Günther Rittau

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Günther Franziskus Xaverius Rittau (born August 7, 1893 in Königshütte in Upper Silesia , † August 6, 1971 in Munich ) was a German cameraman and director.

Life

Günther Rittau was born in 1893 as the son of the Catholic teacher Benjamin Jacob Rittau and his wife Marie Edeltrud Aloisia Josepha, b. Artl born. After attending school and studying natural sciences in Berlin, he worked in the documentary film department of Decla from 1919 , later at Ufa , and learned to work as a cameraman on the side. From 1924 he worked as a feature film cameraman. His specific experience in documentary film production and the production of animation film recordings allowed him to develop his own style of cinematic viewing. Together with Carl Hoffmann and Walter Ruttmann , he photographed Fritz Lang's two-part film Die Nibelungen in 1924 and was mainly responsible for trick shots. Lang also engaged him for his subsequent film Metropolis , where he was responsible for the technical side of today's classic film with Karl Freund and Eugen Schüfftan , but also with the production designers Otto Hunte , Erich Kettelhut and Karl Vollbrecht .

For Joe May he was behind the camera on Homecoming (1928) and Asphalt (1929). He made his first sound films with his colleague Hans Schneeberger for Erich Pommers Ufa, Melodie des Herzens (1929) and The Blue Angel (1930). In the meantime, Rittau was considered to be one of the most important German cameramen with experience in trick technology and he was brought in for the production of the science fiction films F.P.1 does not answer (1932) and Gold (1934).

In 1939 Rittau directed itself for the first time and from then on worked exclusively as a director until 1948. The propaganda film U-Boats westward was made under his direction in 1941 . who is considered to be his best directorial work. It wasn't until 1954 that he returned behind the camera.

In the 1960s he worked exclusively as a commercial and television documentary.

In 1967 he was honored with the gold film ribbon.

Günther Rittau married at least five times, namely on August 6, 1919, January 27, 1923, January 7, 1929, June 1, 1940 and February 26, 1944, all in Berlin.

His grave is in the Munich Forest Cemetery, New Part.

Filmography

camera

Director

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c registry office Königshütte I: birth register . No. 1226/1893.
personal data
SURNAME Rittau, Günther
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rittau, Günther Franziskus Xaverius (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German cameraman and director
DATE OF BIRTH August 7, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Königshütte (Upper Silesia)
DATE OF DEATH August 6, 1971
Place of death Munich