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Hilmar Hoffmann (25 August 1925 – 1 June 2018) was a German stage and film director, cultural politician and academic lecturer. He founded the
International Short Film Festival Oberhausen The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, founded in 1954, is one of the oldest short film festivals in the world. Held in Oberhausen, it is one of the major international platforms for the short form. The festival holds an International ...
. He was for decades an influential city councillor in
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian dialects, Hessian: , "Franks, Frank ford (crossing), ford on the Main (river), Main"), is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as o ...
, where he initiated the
Museumsufer Museumsufer (Museum Embankment) is the name of a landscape of museums in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany, lined up on both banks of the river Main or in close vicinity. The centre is the historic art museum Städel. The other museums were added, partly ...
of 15 museums, including the
Jewish Museum Frankfurt The Jewish Museum Frankfurt am Main is the oldest independent Jewish Museum in Germany. It was opened by Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl on 9 November 1988, the 50th anniversary of ''Kristallnacht''. The Jewish Museum collects, preserves and co ...
. He was the president of the
Goethe-Institut The Goethe-Institut (, GI, en, Goethe Institute) is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange an ...
and taught at universities such as Bochum and Tel Aviv. He wrote the book ''Kultur für alle'' (''Culture for All''), which was a motto of his life and work.


Biography

Hoffmann was born in
Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state con ...
on 25 August 1925, the son of an export merchant. He attended the gymnasium in Lünen and then in
Oberhausen Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg and Essen ( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Ro ...
. He was a ''
Fallschirmjäger The ''Fallschirmjäger'' () were the paratrooper branch of the German Luftwaffe before and during World War II. They were the first German paratroopers to be committed in large-scale airborne operations. Throughout World War II, the commande ...
'' in World War II and a prisoner of war in the US. When he returned in 1947, he studied directing at the Folkwang Hochschule for Music and Theater in
Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and ...
, graduating with a diploma. He began work as assistant stage director at the Theater Essen. In 1951, he became director of the ''Volkshochschule'' (
adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ral ...
), then the youngest in the Federal Republic, and held the post until 1965. In 1954, he founded the
International Short Film Festival Oberhausen The International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, founded in 1954, is one of the oldest short film festivals in the world. Held in Oberhausen, it is one of the major international platforms for the short form. The festival holds an International ...
(''Internationale Westdeutsche Kurzfilmtage'') in Oberhausen, which he directed until 1970. From 1965 to 1970, he served as ''Kultur- und Sozialdezernent'' of Oberhausen, responsible for culture and social politics. During this time, he was lecturer at the
Ruhr University The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began in ...
in
Bochum Bochum ( , also , ; wep, Baukem) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 364,920 (2016), is the sixth largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) of the most populous German federal state of Nor ...
from 1967 to 1970. From 1970 to 1990, he was a city councillor (''Stadtrat'') in the government of
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian dialects, Hessian: , "Franks, Frank ford (crossing), ford on the Main (river), Main"), is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as o ...
, as ''Dezernent für Kultur und Freizeit'', responsible for culture and leisure. He initiated the promotion of free groups in urban culture, street theatre and 30 libraries in suburbs. He founded the
Museumsufer Museumsufer (Museum Embankment) is the name of a landscape of museums in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany, lined up on both banks of the river Main or in close vicinity. The centre is the historic art museum Städel. The other museums were added, partly ...
, a series of 15 new museums along the Main River, with the traditional Städel Museum as the centre. He is credited with making Frankfurt a city of culture, not only commerce, initiating the
Jewish Museum Frankfurt The Jewish Museum Frankfurt am Main is the oldest independent Jewish Museum in Germany. It was opened by Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl on 9 November 1988, the 50th anniversary of ''Kristallnacht''. The Jewish Museum collects, preserves and co ...
as the first independent Jewish museum in postwar Germany, the German Architecture Museum, and its first municipal cinema ('). The Museum Angewandte Kunst (applied art) was designed by
Richard Meier Richard Meier (born October 12, 1934) is an American abstract artist and architect, whose geometric designs make prominent use of the color white. A winner of the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1984, Meier has designed several iconic buildings ...
, including the from 1803 and its park. ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' quoted Hoffmann in 1985: "We are not just building museums, but a whole program." Hoffmann supported the as a venue for alternative culture, and the restoration of the ruined opera house as the concert hall and congress centre Alte Oper. During his tenure, the
opera house An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically fo ...
became in the " Gielen era" one of the leading houses in Germany, focused on '' Regietheater''. From 1993 to 2001, he was also president of the
Goethe-Institut The Goethe-Institut (, GI, en, Goethe Institute) is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange an ...
, in a period of needed expansion in Eastern Europe and reduced funding. He taught film theory and cultural politics at the universities of
Bochum Bochum ( , also , ; wep, Baukem) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 364,920 (2016), is the sixth largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg) of the most populous German federal state of Nor ...
,
Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approxima ...
and Frankfurt, and as a visiting professor in Jerusalem and
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...
. He died in Frankfurt on 1 June 2018.


Legacy

When he retired from the post as president of the Goethe-Institut in 2002, Bundespräsident Johannes Rau said "Der Mann streitet glaubwürdig – und ein begnadeter Bettler ist er auch" (The man argues believably, and is also a gifted beggar"). After his death, Germany's minister of culture, Monika Grütters said that Germany lost one of its most formative and successful cultural politicians ("einen ihrer prägendsten und erfolgreichsten Kulturpolitiker") who had the great talent to inspire people across party barriers ("Menschen zu begeistern auch über alle Parteigrenzen hinweg"). Hoffmann's successor in Frankfurt, Ina Hartwig, said that he was known beyond Frankfurt for his demand for a broad cultural participation and the founding of the Museumsufer ("... mit seiner Forderung nach einer breiten kulturellen Teilhabe und der Gründung des Frankfurter Museumsufers", and continued that he was one of the most important cultural politicians not only of Frankfurt but of the Federal Republic ("Mit Hilmar Hoffmann verlieren wir einen der bedeutendsten Kulturpolitiker nicht nur Frankfurts, sondern der gesamten Bundesrepublik").


Awards

* 1976 – Filmband in Gold for long and outstanding achievements in German film * 1988 – Helmut-Käutner-Preis * 1988 – Friedrich-Stoltze-Preis * 1990 – Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz with star * 1997 – Honorary Doctorate of the Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg * 2002 – Das Glas der Vernunft"Das Glas der Vernunft"
Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 20 ...
* 2003 – Waldemar von Knöringen Prize of the Georg-von-Vollmar-Akademie * 2007 – Verdienstorden des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen * 2012 – Hessischer Kulturpreis


Publications

During his time in Frankfurt, Hoffman published a book summarizing his creed and program for the future, ''Kultur für alle''. He wrote ''Die großen Frankfurter / Ehrenwürdige Bürger und Ehrenbürger'', portraying 27 honorary citizens of Frankfurt, and those who deserve to be honoured. Its fourth edition added Walter Wallmann, mayor of Frankfurt and honorary citizen of 2009, who was for many years a supporter of Hoffmann's visions such as the ''Museumsufer''. His publications are held by the German National Library, including: * ''Kultur für alle. Perspektiven und Modelle''. Frankfurt am Main 1979 * ''Das Taubenbuch''. Frankfurt am Main 1982 * ''„Und die Fahne führt uns in die Ewigkeit – Propaganda im NS-Film“''. Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt a. M. 1988, . * ''Warten auf die Barbaren''. Frankfurt am Main 1989 * ''Kultur als Lebensform''. Frankfurt am Main 1990 * ''Mythos Olympia. Das Werk Leni Riefenstahls.'' Berlin 1993. * ''Erinnerungen.'' Suhrkamp, Neufassung, Frankfurt 2003, . * ''Die großen Frankfurter''. Frankfurt am Main 2004. * ''Lebensprinzip Kultur. Schriften und Aufsätze''. Frankfurt am Main 2006, . * ''Frankfurts starke Frauen''. Frankfurt am Main 2006. * ''Das Frankfurter Museumsufer''. Frankfurt am Main 2009, . * ''Frankfurts Meisterwerke. Die Lieblingsbilder der Frankfurter'' (2010) * ''Frankfurts Oberbürgermeister 1945–1995''. Ein Beitrag zur Kulturgeschichte der Stadt. Societäts-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2012, . * ''Generation Hitlerjugend. Reflexionen über eine Verführung''. Axel Dielmann Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2018, .


Literature

* Wolfgang Schneider (ed.): ''Kulturelle Bildung braucht Kulturpolitik. Hilmar Hoffmanns "Kultur für alle" reloaded.'' Hildesheim 2010 * ''"Kultur für alle". Hilmar Hoffmann zum 85. Geburtstag'', in: ''. Zeitschrift für Kulturpolitik der Kulturpolitischen Gesellschaft''. Issue 130, III/2010, Bonn 2010. * Anna Hepp: ''I would prefer not to (Ich möchte lieber nicht)'', Short film portrait about Hilmar Hoffmann, 2012. * Claus-Jürgen Göpfert: ''Der Kulturpolitiker. Hilmar Hoffmann, Leben und Werk'', Deutsches Filminstitut, Frankfurt am Main 2015, .


References


External links

*
Hilmar Hoffmann
filmportal.de

Deutsches Filminstitut
Museumsufer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffmann, Hilmar 1925 births 2018 deaths Mass media people from Bremen Folkwang University of the Arts alumni Politicians from Frankfurt Ruhr University Bochum faculty Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts People associated with the Goethe-Institut Goethe University Frankfurt faculty