Hans Bertram (26 February 1906 – 8 January 1993) was a German

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

and

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, ...

Biography

Early life

Hans Bertram was born on 26 February 1906 in

Remscheid Remscheid () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is, after Wuppertal and Solingen, the third-largest municipality in Bergisches Land, being located on the northern edge of the region, on the south side of the Ruhr area. Remsche ...

, Germany.

Career

During 1920, Bertram trained under flying instructor Paul Bäumer, a noted German aviator of World War I, at Hamburg Fuhlsbuttel Airport. From 1927, Bertram was an aviation advisor to the government of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northea ...

and was involved in establishing its naval aviation service. When Bertram piloted a

Junkers W 33 The Junkers W 33 was a German 1920s single-engine low-wing monoplane transport aircraft that followed Junkers standard practice making extensive use of corrugated aluminium alloy over an aluminium alloy tube frame, that was developed from the s ...

seaplane on an around-the world flight during 1932, he became lost over a sparsely-populated part of the

Kimberley region of Western Australia The Kimberley is the northernmost of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy and Tanami deserts in the region of the Pilbara, a ...

and made a forced landing. Bertram and mechanic Adolf Klausmann were

rescued "Rescued" is a song by American rock band Foo Fighters. Released on April 19, 2023, it is the first single by the band since the death of longtime drummer, Taylor Hawkins, and the first from their eleventh studio album, ''But Here We Are''. Releas ...

and hospitalised in

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

. Klausmann suffered significant long-term psychological effects from their ordeal. Books by Bertram regarding his adventures became best-sellers in Germany during 1933. In 1934, Bertram joined the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

and the SA ("Brownshirts"). Bertram's script for a drama set in an Australian gold mining town, was made into '' Frauen für Golden Hill'' ("Women for Golden Hill"), released in 1938. The World War I aviation drama '' D III 88'' (1939), also written by Bertram, was made with the support of ''

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

'' chief

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...

. Another script by Bertram (based on a novel by Nicola Rhon), was endorsed by the Nazis: '' Der Fuchs von Glenarvon'' ("The Fox of Glenarvon") set in Ireland during the 1880s and concerned with Irish opposition to British rule was released in 1940. During World War II, Bertram wrote and directed two feature-length propaganda-oriented documentaries about German aviators. While on active service with the ''Luftwaffe'' during 1941, he was shot down in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Su ...

and taken prisoner. Bertram was sent to POW camps in Australia (where he was to remain for the duration of the war). Meanwhile, in Germany, release of Bertram's film ' ("Symphony of a Life") was suspended when it was found that he had employed Jews, such as the lead actor

Harry Baur Harry Baur (12 April 1880 – 8 April 1943) was a French actor. Initially a stage actor, Baur appeared in about 80 films between 1909 and 1942. He gave an acclaimed performance as the composer Ludwig van Beethoven in the biopic ''Beethoven's Gr ...

. Bertram's membership of the

Reich Chamber of Culture The Reich Chamber of Culture (''Reichskulturkammer'') was a government agency in Nazi Germany. It was established by law on 22 September 1933 in the course of the '' Gleichschaltung'' process at the instigation of Reich Minister Joseph Goebbels as ...

was suspended and when ''Symphonie eines Lebens'' was released (1942), the names of Bertram, the rest of the crew and cast were omitted from the credits. Bertram wrote the scripts of 10 films completed between 1938 and 1985, and directed six films. In 1985, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation screened '' Flight into Hell'', a television miniseries based on Bertram's accounts of his experiences during 1932.

German language books authored by Bertram

* 1933: ''Flug in die Hölle. Mein australisches Abenteuer''. Frankfurt/Berlin; Ullstein. * 1933: ''Flug in die Hölle. Bericht von der „Bertram-Atlantis-Expedition“''. Berlin; Drei Masken Verlag. * 1937: ''Ruf der weiten Welt''. Berlin; Drei Masken Verlag. * 1954: ''Flug zu den Sternen''. München/Wien/Basel; Verlag Kurt Desch. * 1980: ''Götterwind. Pioniere der Luftfahrt.'' Frankfurt/Berlin; Universitas. (A revised edition of ''Flug zu den Sternen''.)

Filmography

* 1938: '' Frauen für Golden Hill'' a.k.a. ''Women for Golden Hill'' (scriptwriter) * 1939: '' D III 88'' (scriptwriter, in collaboration with Wolf Neumeister) * 1940: ''.'' Baptism of Fire. Film from Operations by our Air Force in Poland(director; scriptwriter) * 1940: '' Der Fuchs von Glenarvon'' a.k.a. ''The Fox of Glenarvon'' (scriptwriter) * 1941: ' Bomber Wing Lützow" (director, line producer, scriptwriter) * 1942: ' Symphony of a Life"(director, line producer, scriptwriter) * 1949: '' Eine große Liebe'' a.k.a. ''True Love'' (director; scriptwriter) * 1950: ''Der verzauberte Klang'' The Enchanted Sound"(short documentary) (director) * 1952: '' Türme des Schweigens'' a.k.a. ''Towers of Silence'' (director; scriptwriter)

Personal life

He was married to German actress Gisela Uhlen. Bertram died on 8 January 1993 in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, Germany.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bertram, Hans 1906 births 1993 deaths Film people from North Rhine-Westphalia Sturmabteilung personnel German World War II pilots German prisoners of war in World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Australia German male writers Shot-down aviators People from Remscheid