Friedrich Alfred Bach

Friedrich Bach while filming

Friedrich Alfred Bach (born April 2, 1927 in Duisburg-Großenbaum ) is a German film director , producer and cameraman . He is considered one of the most renowned mountain filmmakers in Germany.

Life

Bach learned the bakery trade during the war years. During his apprenticeship he discovered his passion for singing and auditioned with the singing teacher Prof. Paul Lohmann at the Erfurt Conservatory . After 8 years of vocal studies, he graduated as an opera singer (character baritone (voice range) ).

During a stay in 1952 at the Wiesbadener hut of the German Alpine Club in the Silvretta group , Bach was approached by a local mountain guide whether he would not even “want to go up the mountain”. There was an ascent to Piz Buin and Bach shot his first mountain film in Super 8 . In the following years he worked, among other things, as a freelance producer for Margaret Astor (cosmetics brand) and in two years of shooting (1958/1959) he produced one of the first advertising films ("Glück durch Schönheit"), which caused a stir for the time, but also a lot Received attention.

In 1974 Montana Film Mainz (today Mountainfilm Mainz) was founded as a separate company in order to be able to sell the 40 mountain film productions that had been made up to then in line with the market. The films were broadcast regularly on WDR television , 3sat and ZDF . The filmic exploration of the Matterhorn was even shown on Japanese TV - NHK . Complete film series such as “Mountains of the World”, “Unknown Bolivia ” and “From Karachi to the Karakoram ” were made.

Sat.1 called its own successful TV series “Magic of the Mountains” , also produced by Friedrich Bach. Other distribution channels were added from 1992, and so there are almost 50 productions from the mountains on VHS or DVD , all of which were realized exclusively for the renowned Bruckmann Verlag Munich . In addition, Bach also produced short films and advertising films for Lufthansa , Stadtwerke Mainz , various tourism companies and cosmetics manufacturers.

This was followed, among other things, by climbing Mount McKinley in 1980, Mount Kenya in 1982 or 1983 an expedition of the DAV ( German Alpine Club ) to Peru on the Huascaran . At the age of 61, Bach was the oldest participant in the expedition.

Based on the advice of the Frenchman Fernand Navarra about Noah's Ark and his own expeditions to Ararat in 1955 and 1969, Bach took this as an opportunity to plan his own ascent of Ararat. In July 1985 he succeeded in obtaining permission for a filming permit on Mount Ararat from the Turkish authorities, so that the ascent took place in October 1985. The result was the film “The Secret of Ararat - The Search for Noah's Ark”.

Today Bach produces his mountain films for the Bruckmann Verlag (exclusive) and the program of the hr-fernsehen .

Filmography (selection)

Productions for WDR television:

• 1978 Conquering the Matterhorn ("A climb from Zermatt over the Hörnligrat to the summit")
• 1979 The Eiger ("Report on climbing the north face")
• 1980 Mont Blanc ("The White Mountain")
• 1981 Mount McKinley ("Expedition to the coldest mountain in the world")
• 1982 Mount Kenya ("Mountain of Light")
• 1982 The riddle of Nasca length ("A report of the lines in the desert")
• 1983 Urus and Huascaran length ("A mountain ascent in the Andes")
• 1984 Watzmann Ostwand ("With the camera through the vertical 2000 meter high east wall")
• 1984 To Popocatepetl ("A mountain ascent in Mexico")
• 1985 Piz Palü & Co. ("Over the Bianco ridge to the summit of Piz Palü")
• 1985 The Secret of Ararat ("In Search of Noah's Ark")
• 1986 Mountains of the World ("6 part series from the Andes, the Alps, Rocky Mountains, and East Africa")
• 1986 On skis to Mont Blanc ("Report on the Haute Route")
• 1987 As far as the boards can carry ("Report from the Skimarathon from Engadin (Switzerland)")
• 1987 The white gods ("A mountain ascent of Chimborazzo")
• 1990 Series: Pakistan: From Karachi to the Karakoram (4 parts)
• 1991 series: Unknown Bolivia (4 parts)
• 1992 series: Summit happiness (8 parts)
• 2004 series: Fascination Mountains (9 parts)

Productions for ZDF television:

• 1978 Mountain races ("Example Matterhorn")
• 1984 The German Alpine Club ("A report on the largest Alpine Club in Europe")

Productions for Bruckmann Verlag (Munich):

• 1984 Traumberg Matterhorn "Giant of the Alps" (in German, English and Japanese language versions)
• 1984 The Heilbronner Weg "highlight of alpine high-altitude hike"
• 1984 The fascination of Montblanc "The King of the Alpine Peaks"
• 1985 The Bocchette path "Climbing experiences in the Dolomites"
• 1886 Valais mountain paradise "Magnificent mountains around Saas Fee"
• 1987 Houte route "Superlative ski tour"
• 1988 The Mindelheim via ferrata "Summit experiences in the Allgäu Alps"
• 1988 The Hindelang via ferrata "Fascinating ridge hike in the Allgäu Alps"
• 1989 Zugspitze mountain experience "Hiking and climbing in the Wetterstein Mountains"
• 2000 Allgäu high trails "The most beautiful high-altitude trails between Höfats and Hochvogel"
• 2000 Magnificent Val Gardena "Hiking and mountaineering in the heart of South Tyrol"
• 2000 The Meraner Höhenweg "Alpine Hikes in South Tyrol"
• 2001 The Texel group "Hiking paradise in South Tyrol"
• 2001 Mountains above Lake Garda "Hiking and climbing experiences between Riva and Monte Baldo"
• 2002 Berchtesgadener Berge "Hiking and mountaineering between Watzmann Königssee and Hohem Göll"
• 2003 Zahmer and Wilder Kaiser "Hikes and mountain tours between Kufstein and St. Johann"
• 2004 Magnificent Pitztal "Alpine hikes in the Ötztal Alps"
• 2004 The Stone Sea "Hiking from Saalachtal to Königssee2
• 2005 Magical Zillertal Part 1 "The most beautiful mountain and hut tours in the Zillertal Alps"
• 2005 Magical Zillertal Part 2 "From Mayrhofen to the cosiest huts"
• 2006 Natural wonder Rosengarten "On the way on high trails and via ferratas"
• 2006 From the rose garden to the Alpe di Siusi "Hiking and climbing experiences in a fascinating mountain world"
• 2008 mountaineering classic
• 2008 The big via ferrata package "Hindelanger Klettersteig, Mindelheimer Klettersteig and Bocchette Weg"
• 2008 The large 4000-meter package "Matterhorn, Montblanc and Allalinhorn"
• 2009 The most beautiful Waalwege around Merano "Wonderful walks in South Tyrol"
• 2009 The most beautiful hikes high above Merano Part 1 "The north side of the Meraner Höhenweg"
• 2009 The most beautiful hikes high above Merano Part 2 "The sunny side of the Meraner Höhenweg"
• 2010 Under the spell of the Drei Zinnen Part 1 "Fascinating mountain tours in the heart of the Sexten Dolomites"
• 2010 Under the spell of the Drei Zinnen part 2 "The Paternkofel - via ferrata with a history"
• 2011 Karwendel mountain experience "Wonderful mountain tours in the world of mountain ranges"
• 2011 The Tannheim Mountains "Hiking and summit experiences in the Tannheim Mountains"
• 2011 In the shadow of the rose garden "Bergerlebnis Latemar": belongs to the series "Fascination Mountains" and was broadcast in 2004!
• 2011 Giants of the Alps "Montblance-Matterhorn-Eiger-Nordwand"

Web links

• Friedrich Bach in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Mountain Film Mainz website