Freiburg School (camera technology)

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The Freiburg School of Camera Technology and Cinematography was formed in Freiburg im Breisgau in the early 1920s . The starting point was the Berg- und Sport-Film GmbH founded there in 1920 by the ethnologist Odo Deodatus I. Tauern and the geologist Arnold Fanck , to which the researcher Rolf Bauer and the doctor Bernhard Villinger soon joined as a partner.

What all those involved had in common was the great enthusiasm for skiing, ski jumping and mountaineering, which were very unusual activities at the time, some of which were carried out with rudimentary equipment that they had made themselves. This required an almost limitless enthusiasm, courage and daring, ergo the prerequisites for what is now called extreme sport .

As the only experienced cameraman at the time who could ski, Sepp Allgeier , who had a lot of previous experience, was at the center of the camera technology development of those years. As a result, the Freiburg School not only trained more daring skiers to become cameramen, but also innovatively advanced both the technology of film cameras and cinematography. In doing so, she also influenced the camera industry, which at that time can be described as manufactories. Cameramen such as Richard Angst , Albert Benitz , Kurt Neubert , Walter Riml and Hans Schneeberger were trained in the Freiburg school .

Ernst Baader junior, who was considered the best German skier at the time, and Hannes Schneider vom Arlberg , who was considered the best Austrian skier , were hired to film and formed the technical spearhead of the ambitious cameramen who emerged from the Freiburg School .

Freiburg im Breisgau became a center of German filmmaking during the Weimar Republic .

One result of the Freiburg School was the development of a new film genre: mountain films .

"[...] a film genre which was exclusively German: the mountain films. Dr. Arnold Fanck, a native of Freiburg i. Br., Discovered this genre and all but monopolized it throughout the republican era. He was originally a geologist infatuated with mountain climbing. In his zeal for spreading the gospel of proud peaks and perilous ascents, Fanck relied increasingly on actors and technicians who were, or became, outstanding alpinists and skiers. "

- Siegfried Kracauer

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Transcript of the publication for the entry in the local commercial register: “In the commercial register B, Volume III, O.-B. 14 was registered: Berg- und Sportfilm, company with limited liability based in Freiburg i. Br. The object of the company is the production and exploitation of cinematographic recordings of a sporting and scientific nature. The share capital amounts to 21,000 marks. The managing directors are Dr. Odo Deodatus Tauern, private, Freiburg and Dr. Arnold Fanck, geologist, Freiburg. The articles of association of this limited liability company were adopted on February 20, 1920. Each of the two partners is entitled to represent the company alone. Freiburg, March 8, 1920. 2580. District Court I. "
  2. ↑ The Mountain Film - Comments and Assessments on a Controversial Genre . In: Filminstitut Hannover , on: geschichte-projekte-hannover.de
  3. ↑ Alexandra Ludewig: Screening Nostalgia - 100 Years of German Heimat Film , Transcript Verlag, Bielefeld 2014, ISBN 978-3-8394-1462-0 , p. 81
  4. ^ Berg- und Sport-Film GmbH (Freiburg / Br.) , On: filmportal.de
  5. ↑ a b Alexander Kluy: Visions of mountain masses and snow slopes . In: Die Welt , January 11, 2010, on: welt.de
  6. ^ Heidi Ossenberg: Freiburg - the birthplace of mountain films . In: Badische Zeitung of March 21, 2009, on: badische-zeitung.de
  7. ↑ Prof. Dr. Guido Knopp: Hitler's women . C. Bertelsmann, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-570-00362-0 , p. 159
  8. ↑ Frank Schwaibold: The wonder of the snowshoe was shot 100 years ago . In: Stuttgarter Zeitung , January 15, 2019, on: stuttgarter-zeitung.de
  9. ↑ Birgit-Cathrin Duval: How the Wächenspringer from Feldberg invented freestyle skiing almost 100 years ago . In: Hochschwarzwald , November 1, 2014, on: hochschwarzwald.de
  10. ↑ Ingeborg Majer O'Sickey: The Cult of the Cold and the Gendered Body in Mountain Films . In: Jaimey Fisher / Barbara Caroline Mennel (eds.): Spatial Turns - Space, Place, and Mobility in German Literary and Visual Culture (= Amsterdamer Contributions to Modern German Studies, Vol. 75). Editions Rodopi, Amsterdam 2010, ISBN 978-90-420-3001-5 , p. 363 f.
  11. ↑ ski pioneer Hannes Schneider , on stuben-arlberg.at
  12. ^ Renate Liessem-Breinlinger: Fanck, Arnold . In: Baden-Württembergische Biographien 2, Vol. 2. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 978-3-17-014117-9 , pp. 121-123, on: leo-bw.de
  13. ^ Siegfried Kracauer: From Caligari to Hitler. A psychological history of German film. Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1979, ISBN 3-5182-8079-1 , p. 110