Bayreuth Festival King Ludwig (who attended in secret, probably to avoid the Kaiser), and other members of the nobility, as well as the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche who committed much effort to helping his then good friend Wagner establish the festival, and such accomplished composers as Anton Bruckner, Edvard Grieg, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Franz Liszt, and the young Arthur Foote. Artistically, the festival was a success. ("Something has taken place at Bayreuth which our grandchildren and their children will still remember", wrote Tchaikovsky, attending the Festival as a Russian correspondent.) Financially, however, the festival was a disaster and did not begin to make money
Gau Bayreuth the "Gau" was also home to the Flossenbürg concentration camp and its many subcamps. Because the "Gau Bayerische Ostmark" was not a border region any more, it was renamed into "Gau Bayreuth" in 1942. Wächtler was shot on orders of Hitler, having left his capital Bayreuth in April 1945. He was replaced by Ludwig Ruckdeschel, whose reign until the surrender of Nazi Germany was very brief. The Gauleiter of Gau Bayreuth: Ludwig Ruckdeschel was also the deputy "Gauleiter" from 1 February 1933 to June 1941. In this position, he led the "Gau" from Hans Schemm's death to the appointment of