''The Pied Piper of Hamelin'' (German: ''Der Rattenfänger von Hameln'') is a 1918 German silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by and starring

Paul Wegener Paul Wegener (11 December 1874 – 13 September 1948) was a German actor, writer, and film director known for his pioneering role in German expressionist cinema. Acting career At the age of 20, Wegener decided to end his law studies and conce ...

and also featuring

Lyda Salmonova Lyda Salmonova (born Ludmila Vilemina Anna Salmonova; 14 July 1889 – 18 November 1968) was a Czech stage and film actress who appeared primarily in German films. She was married to the actor Paul Wegener and appeared alongside him in a number o ...

and

Wilhelm Diegelmann Wilhelm Diegelmann (28 September 1861 – 1 March 1934) was a German actor. Career Diegelmann's first stage appearance was in 1878 in the chorus for the Frankfurt Opera. In 1881 he debuted at the Frankfurt City Theater, playing King Lear, Will ...

. It is based on the legendary story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. It was shot at the

Tempelhof Studios The Tempelhof Studios are a film studio located in Tempelhof in the German capital of Berlin. They were founded in 1912, during the silent era, by German film pioneer Alfred Duskes, who built a glass-roofed studio on the site with financial bac ...

and on location around

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budi ...

and

Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany with 101,693 inhabitants. It is in the district of Hildesheim, about southeast of Hanover on the banks of the Innerste River, a small tributary of the L ...

. The film's sets were designed by the art director

Rochus Gliese Rochus Gliese (6 January 1891 — 22 December 1978) was a German actor, Film director, director, production designer, and Academy Awards, Academy Award-nominated Art director#In film, art director of early films from the 1910s and 1920s. He w ...

. The animator

Lotte Reiniger Charlotte "Lotte" Reiniger (2 June 1899 – 19 June 1981) was a German film director and the foremost pioneer of silhouette animation. Her best known films are ''The Adventures of Prince Achmed'', from 1926, the first feature-length animated fil ...

worked on the design of the film's

intertitle In films, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (i.e., ''inter-'') the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred to as "dialo ...

s. It premièred at the Union-Theater am Nollendorfplatz on 19 December 1918.Der Rattenfänger
Filmportal.de. Retrieved 31 August 2021.

Cast

as Fremder Spielmann *

as Ursula *Clemens Kaufung as Schinderknecht *

as mayor *

Frida Richard Frida Richard (born Friederike Raithel, 1 November 1873 – 12 September 1946) was an Austrian actress. Selected filmography * '' The Sin of Helga Arndt'' (1916) * '' The Queen's Love Letter'' (1916) * '' The Marriage of Luise Rohrbach'' (1917) ...

Elsa Wagner Elsa Wagner (24 January 1881 – 17 August 1975) was a German actress who appeared in numerous theatrical productions and feature films during the 20th century, including 1920's '' The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari''. Life and career Born as Elisab ...

as Weib des Bürgermeister *

Armin Schweizer Armin Schweizer (28 April 1892 – 8 October 1968) was a Swiss actor. Schweizer was born in Zurich, Switzerland and died there at age 76 Selected filmography * ''The Pied Piper of Hamelin'' (1918) * '' The Galley Slave'' (1919) * '' The Mayor of ...

as Magerer Ratsherr *

Jakob Tiedtke Jakob Karl Heinrich Wilhelm Tiedtke (23 June 1875 – 30 June 1960) was a German film actor. He appeared in more than 190 films between 1914 and 1955. Selected filmography * ''The Pied Piper of Hamelin'' (1918) * '' The Doll'' (1919) * '' ...

as Ratsapotheker *Märte Rassow as Märte * Hans Stürm as Henker

References

External links

* Films of the Weimar Republic German silent feature films Films directed by Paul Wegener German drama films 1918 drama films UFA GmbH films Films shot at Tempelhof Studios Films set in the Middle Ages Films based on Pied Piper of Hamelin Films set in 13th-century Holy Roman Empire German black-and-white films Films based on fairy tales Silent drama films 1910s German films 1910s German-language films {{1910s-Germany-film-stub