In July 1942, he was drafted into the Arbeitsdienst (Reich Labour Service), and in October that year to the anti-aircraft branch of the Luftwaffe.
Due to alleged antisemitic tendencies in the play, protesters occupied the stage and prevented its world premiere.
[6] Rühle staged a performance for around 150 critics and theatre personnel on 4 November, which the publisher counted as the world premiere.
[6] Rühle promoted the director and poet Einar Schleef,[4] who, coming from East Germany, was at first not accepted by the paper's audience and critics, but whose 1988 production of Gerhard Hauptmann's Vor Sonnenaufgang ("Before Sunrise") was invited to the Berliner Theatertreffen.
[6][9] Rühle wrote a book in two volumes about the history of theatre criticism in Germany, Theater für die Republik.
He was also president of the Alfred Kerr Foundation [de] in Berlin,[10] and editor of the complete works by Marieluise Fleißer by Suhrkamp.
[12] In 2009, an award of the Woche junger Schauspielerinnen und Schauspieler for the best theatre acting by a newcomer was named the Günther-Rühle-Preis.