Hermann ''Wilhelm'' Häfker (3 June 1873, in Bremen – 27 December 1939, in the Concentration Camp Mauthausen) was an important film theoretician as well as an acknowledged

Esperantist An Esperantist ( eo, esperantisto) is a person who speaks, reads or writes Esperanto. According to the Declaration of Boulogne, a document agreed upon at the first World Esperanto Congress in 1905, an Esperantist is someone who speaks Esperant ...

and writer. Häfker published essential contributions to film theory. Like

Sergei Eisenstein Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ɪjzʲɪnˈʂtʲejn, 2=Sergey Mikhaylovich Eyzenshteyn; 11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, scree ...

he saw film as a comprehensive artwork. Häfker is considered the most important representative of the film reform movement in Germany. He recognized early the cultural potential of cinema, but also the dangers of "low taste" resulting from commercial film production. His work can be seen as part of the aesthetic movement initiated by

Deutscher Werkbund The Deutscher Werkbund (English: "German Association of Craftsmen"; ) is a German association of artists, architects, designers and industrialists established in 1907. The Werkbund became an important element in the development of modern arch ...

and

Dürerbund The Dürerbund (named after Albrecht Dürer) was an organization of writers and artists with a strong influence on the intellectual life of the middle class in the German Reich, but also in Austria and Switzerland. The Dürerbund was founded in ...

. During his years in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

, he was closely connected to

Ferdinand Avenarius Ferdinand Avenarius (20 December 1856, in Berlin – 22 September 1923, in Kampen) was a German lyric poet, a leading representative of the culture reform movement of his time and the first popularizer of Sylt. Life Avenarius was born in Berlin. ...

and his Dürerbund. He wrote popular books on history, sexual education, and science. His presumably most successful book, ''Das Sternbilder-Buch'', contributed to educating the youth to love of stars and astronomy. Häfker created it in collaboration with graphic designer Kurt Fiedler for the Dürerbund. Häfker's ''Weltgeschichte in einem Band'' (World History in one Volume) was banned by the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

s. Because of his resistance against Nazi culture policy, they imposed

Berufsverbot is an order of "professional disqualification" under German law. Berufsverbot may be translated into English as "professional ban". A disqualifies the recipient from engaging in certain professions or activities on the grounds of their criminal ...

on Häfker. He fled 1936 to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, was brought to Dachau concentration camp after the German invasion and was murdered in the Concentration Camp Mauthausen.

Works

* Kino und Kunst. Mönchengladbach: Volksvereins-Verlag 1913 * Kino und Erdkunde. Mönchengladbach: Volksvereins-Verlag 1914 * Die Aufgaben der Kinematographie in diesem Kriege. Munich:

Callwey Verlag The Callwey Verlag is a German publishing house with the main focus on structural engineering and architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. ...

1914 * Der Kino und die Gebildeten. Mönchengladbach: Volksvereins-Verlag 1915 * Gilgamesch. Eine Dichtung aus Babylon. in German by Hermann Häfker. Munich: Callwey 1924
in the Open Library
* Das Sternbilder-Buch. Ein Buch von Himmel und Weltanschauung. Munich: Callwey 1926 * Weltgeschichte in einem Band. Dresden: Kaden 1928 * Jarmiloj pasas. Universala historio. Verkita originale en Esperanto. Cologne: Heroldo de Esperanto 1930/31

Literature

* Richard Abel (ed.): Encyclopedia of early cinema. London and New York: Routledge 2005

References

External links

*
Helmut H. Diederichs, bibliography of Hermann Häfker 1907 to 1919

Häfker in Dresden

Adrian Daub: German Cinema

Article in: Encyclopedia of early cinema
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hafker, Hermann 1873 births 1939 deaths Mass media people from Bremen German non-fiction writers Film theorists German Esperantists German male non-fiction writers Dachau concentration camp survivors People who died in Mauthausen concentration camp