Fritz A. Koeniger

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Fritz August Koeniger , mostly Fritz A. Koeniger or FA Koeniger (born December 9, 1910 in Wilhelmshaven , † after 1974 in Jever ) was a German author and poet . He created the dialogue books for the German dubbing of more than 200 feature films . Like most artists who were and are active in this field, he is largely unknown to the general public, although millions have seen the films he edited - including many by Alfred Hitchcock - and read his name in the opening and closing credits.

Life

Fritz A. Koeniger began his literary career after the Second World War . Together with Hans E. Brachvogel he wrote the text for the musical comedy Von Hand zu Hand (1946) with the music of Werner Eisbrenner . In his volume of poems Offen Said ... (1947) he dealt with the situation in Berlin after the war. Between 1955 and 1973 he also published three books for young people about the adventures of Jens and Jörg . In addition to work on the radio , he wrote together with Janne Furch the screenplay to that of Hans Deppe staged feature film comedy So fishing is not a man (1959) with Grethe Weiser in the lead role.

His real artistic importance, however, lies in his dubbing work from the late 1940s, with Koeniger limited himself to writing the dialogue books. He is responsible for more than 200 German versions of English-language as well as French and Italian feature films and is one of the outstanding authors in this field. He worked almost exclusively for the Berliner Synchron GmbH (BSG) Wenzel Lüdecke . The dubbing directors who implemented his texts most frequently include CW Burg , Peter Elsholtz , Curt Ackermann , Christoph Grosser , Volker Becker and Dietmar Behnke . There was a particularly productive collaboration at the BSG with Klaus von Wahl .

Fritz A. Koeniger started out with westerns . He wrote the German dialogues of such classics as Winchester '73 (1950), Twelve Noon (1952) and My Great Friend Shane (1953). Koeniger had a particularly close relationship with Alfred Hitchcock's late films , which he Germanized , starting with Immer Ärger mit Harry (1955) through to Frenzy (1971). Koeniger's talent for the comedy was particularly in demand. In addition to a few early films by Jerry Lewis , he succeeded above all in rescuing Danny Kaye's fast-paced pun into German, although he and his dubbing directors also had a congenial dubbing actor in Georg Thomalla . Probably the most successful example of this collaboration is Der Hofnarr (1955) - known not least for the “cup with the fan” pun . Koeniger also wrote the German versions of many Doris Day comedies, including Bettgeflüster (1959) and A Touch of Mink (1961). He achieved special little pieces with the dialogue books on Ernst Lubitsch's To Be or Not to Be (1942), Frank Capra's Arsenic and Top Hat (1944), Gene Saks ' Ein seltsames Paar (1967) and Robert Altman's M * A * S * H (1969).

In addition to high-pitched foolishness like Batman Keeping the World in Suspense (1966) and other science fiction and horror films, often of poor quality, Koeniger also edited lavishly produced musicals such as Doctor Dolittle (1967), Half a Sixpence (1967), Hello, Dolly! (1968) and especially Cabaret (1972).

Koeniger proved that he also knew how to handle serious substances with Asche und Diamant (1958) and Becket (1963), among others . His most artistically demanding works include three adaptations of Luis Buñuel's films : Belle de Jour - Beauty of the Day (1966), The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) and The Specter of Freedom (1974). Other important synchronized works by Koeniger were the second German version of Die Wendeltreppe (1945), Hatari! (1961) and Dr. Strange or How I Learned to Love the Bomb (1963).

Koeniger remained active until the mid-1970s. His last dubbing work included the 1975 television version of Howard Hawks ' Take What You Can Get (1936).

Koeniger had been a member of the German Union of Filmmakers (DFU) in the art union in the German Trade Union Federation (DGB) since 1961 . He lived in Berlin.

Works

Books

  • Frankly ... Nice and naughty poems, German book distribution and publishing company, Berlin 1947, 96 pages

Stage releases

  • together with Hans E. Brachvogel and Werner Eisbrenner (music): From hand to hand. Musical comedy in 3 acts , Berlin and Munich 1946
  • Jens and Jörg as Robinson , with drawings by Horst Lemke , Düsseldorf 1955
  • Jens and Jörg 5 = 7 , with drawings by Horst Lemke, Düsseldorf 1956
  • Jens and Jörg. Deichstraße company , with drawings by Walter Rieck , Hanover 1973 ( ISBN 3-483-01095-5 )

Synchronized work (selection, always only dialogue book)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Who's Who in literature, Book & Publishing, 1978
  2. ^ Norbert Aping: On the Synchro History in Germany until 1970 ; accessed on April 20, 2009
  3. ↑ Thomas Bräutigam : Stars and their German voices. Lexicon of voice actors . Schüren, Marburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-89472-627-0 , p. 38
  4. ↑ Werner Schuder (Ed.): Koeniger, Fritz A. In: Kürschner's German Literature Calendar 1978 . 57th year. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin and New York 1977, p. 519
personal data
SURNAME Koeniger, Fritz A.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Koeniger, Fritz August (full name); Koeniger, FA
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German author and poet
DATE OF BIRTH December 9, 1910
PLACE OF BIRTH Wilhelmshaven
DATE OF DEATH after 1974