Kurt Dürnhöfer

Kurt Dürnhöfer (born January 3, 1886 in Berlin , German Reich , † 1958 in Bavaria , Germany ) was a German film architect , the first significant set designer in his country and a veteran of domestic cinematography.

Life

Dürnhöfer had studied painting, architecture and stylistics for eleven semesters at the art school and the applied arts museum in his hometown of Berlin. In 1906 he joined the cinematograph manufacturer and film veteran Alfred Duskes . For Duskes he furnished numerous early sound images and one-act plays, including the highly topical comedy Der Hauptmann von Köpenick , a cinematic snap shot as a reaction to the events of the same year involving the shoemaker Wilhelm Voigt .

In 1910, Dürnhöfer switched to Oskar Messter , later to Karl Werner - for both producers he primarily equipped adventure series products with the early screen stars Louis Ralph and Senta Eichstaedt . Dürnhöfer's film activity was interrupted in 1915/16 by military service.

In 1917 he resumed his work as a production designer, this time for the production company of the German-American silent film diva Fern Andra . Shortly after the end of the First World War, Dürnhöfer settled in Grünwald at the gates of Munich , where he now worked for Bavarian directors, but kept coming back to Berlin to film.

His second intensive creative period fell during the Third Reich. In the 30s and early 40s he often designed the sets for comedies with the character of folk plays, but above all for home films by directors Carl Boese , Hans Deppe and Joe Stöckel . At the end of the Second World War, Dürnhöfer withdrew into private life.

Filmography

• 1906: The captain of Köpenick
• 1906: The Viljalied
• 1906: The rocking song
• 1907: A sheet from the Book of Life
• 1907: 'My Last Breath' from 'Troubadour'
• 1908: The Messina earthquake
• 1908: The beggar student: Colonel Ollendorf appears
• 1908: The Zeppelin accident near Echterdingen
• 1908: The Troubadour
• 1909: Don Juan marries
• 1909: The kink of the heart
• 1911: The miller and his child
• 1912: Madame Butterfly
• 1912: the emerald
• 1912: The Mauritius stamp
• 1912: The Lady in Black
• 1913: The black diamond
• 1913: radium
• 1913: The Secret of Chateau Richmond
• 1913: The Devil's Hole
• 1913: The Crown of the Empress of India
• 1913: The gift of the Indian
• 1913: The Hunt for the Hundred Pound Note or The Journey Around the World
• 1913: The Lord of the World
• 1914: Lepain, 2 parts
• 1914: The rag baron
• 1914: The Rondshill bats
• 1914: Eva's shirt
• 1917: Farmer Burchardt
• 1918: Agnes Arnau and her three suitors
• 1919: The guilt
• 1919: Monica Vogelsang
• 1919: The living dead
• 1919: Rose Bernd
• 1920: the last shot
• 1920: Anna Maria
• 1920: The one-eyed man
• 1921: The yellow strangler
• 1921: The rat mill
• 1921: The robbery of the dollar princess
• 1921: Jolly, the devil
• 1922: The sister's blood
• 1922: The revenge of the Marquis Dokama
• 1923: The emperor's old clothes
• 1923: your misstep
• 1923: Marcco among jugglers and beasts, 2 parts
• 1924: Taras Bulba, 2 parts
• 1924: Depths of the big city
• 1927: Almenrausch and Edelweiss
• 1933: Greetings and kisses to Veronika
• 1934: Elisabeth and the fool
• 1934: The daring swimmer
• 1934: The Senator
• 1935: end of the line
• 1935: Attack on Schweda
• 1935: The Blessed Excellency
• 1935: The impossible woman
• 1936: a strange guest
• 1936: Hilde and the 4 hp
• 1936: Noise and luck around Künnemann
• 1937: land of love
• 1937: The silence in the forest
• 1937: Thunderstorm in May
• 1938: The edelweiss king
• 1940: Everything is fraudulent
• 1940: A Robinson
• 1940: The gentleman in the house
• 1940: Herz drops anchor
• 1941: A crash in the front building
• 1941: Secret files WB 1
• 1941: The sold grandfather
• 1942: Beloved World
• 1942: Peterle
• 1943: The chaste sinner
• 1944: I ask for power of attorney / the village attorney
• 1944: The wrong bride
• 1945: A heart beats for you

literature

Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 2: C - F. John Paddy Carstairs - Peter Fitz. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 485 f.

Web links

• Kurt Dürnhöfer in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Kurt Dürnhöfer at filmportal.de