Oliver Hilmes

Oliver Hilmes (2016)

Oliver Hilmes (* 1971 in Viersen ) is a German historian, publicist and cultural manager.

Life

Oliver Hilmes studied history, politics and psychology at the Universities of Marburg , Paris- Sorbonne and Potsdam . He received his doctorate on the history of the twentieth century under Christoph Kleßmann and has been working for the Berlin Philharmonic Foundation since 2002 . As a personal assistant to the artistic director, he worked a. a. in the introduction of the education program of the Berlin Philharmonic and in the transformation of the orchestra into a foundation. Today he works for the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation as editor-in-chief of Magazin 128 and as curator for special projects.

Oliver Hilmes is a member of the board of the Karg-Elert-Gesellschaft eV (1996-2013 as managing director), which promotes the artistic and scientific examination of the work of the composer and music theorist Sigfrid Karg-Elert . In addition, Oliver Hilmes advises cultural institutes on public relations issues. For the Schloss Neuhardenberg Foundation in 2015, he was responsible for realigning its communication work and relaunching the cultural brand.

Oliver Hilmes became famous for his biographies on Alma Mahler-Werfel , Cosima Wagner and Ludwig II , who also made it into the Spiegel's bestseller list .

Tilman Krause , the literary critic of the daily newspaper Die Welt , described him in 2007 as “the child prodigy among German biographers”. Oliver Hilmes publishes regularly in the daily newspaper Die Welt as well as in the magazines and program books of the Berlin Philharmonic , the Munich State Opera , the Leipzig Gewandhaus and the Bonn Beethoven Festival . Invitations to readings and lectures took Hilmes to the Berlin Philharmonie , the Berlin Ensemble and the Wiener Konzerthaus , the Villa Aurora and the Goethe Institute in Los Angeles as well as numerous bookshops, literary houses and libraries. Oliver Hilmes lives in Berlin.

Prizes and awards

• 2008: Humanities International - Prize for the promotion of the translation of humanities literature for Mistress of the Hill. The life of Cosima Wagner (settlers)
• 2013: Prix ​​des Muses (Prix spécial du jury) for Cosima Wagner. La maîtresse de la colline (Editions Perrin)
• 2018: William Hill Sports Book of the Year (Shortlist) for Berlin 1936. Sixteen Days in August (The Bodley Head)
• 2019: The Sporting Club General Outstanding Book of the Year 2019 for Berlin 1936. Sixteen Days in August (The Bodley Head)

Publications (selection)

• In the crosshairs. Political Gustav Mahler reception 1919–1945. A study of the connection between anti-Semitism and criticism of modernity. Dissertation from the University of Potsdam 2002; Peter Lang AG , Frankfurt am Main 2003, ISBN 3-631-51041-1 .
• The dispute over the "German". Alfred Heuss and the magazine for music. Von Bockel, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-932696-43-3 .
• Widow in madness. The life of the Alma Mahler-Werfel . Siedler, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-88680-797-5 ; further editions; Audio book, read by Paulus Manker , 2 CDs, Random House Audio, Cologne 2006, ISBN 978-3-86604-232-2 .
• Mistress of the hill. The life of Cosima Wagner . Siedler, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-88680-836-6 ; Audio book, read by Elke Heidenreich , 4 CDs, Random House Audio, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-86604-769-3 . English edition: Cosima Wagner: The Lady of Bayreuth. Yale University Press, 2010, ISBN 0300152159 .
• Cosima's children. Triumph and tragedy of the Wagner dynasty. Siedler, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-88680-899-1 ; Pantheon, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-570-55132-5 .
• With Gustav Mahler in Viersen. In: Elke Heidenreich (Ed.): A dream of music, 46 declarations of love. Edition Elke Heidenreich at C. Bertelsmann, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-570-58014-1 ; also as an audio book by Random House Audio, 2010, ISBN 3837104192 .
• Liszt . Biography of a superstar. Siedler, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-88680-947-9 .
• Ludwig II. The untimely king. Siedler, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-388680-898-4 .
• Berlin 1936. Sixteen days in August. Siedler, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-8275-0059-5 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Oliver Hilmes in the catalog of the German National Library
• Website by Oliver Hilmes
• Short biography and reviews of works by Oliver Hilmes at perlentaucher.de
• Video: Discussion of “Cosima's Children” ( memento from October 11, 2009 in the Internet Archive ), Elke Heidenreich reading!
• Oliver Hilmes in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ kress.de: Oliver Hilmes
2. ^ Tilman Krause : The political scientist Oliver Hilmes takes care of bad, old, strong women. From Wahnfried to Walhalla. In: Die Welt from June 2, 2007
3. ↑ [1]
4. ↑ [2]