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1-11 of 11
- Franz Kafka was born into a German-speaking Jewish family in Prague, Austrian Empire, in 1883. His father, Hermann Kafka, was a business owner and a domestic tyrant, frequently abusing his son. Kafka later admitted to his father, "My writing was all about you...". He believed that his father broke his will and caused insecurity and guilt, that affected his whole life. Their tensions come out in "The Trial" and in "The Castle" in form of a hopeless conflict with an overwhelming force. His mother, Julie Lowy, came from an intellectual, spiritual family of the Jewish merchant and brewer Jakob Lowy. Although her influence was diminished by his dominating father, she shared her son's delicate nature. Kafka had a few relationships with women and was engaged, but never made a family.
He finished the German National Gymnasium in 1901, and graduated from the German University in Prague as Doctor of Law in 1906. He worked for insurance companies for the rest of his life. His profession shaped the formal, cold language of his writings which avoided any sentimental interpretations, leaving it to the reader. In 1908 Kafka published eight short stories compiled under the title "Meditation". In 1911 he became interested in Yiddish theater, that absorbed him more than abstract Judaism. In 1912 he began writing "The Judgment", which was more than an autobiography, providing a therapeutical outlet for his wrecked soul. The same year he started "Metamorphosis" about a traveling salesman, who transformed into a giant bug. In 1914 he wrote "In the Penal Colony" and "The Trial", which is regarded to be his best work. His style remains unique, though literary connections may be traced to Edgar Allan Poe, E.T.A. Hoffmann and Nikolay Gogol, as well as to Chinese parables, to the Bible and Talmud.
As a Jew Kafka experienced social tensions and isolation from the German community, so very few of his writings could find readers during his life. His three sisters later died in the Nazi concentration camps. He suffered from clinical depression, social anxiety, insomnia, and tuberculosis, complicated by laryngitis, that caused him the loss of his voice before his death in 1924. He was comforted by his girlfriend Dora Diamant, who had broken away from her Hasidic shtetl in Poland. She was 19 when they met in 1923 and Kafka wrote to her parents, asking for their permission to marry her. Their answer was negative, because Kafka presented himself as a non-religious Jew. He asked Dora to destroy his manuscripts after his death, but she kept about 20 notebooks of his writings and 35 private letters, that were reportedly confiscated by the Gestapo in 1933 and are not yet recovered. His university friend Max Brod became his editor, biographer and literary agent, who preserved and published most of Kafka's works posthumously, including the unfinished novels "The Trial", "The Castle", and "America". - Actor
- Writer
- Director
After school, he attended the Academy for Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, which he successfully completed. In 1924, Fritz Eckhardt had his first engagement at the Wilhelma Theater in Stuttgart, where his father was director. Just two years later he made his screen debut in the silent film "Rosenkavalier". A few roles at smaller theaters followed until he came to "Lieber Augustin" in 1936. In addition to his work as an actor, Eckhardt began writing and directing plays.
During the war years of the Second World War from 1939 onward, Fritz Eckhardt anonymously wrote pieces for the "Wiener Werkel", the only cabaret in Vienna during the time of the Nazi regime under Adolf Hitler. Banned from working because of his half-Jewish descent, he fled to America for a while, where he mainly wrote radio plays. After the end of the war in June 1945, Eckhardt, together with Carl Merz and Kurt Nachtmann, managed to reopen the "Lieber Augustin". Carl Merz took over management in the following years. From 1946 to 1948, Fritz Eckhardt directed the Vienna "Kunsttheater".
He also took part in the "Kleine Brettl" in 1947 and wrote some pieces for cabarets in German-speaking countries. Fritz Eckhardt became a sought-after actor and author in post-war cinema. He became a popular series actor and therefore known to a wider audience through his role in "Hello... Hotel Sacher, Portier!". Eckhardt also wrote scripts, including for "The Leitner Family", for some of his "Tatort" episodes and for "Swabian Stories". One of his most successful films was "When the Father with the Son..." with Heinz Rühmann from 1955.
This was later followed by the role of Inspector Marek in "Tatort", where he was very popular with his audience. During his life he wrote over 30 plays and more than 200 film and television scripts. In 1989, Eckhardt published his autobiography under the title "I like to remember". The book "An actor must be able to do everything" followed in 1992. In 1993 his wife died, whose death he was unable to overcome. This was followed by health problems, because of which he had to undergo several operations.
Fritz Eckhardt died on December 31, 1995 in Klosterneuenburg near Vienna.- Ernst Stankovski was born on 16 June 1928 in Vienna-Hernals, Austria. He was an actor and writer, known for The Good Soldier Schweik (1960), The Country Doctor (1987) and Der Opernball (1971). He was married to Anna Luise Schubert and Ida Krottendorf. He died on 26 January 2022 in Klosterneuburg, Austria.
- Norbert Kappen was born on 1 February 1928 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. He was an actor, known for Die Affaire Dreyfus (1968), Kidnap - Die Entführung des Lindbergh-Babys (1968) and Das schwedische Zündholz (1967). He died on 23 August 1984 in Klosterneuburg, Austria.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Christa Ludwig was born on 16 March 1928 in Berlin, Germany. She was an actress, known for Fatal Attraction (1987), La haine (1995) and Fidelio (1963). She was married to Paul-Emile Deiber and Walter Berry. She died on 24 April 2021 in Klosterneuburg, Austria.- Actor
- Additional Crew
Paul-Emile Deiber was born on 1 January 1925 in La Broque, Bas-Rhin, France. He was an actor, known for King on Horseback (1958), Au théâtre ce soir (1966) and Emmenez-moi au théâtre (1982). He was married to Christa Ludwig. He died on 14 December 2011 in Klosterneuburg, Vienna, Austria.- Music Department
Herbert Tachezi was born on 12 February 1930 in Wiener Neustadt, Lower Austria, Austria. He is known for La clemenza di Tito (2003). He died on 9 December 2016 in Klosterneuburg, Lower Austria, Austria.- Otto Koenig was born on 23 October 1914 in Vienna, Austria. He was a writer, known for Wunder der Tierwelt (1956), Österreich-Bild (1968) and Horizonte (1963). He was married to Lilli Frischauf. He died on 5 December 1992 in Klosterneuburg, Austria.
- Composer
- Music Department
- Actor
Carl Loubé was born on 13 January 1907 in Mährisch Kromau, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Moravský Krumlov, Czech Republic]. He was a composer and actor, known for Die Deutschmeister (1955), Geheimnis einer Ärztin (1955) and Waltz King (1955). He died on 12 December 1983 in Klosterneuburg, Lower Austria, Austria.- Production Designer
- Art Director
- Set Decorator
Fritz Jüptner-Jonstorff was born on 2 June 1908 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. He was a production designer and art director, known for Kleine Melodie aus Wien (1948), Frauen sind keine Engel (1943) and An der schönen blauen Donau (1955). He died on 24 October 1993 in Klosterneuburg, Lower Austria, Austria.- Rudi Hofstätter was born on 9 July 1916 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary [now Austria]. He was an actor, known for Dort in der Wachau (1957), Die Frauen des Herrn S. (1951) and Die gestohlene Hose (1956). He died on 5 October 2008 in Klosterneuburg, Lower Austria, Austria.