Walter Spies

Walter Spies (born 15 September 1895 in Moscow, † January 19, 1942 in the Indian Ocean ) was a German musician and painter who was known by his life and work in Bali.

Life

Spies came from a reputable and established for generations in Russia German merchant family. His brother Leo Spies was a composer and conductor, his sister Daisy Spies was a dancer. After the First World War Spies lived in Germany, where he was first friends with Hans Jürgen von der Wense, later with Friedrich Murnau.

1923 Spies left Europe and moved to Java, where it took the Sultan of Yogyakarta as a pianist and conductor at his court. In 1927 he moved to the island of Bali and began with the Balinese culture deal. Funded by Prince Gede Agung Sukawati Cocorde he reformed the Balinese painting and founded Gamelanmusikensembles. In the 1930s, his house became the cultural center of Bali. Artists, musicians, writers and actors (including Charlie Chaplin ) from around the world were staying at his house. From 1937, however, he withdrew increasingly, because on one hand it no longer wanted to play the tourist guides and on the other hand was increasingly attacked as a homosexual. On New Years Eve 1938, he was arrested for immoral behavior briefly into custody and subsequently excluded from the Pita Maha Association.

After the German invasion of Holland Spies was interned in under Dutch rule Bali and taken to Java and Sumatra. Shortly before the Japanese invasion in January 1942, he should be brought with other German internees on the cargo ship " Van Imhoff " from Sumatra to Ceylon. Spies died on January 18, 1942 together with 411 interned Germans before Nias at or after the sinking of the ship after it had been hit by a Japanese aerial bomb. Almost all lifeboats had the Dutch occupation in itself to complete and the remaining lifeboats unusable, so most abandoned internees perished with the ship or drowned after the sinking.