Clowndoctor tells

They bring laughter to the hospital every week

Stefanie Brandstätter enjoys working with young hospital patients.(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

Stefanie Brandstätter could have become an actress. Today she is happy to be able to cheer up sick children as a health clown. Sometimes even the terminally ill.

A smile. When Josefine makes a child at Salzburg Children's Hospital smile, a lot has already been achieved. Then she knows that the little patient is a little brighter than before thanks to her singing and fun interludes. This helps them to recover quickly or to get through treatment more easily.

While they were still viewed critically when they were founded in 1994, today the "Red Noses" are simply a part of life in many hospitals. Because doctors, nursing staff and parents know Laughter is healthy. When Stefanie Brandstätter as Josefine and her twelve-strong Salzburg team cheer up seriously ill children, her heart is also lifted. "It's so nice to see what our performances do for the children and their parents," she says. Every day when she goes home, she thinks: "Yes, this is what I do it for."

Opera star Rolando Villazón recently went on a visit with Stefanie Brandstätter to mark the 30th anniversary. The children in neurological rehabilitation already know "Josefine" and her team. The clowns come several times a week and make contact with them.(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

An accident led the native of Lower Austria to choose this career path. "I studied singing, dancing and acting. In my final year at university, I was left with two legs in plaster after an accident. That gave me a lot to think about," says Brandstätter. One thing led to another: The Red Noses were looking for a clown, she did the extensive training and ended up in Salzburg for love, where she is the artistic director of the clowns.

Smallest mask in the world protects against sadness
The work is by no means all fun and games. The health clowns experience a lot. Stefanie Brandstätter has also visited dying children. Does her work also make her sad? She thinks for a while before answering: "The red nose is a great protection. It's the smallest mask in the world. With it, I don't perceive the illness, but the child as a child, as a person." Sabine Deubler