Heinrich George
Encyclopedia
Heinrich George born Georg August Friedrich Hermann Schulz, was a German
stage and film actor.
He had one of his first roles in the Fritz Lang
directed film Metropolis and the first film version of Berlin Alexanderplatz
(1931). George is noted for spooking the young Bertolt Brecht
in his first directing job, a production of Arnolt Bronnen
's Parracide (1922), when he refused to continue working with the director. He also appeared in 1930's Dreyfus
. He was active in the Communist Party of Germany
before the Nazi takeover, who did not permit him to continue work. After arrangements, he took over leading a group of "non-desirable" actors. He acted in a number of propaganda films before and during WWII, including Hitlerjunge Quex, Jud Süß
, and Kolberg
. He died in 1946 in the Russia
n concentration camp Speziallager Nr. 7 Sachsenhausen
, just north of Berlin
. Cause of death was starvation, even though official reports stated that he died "after an appendix operation".
Heinrich George married the German actress Berta Drews. They had two sons: Jan George and actor Götz George
.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
stage and film actor.
He had one of his first roles in the Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
directed film Metropolis and the first film version of Berlin Alexanderplatz
Berlin Alexanderplatz
Berlin Alexanderplatz is a novel by Alfred Döblin, published in 1929. The story concerns a small-time criminal, Franz Biberkopf, fresh from prison, who is drawn into the underworld. When his criminal mentor murders the prostitute whom Biberkopf has been relying on as an anchor, he realizes that...
(1931). George is noted for spooking the young Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
in his first directing job, a production of Arnolt Bronnen
Arnolt Bronnen
Arnolt Bronnen was an Austrian playwright and director.Bronnen's most famous play is the Expressionist drama Parricide ; its première production is notable, among other things, for being that from which Bronnen's friend, the young Bertolt Brecht in an early stage of his directing career, withdrew,...
's Parracide (1922), when he refused to continue working with the director. He also appeared in 1930's Dreyfus
Dreyfus (1930 film)
Dreyfus was a 1930 film on the Dreyfus affair, based on a novel by Bruno Weil. It was translated into English as Dreyfus.-Cast:*Fritz Kortner - Alfred Dreyfus*Grete Mosheim - Lucie Dreyfus...
. He was active in the Communist Party of Germany
Communist Party of Germany
The Communist Party of Germany was a major political party in Germany between 1918 and 1933, and a minor party in West Germany in the postwar period until it was banned in 1956...
before the Nazi takeover, who did not permit him to continue work. After arrangements, he took over leading a group of "non-desirable" actors. He acted in a number of propaganda films before and during WWII, including Hitlerjunge Quex, Jud Süß
Jud Süß (1940 film)
Jud Süß is an antisemitic propaganda film produced in 1940 by Terra Filmkunst at the behest of Joseph Goebbels. The movie was directed by Veit Harlan, who wrote the screenplay with Eberhard Wolfgang Möller and Ludwig Metzger, and starred Ferdinand Marian and Harlan's wife Kristina Söderbaum.The...
, and Kolberg
Kolberg (film)
Kolberg is a 1945 German propaganda film directed by Veit Harlan and Wolfgang Liebeneiner. It opened on January 30, 1945 simultaneously in Berlin and to the crew of the naval base at La Rochelle. It was also screened in the Reich chancellery after the broadcast of Hitler's last radio address on...
. He died in 1946 in the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n concentration camp Speziallager Nr. 7 Sachsenhausen
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
, just north of Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. Cause of death was starvation, even though official reports stated that he died "after an appendix operation".
Heinrich George married the German actress Berta Drews. They had two sons: Jan George and actor Götz George
Götz George
Götz George is a German actor, son of actor couple Berta Drews and Heinrich George. His arguably best-known role is that of Duisburg commissar Horst Schimanski in the TV crime series Tatort.-Early years:...
.
Further reading
- Berta Drews: Wohin des Wegs: Erinnerungen. Langen Müller, 1986. ISBN 3-7844-2098-2
- Peter Laregh: Heinrich George. Komödiant seiner Zeit. Langen Müller (Herbig), München 1992, ISBN 3-7844-2363-9
- Werner Maser: Heinrich George. Mensch, aus Erde gemacht. Quintessenz Verlag, 1998, ISBN 3-8612-4351-2
- Kurt Fricke: Spiel am Abgrund. Heinrich George – eine politische Biographie. Mitteldeutscher Verlag, 2000, ISBN 978-3-89812-021-0
- Kurt Fricke: Heinrich George, in: Bernd Heidenreich/Sönke NeitzelSönke NeitzelSönke Neitzel is a German historian who has written extensively about the Second World War. He is Professor of History at the University of Mainz, having also held posts at the University of Karlsruhe, University of Bern, and the University of Saarbrucken but will take over the Chair of Modern...
(eds.): Medien im Nationalsozialismus. Schöningh Paderborn, 2010, S. 83–107, ISBN 978-3-506-76710-3 - Michael Klonovsky, Jan von Flocken: Stalins Lager in Deutschland 1945–1950. Dokumentation – Zeugenberichte. Ullstein-Verlag, 1991, ISBN 978-3550074882
- Horst Mesalla: Heinrich George. Rekonstruktion der schauspielerischen Leistung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der zeitgenössischen Publizistik. Dissertation, Freie Universität Berlin, 1969.