Robert Neppach (2 March 1890 – 18 August 1939) was an Austrian architect, film producer and art director. Neppach worked from 1919 in the
German film industry. He oversaw the art direction of over 80 films during his career, including
F.W. Murnau's ''
Desire'' (1921) and
Richard Oswald's ''
Lucrezia Borgia'' (1922). Neppach was comparatively unusual among set designers during the era in having university training.
[Bergfelder, Harris & Street p.35-36]
![Stolperstein Nachodstr 22 (Wilmd) Robert Neppach](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Stolperstein_Nachodstr_22_%28Wilmd%29_Robert_Neppach.jpg)
In 1932, he switched to concentrate on film production. In May 1933, his first wife
Nelly, a successful tennis player, took her life because of the discrimination and prosecution of Jews in Nazi Germany. He married Grete Walter, daughter of the composer
Bruno Walter
Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the U ...
in Autumn 1933. With his Jewish wife, life grew increasingly difficult for him under the
Nazis
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 N ...
. He began to work as an architect again, and the couple emigrated to Switzerland. In 1939, shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, he shot himself and his wife.
Selected filmography
Art director
* ''
Die Frau im Käfig'' (1919)
* ''
Die Augen im Walde'' (1919)
* ''
Comrades
The term ''comrade'' (russian: товарищ, tovarisch) generally means 'mate', 'colleague', or 'ally', and derives from the Spanish and Portuguese, term , literally meaning 'chamber mate', from Latin , meaning 'chamber' or 'room'. It may also ...
'' (1919)
* ''
Das Glück der Irren'' (1919)
* ''
Können Gedanken töten?''(1920)
* ''
The Night at Goldenhall
''The Night at Goldenhall'' (german: link=no, Die Nacht auf Goldenhall) is a 1920 German silent film directed by and starring Conrad Veidt.Soister p. 101 It is now considered a lost film.
The film's sets were designed by the art director Robert ...
'' (1920)
* ''
The Woman Without a Soul
''The Woman Without a Soul'' (german: Die Frau ohne Seele) is a 1920 German silent film directed by Léo Lasko and starring Edith Meller, Werner Krauss and Alfred Abel.Bock & Bergfelder p. 223
The film's sets were designed by the art director ...
'' (1920)
* ''
Va banque'' (1920)
* ''
Das Kussverbot'' (1920)
* ''
The Wandering Image
''The Wandering Image'' (German: ''Das wandernde Bild'') is a 1920 German silent drama film directed by Fritz Lang and starring Mia May, Hans Marr and Rudolf Klein-Rogge. It is also known by the alternative titles of ''The Wandering Picture' ...
'' (1920)
* ''
Eternal River'' (1920)
* ''
Evening – Night – Morning'' (1920)
* ''
From Morn to Midnight
''From Morn to Midnight'' (german: Von morgens bis mitternachts) is a 1920 German silent expressionist film directed by Karlheinz Martin based on the 1912 play '' From Morning to Midnight'' by Georg Kaiser. It is one of the most radical films ...
'' (1920)
* ''
The Rats'' (1921)
* ''
Desire'' (1921)
* ''
Miss Venus'' (1921)
* ''
The Eternal Struggle'' (1921)
* ''
The Fateful Day
''The Fateful Day'' ( fa, روز واقعه) is a 1995 Iranian Islamic film based on a script of the same name by Bahram Beyzai. The film is directed by Shahram Assadi. Its cast includes many Iranian cinema stars. Wheeler W. Dixon describes it ...
'' (1921)
* ''
The House on the Moon'' (1921)
* ''
Love at the Wheel'' (1921)
* ''
The Amazon'' (1921)
* ''
Hashish, the Paradise of Hell
''Hashish, the Paradise of Hell'' (German: ''Haschisch, das Paradies der Hölle'') is a 1921 German silent drama film directed by Reinhard Bruck and starring Tilla Durieux, Fritz Kortner and Paul Hartmann.Grange p.85
The film's sets were desig ...
'' (1921)
* ''
Lucrezia Borgia'' (1922)
* ''
His Excellency from Madagascar
''His Excellency from Madagascar'' (german: Seine Exzellenz von Madagaskar) is a 1922 German silent thriller film directed by Georg Jacoby and starring Paul Otto, Eva May, and Georg Alexander. It was released in two parts ''Das Mädchen aus der ...
'' (1922)
* ''
The Stream'' (1922)
* ''
The Game with Women
''The Game with Women'' (german: Das Spiel mit dem Weibe) is a 1922 German silent drama film directed by Adolf E. Licho and starring Hanni Weisse, Georg Alexander, and Lotte Neumann.
The film's sets were designed by the art director Robert N ...
'' (1922)
* ''
The Golden Net'' (1922)
* ''
Gold and Luck'' (1923)
* ''
Earth Spirit'' (1923)
* ''
The Blonde Geisha'' (1923)
* ''
Bob and Mary
''Bob and Mary'' (german: Bob und Mary) is a 1923 German silent film directed by Max Glass and starring Helga Molander, Anton Edthofer, and Paul Biensfeldt.
The film's art direction was by Robert Neppach
Robert Neppach (2 March 1890 – 18 A ...
'' (1923)
* ''
Bismarck'' (1925)
* ''
The Director General'' (1925)
* ''
The Man Who Sold Himself'' (1925)
* ''
The Painter and His Model'' (1925)
* ''
Darling, Count the Cash'' (1926)
* ''
Gretchen Schubert'' (1926)
* ''
The Master of Death'' (1926)
* ''
The Son of Hannibal'' (1926)
* ''
At the Edge of the World'' (1927)
* ''
Princess Olala'' (1928)
* ''
The President'' (1928)
* ''
Parisiennes'' (1928)
* ''
The Abduction of the Sabine Women'' (1928)
* ''
Love's Masquerade'' (1928)
* ''
Vienna, City of My Dreams'' (1928)
* ''
The Woman One Longs For
''The Woman One Longs For'' (German: ''Die Frau, nach der man sich sehnt'') is a 1929 German silent drama film directed by Curtis Bernhardt and starring Marlene Dietrich, Fritz Kortner and Frida Richard. It was based on the novel of the same tit ...
'' (1929)
* ''
The Hero of Every Girl's Dream
''The Hero of Every Girl's Dream'' (German: ''Der Held aller Mädchenträume'') is a 1929 German silent film directed by Robert Land and starring Harry Liedtke, Betty Bird and Hermine Sterler.Rogowski p.120
The film's sets were designed by Robe ...
'' (1929)
* ''
Father and Son Father and Son or Fathers and Sons may refer to:
Literature
* ''Father and Son'' (book), a 1907 memoir by Edmund Gosse
*Father and Son (comics), cartoon characters created by E. O. Plauen
* ''Fathers and Sons'' (novel), an 1862 novel by Ivan Tur ...
'' (1929)
* ''
The Green Monocle
''The Green Monocle'' (German: ''Das grüne Monokel'') is a 1929 German silent crime film directed by Rudolf Meinert and starring Ralph Clancy, Betty Bird and Suzy Vernon. The film was based on a novel by Guido Kreutzer. It features the ficti ...
'' (1929)
* ''
The Merry Widower'' (1929)
* ''
His Best Friend'' (1929)
* ''
Men Without Work'' (1929)
* ''
My Daughter's Tutor'' (1929)
* ''
Katharina Knie'' (1929)
* ''
The Song Is Ended
''The Song Is Ended'' (german: Das Lied ist aus) is a 1930 German romantic musical film directed by Géza von Bolváry, and starring Liane Haid, Willi Forst, and Margarete Schlegel. A separate French-language version ''Petit officier... Adie ...
'' (1930)
* ''
Two Hearts in Waltz Time
2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many cultur ...
'' (1930)
* ''
Him or Me'' (1930)
* ''
Delicatessen
Traditionally, a delicatessen or deli is a retail establishment that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessen originated in Germany (original: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the m ...
'' (1930)
* ''
The Adventurer of Tunis
''The Adventurer of Tunis'' (german: Die Abenteurerin von Tunis) is a 1931 German adventure film directed by Willi Wolff and starring Philipp Manning, Theo Shall, and Ellen Richter. It was made at the Staaken Studios in Berlin.Klaus p.14 Locat ...
'' (1931)
* ''
Grock'' (1931)
* ''
Everyone Asks for Erika'' (1931)
* ''
Panic in Chicago'' (1931)
* ''
The Street Song
''The Street Song'' or ''The Streetsweeper'' (German: ''Gassenhauer'') is a 1931 German musical crime film directed by Lupu Pick and starring Ina Albrecht, Ernst Busch and Albert Hoermann.Carol Anne Costabile-Heming, Rachel J. Halverson & Kri ...
'' (1931)
* ''
Weekend in Paradise'' (1931)
* ''
The Company's in Love'' (1932)
Producer
* ''
The Heath Is Green'' (1932)
* ''
The First Right of the Child
''The First Right of the Child'' (german: Das erste Recht des Kindes) is a 1932 German drama film directed by Fritz Wendhausen and starring Hertha Thiele, Eduard Wesener and Helene Fehdmer.
The film's sets were designed by the art director E ...
'' (1932)
* ''
Dream of the Rhine'' (1933)
* ''
Little Man, What Now?'' (1933)
* ''
Punks Arrives from America
''Punks Arrives from America'' (German: ''Punks kommt aus Amerika'') is a 1935 German comedy film directed by Karl Heinz Martin and starring Attila Hörbiger, Lien Deyers, Ralph Arthur Roberts and Sybille Schmitz. Produced and distributed by U ...
'' (1935)
* ''
Pillars of Society
''The Pillars of Society'' (or "Pillars of the Community"; original Norwegian title: ''Samfundets støtter'') is an 1877 play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.
Ibsen had great trouble with the writing of this play. The ending is ...
'' (1935)
* ''
Kater Lampe'' (1936)
* ''
Hilde Petersen postlagernd'' (1936)
Director
* ''
Love and the First Railway
''Love and the First Railway'' (german: Die Liebe und die erste Eisenbahn) is a 1934 German historical film, historical comedy film directed by Robert Neppach and starring Jakob Tiedtke, Ida Wüst, and Karin Hardt. The plot revolves around the Be ...
'' (1934)
References
Bibliography
*
Weniger, Kay: ''„Es wird im Leben dir mehr genommen als gegeben ...“. Lexikon der aus Deutschland und Österreich emigrierten Filmschaffenden 1933 bis 1945. Eine Gesamtübersicht.'' ACABUS Verlag, Hamburg 2011, , p. 364.
*Bergfelder, Tim, Harris, Sue & Street, Sarah. ''Film Architecture and the Transnational Imagination: Set Design in 1930s European Cinema''. Amsterdam University Press, 2007.
* Eisner, Lotte H. ''The Haunted Screen: Expressionism in the German Cinema and the Influence of Max Reinhardt''. University of California Press, 2008.
External links
*
1890 births
1939 deaths
Austrian art directors
Austrian film producers
Architects from Vienna
Film people from Vienna
Emigrants from Nazi Germany to Switzerland
1939 suicides
Murder–suicides in Europe
Uxoricides
Suicides by firearm in Switzerland
Suicides by Jews during the Holocaust
Austrian people who died in the Holocaust
Austrian murderers
Lists of stolpersteine in Germany
{{Austria-film-bio-stub