Born in
Mrsklesy near
Olomouc, Morbitzer received his first, only sporadic lessons in Olomouc. From 1939 the family lived in
Wiener Neustadt, where he now received regular violin lessons from the then director Fritz Heindl. In 1940, he made his debut there with
Pierre Rode's A major violin concerto. In 1941, he moved to the
University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, but was dissatisfied with the training there, so in 1943 he came to the Thuringian State Conservatory in Erfurt, where the renowned violin teacher Prof. Walter Hansmann (1875–1963) taught him. Shortly before the end of the war, Morbitzer was called up and wounded in April 1945. From May 1945, he was able to continue and complete his studies in Erfurt. Among his fellow students in Erfurt was the pianist
Dieter Zechlin, who accompanied him in 1946 to a trial audition at the
Deutsches Nationaltheater und Staatskapelle Weimar, which was then directed by
Hermann Abendroth, who immediately engaged Morbitzer as 1st
concertmaster. In 1948, he also became a lecturer at the
Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar, which appointed him professor in 1949. At the age of 22, Morbitzer was thus the youngest professor in the
GDR. Finally, from 1951 until his death, he was concertmaster of the
Staatskapelle Berlin. In 1953, he also founded the
string quartet of the
Staatsoper Unter den Linden, which was sponsored by the . Other members were Bernd Müller (2nd violin),
Alfred Lipka (
viola) and Karl-Heinz Schröter (
violoncello). The quartet not only played the classical literature, but was also committed to contemporary composers, especially
Dmitri Shostakovich. Through Dieter Zechlin, Morbitzer also met his wife, the composer
Ruth Zechlin, in 1951, who dedicated four of her six string quartets to his ensemble. Morbitzer was one of the best-known violinists in the
GDR. He frequently gave guest performances abroad and recorded numerous disks, both as a soloist and with his string quartet. In 1975, he was made an honorary member of the
Tokyo Symphony Orchestra. He died in Berlin of cancer at the age of 62. After his death, he also became an honorary member of the Staatskapelle. ==Family==