German jazz bandleaders

Walter Dobrzynski, better known as Walter Dobschinski (October 29, 1908, Berlin - February 16, 1996, Berlin) was a German jazz trombonist and bandleader.
Dobschinski received formal musical training on piano at the Berlin Conservatory, but concentrated on trombone once he became interested in jazz music. He played with Teddy Stauffer for most of the 1930s, including on tours of western Europe and on the ship SS Reliance. In 1939 he worked with Kurt Hohenberger, and was involved with the German Dance and Entertainment Orchestra during World War II. Following the war, he led a swing jazz ensemble for Berliner Rundfunk, recording extensively with this group; Rex Stewart appeared on some of these recordings. He continued leading ensembles in the 1950s, but in his later career he concentrated on arranging and composition.

Kurt "Kutte" Widman (2 March 1906 – 27 November 1954) was a German bandleader and jazz musician.
Widmann started out on drums, then later learned to play accordion and trombone. He was playing locally by 1924, and led a quintet at the Hotel Imperator in Berlin in 1933 which played swing jazz; Hans Berry was one of his sidemen. He directed his own dance orchestra from 1938 to 1942, which frequently appeared at the Haus Vaterland. He recorded in 1938–1939, including under various pseudonyms such as Billy Blackmoore, John Weepster, and John Webb. Once war began with England, censorship forbade these names, but the band was allowed to continue performing, including at events for German troops. Widmann was drafted to the Wehrmacht during the war but was released in 1944 due to health reasons. He continued playing events in Germany even as Allied troops began invading, playing cinema houses in between films.
After the war, Widmann formed a new band which played during the American occupation, sometimes using older arrangements from the war period, but also employing Berlin-based arranger Walter Jenson. He recorded again in the late 1940s, and died of a stroke in 1954. The 1955 film Music in the Blood, directed by Erik Ode, is based on his life with Viktor de Kowa in the lead role.

Bernard Etté (September 13, 1898, Kassel - September 26, 1973, Mühldorf) was a German jazz and light music violinist and conductor.
Etté was the son of a hairdresser and studied music formally at the Louis Spohr Conservatory in Kassel. He initially worked with Carl Robrecht as an instrumentalist, playing piano and banjo in addition to violin. In the early 1920s he assembled his own ensemble, which took up a residency in Berlin and performed on radio in the early 1920s. The group also recorded in the 1920s, often with traveling American musicians.During the 1930s, as the Nazi party rose to power, Etté shifted away from jazz to light music, leading a large orchestra; during World War II he played for wounded soldiers on behalf of the Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt in 1940 and for prison overseers at Auschwitz in 1944. After the war, he moved to the United States and attempted a new career, but was unsuccessful in adapting to new stylistic trends. He returned to Germany, leading bands for luxury retreats in the East Frisian Islands and schlager and operetta backing bands in central Germany. By the end of the 1950s he had quit actively playing music, and lived out his last years in an old folk's home.