Karl von Appen
Karl von Appen ( born May 12, 1900 in Dusseldorf, † August 22, 1981 in Berlin) was a German stage designer who was known for his work for the Berliner Ensemble in particular.
Life
1918 Von Appen graduated in Frankfurt trained as a theater painter and studied there from 1920 to 1924 at the local arts and crafts school. 1921 to 1926 he was a set designer for the Frankfurt-based artist Theatre and the City Opera. He then worked as a freelance painter and graphic artist in Berlin and later in Dresden, worked as a set designer for theater in Dresden, Dortmund and Würzburg and studied next to the Marxist Workers School. In 1932 he joined the Communist Party and in 1933 became barred from conducting business. Because of illegal activity for the KPD, he was arrested in 1941 and came to the prison camp Nieder-Roden.
As of October 1945, he was chief of the equipment being of the stages the city of Dresden. In 1946 he joined the KPD / SED and was until 1949 appointed acting general director of the stages of the country's capital. He founded in 1947 the class for stage design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden. By 1954, he created the sets for 69 productions in Dresden.
In 1953, his collaboration with Bertolt Brecht began. Since 1954 he was Chefbühnenbildner the Berliner Ensemble and worked beside for other theaters of the GDR, the Munich Chamber Games and the National Theatre London.
In 1960 he became honorary professor and headed a 1961 master class at the German Academy of Arts. From 1972 to 1975 he was president, then Honorary President of the GDR section of the International Organization of Scénographes et des Techniciens de Théatre. In 1965 he was awarded the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver. In 1975 he became an honorary member of the State Theatre Dresden and was awarded the Karl -Marx- Orden. Von Appen was married to actress Manja Behrens.
1981 Von Appen died in Berlin. His grave is located in the forest cemetery Weisser Hirsch in Dresden.