Sebastian Droste

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Gravestone "Willi Knobloch", Ohlsdorf Jewish Cemetery (Ilandkoppel)

Sebastian Droste , actually Willy Knobloch (born February 2, 1898 in Hamburg ; † June 27, 1927 there ), was a German dancer, poet and actor. Together with his wife Anita Berber , he was one of the most scandalous personalities of the Weimar Republic and was one of the most important dancers in the country until his death.

Life

Droste was born in Hamburg under the name Willy Knobloch into a wealthy Jewish patrician family. His father was the businessman Hugo Knobloch, his mother Franziska Knobloch, nee. Simon. He started out in dance in the ensemble of Celly de Rheidt as one of their dancers. After that he had some solo projects.

In the early 1920s he met the actress and dancer Anita Berber, whom he is said to have married in Budapest in 1923 ; an exact confirmation could not be found until today. Both developed a stage concept entitled The Dances of Vice, Horror and Ecstasy , which also included the performance of poems and dance scenes. They toured throughout Central Europe and performed the show in Berlin , Vienna , Prague and Budapest. The show became a scandal and at the same time both dancers became very famous. This was followed by an illustrated book by the well-known photographer Madame d'Ora , whom Droste and Berber had photographed during the show.

After the end of the tour and the success, there was a falling out with Berber, whereupon Droste disappeared with her jewelry to New York City , where he initially pretended to be a baron and later worked as a journalist for a German newspaper. On his return to Hamburg, the cocaine addict and homosexual artist died there on June 27, 1927 in his parents' house.
Sebastian Droste was buried as Willi Knobloch in the area of ​​the Knobloch family grave on the Jewish cemetery Ilandkoppel in Hamburg-Ohlsdorf , grid square N 1–63.

reception

The revue and variety show of the dances of vice, horror and ecstasy (1922) brought Droste and Berber to the publication of a book with the same title (1923), which was followed by a short documentary film on the subject by Fritz Freisler . The numerous poems by the lyricist Droste also appeared in the book.

In the revue, individual scandalous scenes were shown, such as Saint Sebastian (after which Droste had obviously given himself his first name), cocaine and others. He was also photographed dressed as a vampire . Many of the two dances were performed half-naked or naked.

plant

  • The dances of vice, horror and ecstasy , together with Anita Berber, Gloriette Verlag, Vienna, 1923.
English edition: Dances of Vice, Horror, and Ecstasy. Trans. V. Merrill Cole. Side Real Press, Newcastle upon Tyne 2012. ISBN 978-0-9542953-7-0 .

Filmography

  • Algol - Tragedy of Power. 1920.
  • Dances of horror, vice and ecstasy. Short documentary, directed by Fritz Freisler, 1923.
  • The Way (Unfinished), dance film. 1929 ( posthumously ), directed by Francis Bruguière .

swell

  • Hergemöller, man for man, Suhrkamp-Verlag, 2001.
  • www.bookslut.com/nonfiction/2007_06_011201.php
  • www.dieterwunderlich.de/Anita_Berber.htm

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Birth register StA Hamburg 3, No. 233/1898
  2. ↑ Death register StA Hamburg 3, No. 349/1927
  3. ↑ grave register
  4. ^ Cemetery plan
personal data
SURNAME Droste, Sebastian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Knobloch, Willy (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German dancer, poet and actor
DATE OF BIRTH February 2, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH June 27, 1927
Place of death Hamburg