Rehfisch, Hans

PLAYWRIGHT, FILM SCRIPT WRITER, SHORT STORY WRITER (GERMANY)
BORN 10 Apr 1891, Berlin: Andreasstraße 71, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg - DIED 9 Jun 1960, Scuol, Graubünden
BIRTH NAME Rehfisch, Hans José
GRAVE LOCATION Berlin: Dorotheenstädtischen Friedhof, Chausseestrasse (CD-10-8 (Ehrengrab))

Hans Rehfisch was the son of the Jewish physician Eugen Rehfisch (1862-1937). He abandoned his legal training to work at the theatre. Together with Erwin Piscator he led the Zentraltheater at the Alten Jakobstraße in Berlin-Mitte in 1920. Later he was engaged at Piscator's Theater am Nollendorfplatz. In 1917 he had married the psychoanalyst Lilli Stadthagen and they had two children.

His first work shows elements of expressism. In his later plays he used political themes, like in "Wer weint um Juckenack?" (1924). In 1926 the young Marlene Dietrich played Lou in his satire "Duel at the Lido". "The Dreyfus Affair" (1929) was made into a German (1930) as well as an English (1931) film. In 1933 he was arrested in Dresden after his play "Hauptmann Grisel's Betrayal" warned against national socialism. He was released on the condition that he would emigrate. He lived in England and in the USA until 1950.

In 1938 he had divorced Lilli and he married Antonie Wald in 1942. Lilli died in a concentration camp. His marriage to Antonie lasted until his death. After his return to Germany in 1950 he settled in Hamburg and he worked as a director and as an author until his death in 1960.

Related persons
• cooperated with Piscator, Erwin

Events
0/0/1920Ida Orloff plays in "Das Paradies" by Rehfisch at the Neues Volkstheater in Berlin [Orloff, Ida]
2/11/1928Premiere of "Der Frauenarzt" by Hans Rehfisch at the Theater in der Königgrätzer Strasse in Berlin. It was directed by Victor Barnowsky. The scenary was created by Hermann Krehann. The cast included Käte Haack, Eleonora von Mendelssohn, Johanna Terwin, Rudolf Forster, Egon Friedell and Rudolf Platte. [Haack, Käthe][Platte, Rudolf][Terwin, Johanna]

Images

The grave of Hans Rehfisch at the Dorotheenstädtischen Friedhof, Berlin.
Picture by Androom (26 Mar 2007)

 

Sources
• Blubacher, Thomas, Gibt es etwas Schöneres als Sehnsucht?, Die Geschwister Eleonora und Francesco von Mendelssohn, Henschel Verlag, Leipzig, 2008
• Heuser, Frederick W., The Life of Ida Orloff and her Relations to Gerhart Hauptmann, 1957
Hans José Rehfisch - Wikipedia (DE)


Reich, Adolf

Published: 17 Jun 2007
Last update: 23 Dec 2023