Karl von Appen

Karl von Appen (1956)

Karl von Appen (born May 12, 1900 in Düsseldorf ; † August 22, 1981 in Berlin ) was a German set designer who was best known for his work for the Berliner Ensemble .

Life

Von Appen completed an apprenticeship as a theater painter in Frankfurt am Main in 1918 and studied there from 1920 to 1924 at the local arts and crafts school. From 1921 to 1926 he was a set designer for the Frankfurt Art Theater and the City Opera. He then lived as a freelance painter and graphic artist in Berlin and later in Dresden , worked as a set designer for theaters in Dresden, Dortmund and Würzburg and also studied at the Marxist Workers' School . In 1932 he joined the KPD and was banned from working in 1933. He was arrested in 1941 for illegal activity for the KPD and taken to the Nieder-Roden prison camp .

Grave of Karl von Appens at the Weißer Hirsch forest cemetery

From October 1945 he was in charge of the stage set in Dresden. In 1946 he joined the KPD / SED and was acting general director of the state capital's theaters until 1949. In 1947 he founded the stage design class at the Dresden University of Fine Arts . By 1954 he created the sets for 69 productions in Dresden.

In 1953 he began working with Bertolt Brecht . From 1954 he was chief stage designer of the Berliner Ensemble and also worked for other theaters in the GDR , the Munich Kammerspiele and the National Theater in London .

In 1960 he became an adjunct professor and in 1961 led a master class at the German Academy of the Arts . From 1972 to 1975 he was President, then Honorary President of the GDR section of the Organization International des Scénographes et des Techniciens de Théatre . In 1965 he received the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver. In 1975 he became an honorary member of the Dresden State Theater and was awarded the Karl Marx Order . Von Appen was married to the actress Manja Behrens .

Von Appen died in Berlin in 1981. His grave is in the Weißer Hirsch forest cemetery in Dresden.

Stage sets

• 1953 Katzgraben by Erwin Strittmatter , Berliner Ensemble, director: Bertolt Brecht
• 1954 Bertolt Brecht's Caucasian Chalk Circle , Berliner Ensemble, director: Bertolt Brecht
• 1956 The Hero of the Western World by John Millington Synge , Berliner Ensemble, directed by Peter Palitzsch , Manfred Wekwerth
• 1957 Der gute Mensch von Sezuan by Bertolt Brecht, Berliner Ensemble, director: Benno Besson
• 1959 The resilient rise of Arturo Ui by Bertolt Brecht, Berliner Ensemble, directors: Peter Palitzsch, Manfred Wekwerth
• 1960 Bertolt Brecht's Threepenny Opera , Berliner Ensemble, director: Erich Engel
• 1962 The Days of Commune by Bertolt Brecht, Berliner Ensemble, directors: Joachim Tenschert , Manfred Wekwerth
• 1968 Saint Joan of the slaughterhouses by Bertolt Brecht, Berliner Ensemble, directors: Joachim Tenschert, Manfred Wekwerth
• 1971 The Captain of Koepenick by Carl Zuckmayer , Old Vic Theater London
• 1980 Seneca's death by Peter Hacks , Deutsches Theater Berlin , director: Cox Habbema

Filmography

• 1957: Mr. Puntila and his servant Matti (studio recording)
• 1966: The Days of the Commune (theater recording)
• 1966: The Investigation (theater recording)
• 1974: Arturo Ui's resilient rise (theater recording)

literature

• F. Dieckmann: Karl von Appens stage designs at the Berliner Ensemble. Berlin 1971
• A. Renk: Karl von Appen - A painter in the theater. In: Communications from the Academy of the Arts of the GDR. 1990 (4)
• Short biography for:  Karl von Appen . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition, volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .

Web links

Commons : Karl von Appen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Karl von Appen in the catalog of the German National Library
• Karl von Appen archive in the archive of the Academy of Arts, Berlin