] On 1 July 1941[17] he joined the NSDAP[18] (membership number 8,956,345) and belonged to the NSDAP-Ortsgruppe [de] Česká Třebová (Reichsgau Sudetenland).
[19] From 1942 to 1945, Hetschko taught at the secondary school and teacher training college in Dvůr Králové nad Labem in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
From 1 June 1948, he was head of the music department and Oberregierungsrat [de][6] in the SED-led Ministry of Education of Saxony-Anhalt.
In addition, in 1949 Hetschko received a teaching assignment at the Staatliche Hochschule für Theater und Musik Halle [de] founded by Hans Stieber.
[20] In 1951/52, under Minister Paul Wandel, he was chief advisor for music in the Ministry of National Education [de] of the GDR in East Berlin.
[16] From August to September 1951, he also served as the first head of the music department of the Staatliche Kommission für Kunstangelegenheiten [de], from which he resigned again at the end of 1951.