Dr. phil Hans Landsberger

Hans LANDSBERGER: b. 20 Aug 1890, Berlin - d. 8 Jan 1941, Camp de Gurs, HOLOCAUST

Composer – especially of (silent) film music.

Information courtesy of various sources:

In 2018 the composer and silent film pianist Richard SIEDHOFF discovered an original basic score for the Berlin composer Hans LANDSBERGER's first triumph of a musical composition created specifically for the acclaimed silent film directed by Paul WEGENER: "Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam". This had long been considered as "lost". Besides, it then required a complete "reconstruction" in order to produce a piece which could be played to accompany a likewise reconstructed and enhanced new version of the film itself. The two together are nothing short of magnificent ...

Richard Siedhoff - Der Golem

https://www.richard-siedhoff.de/index.php?id=147

It was Richard SIEDHOFF who also sought to determine more details about Hans LANDSBERGER's life, particularly as there were many blanks and possible errors in the few articles about him. A small team undertook thorough research, aided by either openly available or specifically requested and shared archives. Dr. Barbara ELKELES wrote a wonderful full biography - of which a shorter version may be seen here - in German:

https://www.richard-siedhoff.de.ralf-siedhoff.de/upload/Der_Golem/D...

A sneak preview of the newly presented film with music may be viewed here:

DER GOLEM // Rekonstruktion der Originalmusik von Hans Landsberger - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeabML56opg

Plus a rather more explicit idea of the score's main themes fit to specific scenes:

Trailer DER GOLEM // erstmals mit der Originalmusik von Hans Landsberger - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAe_k8F6igA

As a result of this recent fresh research, the original Wikipedia entry has also been updated but omits many biographical details.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Landsberger

Unfortunately, so far only available in German & French.

This is a rough translation into English:

Hans Landsberger (born 20 August 1890 in Berlin, died 8 January 8 1941 in Camp de Gurs, France) was a German composer especially known for silent film scores.

Landsberger attended a Gymnasium (secondary school) in Berlin and then a university there. On April 30, 1914, he enrolled at the University of Rostock [2] and began studying music in the upcoming summer semester. In 1920 he received his doctorate there with a doctoral thesis entitled "The Secular Cantatas G. Ph. Telemans". [3]

In the same year, 1920, Landsberger returned to Berlin and made contacts in the film industry. Over the following two years he composed cinema music for four films, two of which have legendary productions: Ernst Lubitsch's costume drama Anna Boleyn, in which Landsberger also took over the musical direction, and Paul Wegener's classic of the fantastic cinema, "Der Golem, Wie er in die Welt kam" - "The Golem, How He Came Into the World". Both original compositions were considered lost. In 2018, the silent film musician Richard Siedhoff discovered the original music of "The Golem, How He Came into the World", and reconstructed it for small and large orchestras. [4] The version for small orchestra premiered on September 3, 2020 in the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar under the direction of Burkhard Götze as part of the Kunstfest Weimar and the annual silent film retrospective of the Lichthaus Kinos Weimar. [5] [6] [7].

Filmografie (komplett)

1920: Der Golem, wie er in die Welt kam

1920: Anna Boleyn (musikalische Leitung)

1921: Die Verschwörung zu Genua

1921: Hintertreppe

Hans was married twice.

First marriage: Olga JACOB.

Information on - and actual images of documents (displayed here under "Media") from - marriage and divorce with thanks to Barbara as researcher:

"They married at Berlin May 15th 1920, divorced Berlin, July 4th 1930.

At time of marriage, Hans’ profession was “Kapellmeister”. "

Witnesses shown were:

Adolf GOTTSCHALK, age 41, Berlin address

Georg ADAM, age 49, Berlin address

Second marriage: Margarete HIRSCHLAND, divorced SCHAYER. (information also thanks to Barbara)

Married 16 Nov 1937, Paris, France.

cf. marriage announcement in Journal of the Zentralverein Deutscher Staatsbürger Jüdischen Glaubens viewable courtesy of:

http://sammlungen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/cm/periodical/titleinfo/2277379 Zentral-Verein-Zeitung 16 (1937) 45 (11.11.1937), S. 12

Especially valuable information thanks to the generous sharing of historical documents directly by:

https://www.departement06.fr/culture/archives-departementales-2797....

Further significant particulars gleaned from:

Archives Départémentales des Alpes Maritimes:

http://www.basesdocumentaires-cg06.fr/os-html/adam/home.html

Details of deportation and subsequent death courtesy of:

http://gurs.free.fr/liste.html

LANDSBERGER HANS 20.08.90 BERLIN 08.01.41

And also ...

LANDSBERGER Hans: Central DB of Shoah Victims' Names - Record Details

https://yvng.yadvashem.org/nameDetails.html?language=en&itemId=3195...

Hans Landsberger was born in Berlin, Germany in 1890. During the war he was in France.

Hans was murdered in the Shoah.

This information is based on a List of deportation from France, found in Le Mémorial de la déportation des juifs de France, Béate et Serge Klarsfeld, Paris 1978.

Last Name Landsberger First Name Hans Gender Male Date of Birth 20/08/1890 Place of Birth Berlin,Berlin (Berlin),City of Berlin,Germany Place during the War France Place of Death Gurs,Camp,France Date of Death 08/01/1941 Status according to Source murdered Source Le Mémorial de la déportation des juifs de France, Béate et Serge Klarsfeld, Paris 1978 Type of material List of deportation from France Item ID 3195003

And also cf.

Hans Landsberger (1914 SS) @ Rostocker Matrikelportal

http://matrikel.uni-rostock.de/id/200011823

Particularly valuable family details thanks to:

Hirschland family genealogy, also Hirshland

http://www.thekesters.net/Genealogy/Hirschland.html

And also ... thanks to a veritable treasure trove of family documents:

Guide to the Papers of the Hirschland Bank and Family 1819-1999

AR 25638 Processed by Dianne Ritchey

http://digifindingaids.cjh.org/?pID=3452390#subserI-4

From a small series of exchanges of correspondence with the close relative already in exile, Erich Otto GRÜNBAUM, it may be gleaned that:

- Margarete & Hans LANDSBERGER had already moved to the south of France before the summer of 1939.

- They had acquired and were running a small pension in Cagnes-sur-Mer called "La Maison Grise" on a street formerly known as Rue du Pérousin.

- Margarete's widowed mother Hedwig HIRSCHLAND joined them there on 7 Aug 1939, having successfully fled Germany via the "alps" - presumably Switzerland - and with a view of imminently catching a ship leaving Marseille to - Shanghai. She misses the boat, eventually manages to return to Switzerland, where she dies a few years later.

- Hedwig expresses the view that this place is paradise and the couple have made a good choice, while Margarete points out that running the little pension kept them very busy.

N.B. the name of Hans LANDSBERGER cannot be traced on any deportation lists from Baden to Camps de Gurs (22/23 Oct. 1940):

e.g. cf. Inhouse-Digitalisierung / Verzeichnis der am... [49]

https://digital.blb-karlsruhe.de/blbihd/content/pageview/1082334

... because he was not there!

... and the above-mentioned documents clearly show him already living and making a new life for himself and his wife in Cagnes-sur-Mer,

Hans LANDSBERGER was first arrested at his home in France and sent to the Camp des Milles but later released. Subsequently he was picked upon by local authorities collaborating with the Germans and sent to the Camp de Gurs, where he died..

N.B. NO source cited in Wikipedia article for possible death by suicide. Many prisoners in this camp suffered from the awful conditions thére and died of resulting critical health issues. Actual death certificate gives cause of death as "troubles cérébraux" - "brain disorders" - this is very vague and could mean many things ...

(pip - May 2019 & June 2021)

A few further notes:

- cf. actual Berlin civil birth registration - shown under "Media"

- Apparently accompanied father on a trip to East Asia from Hamburg on 7 Oct 1909.

cf. Hamburg passenger listing - ditto

- generally did not give his profession as composer ...

cf. e.g. 1926 Berlin address & telephone book - ditto.

- officially declared dead in 1953 ...

cf. declaration of death - ditto

All courtesy of Barbara.

Eintrag im »Gedenkbuch« des Bundesarchivs:

• Landsberger, Hans
• geboren am 20. August 1890
• in Berlin/Stadt Berlin
• wohnhaft in Berlin und in Essen / Essen
• DEPORTATION
• ab Baden - Pfalz - Saarland
• Gurs, Internierungslager
• TODESDATUM
• 08. Januar 1941
• TODESORT
• Gurs, Internierungslager

N.B. This information is incorrect. Hans LANDSBERGER was not deported to Gurs from Baden but from the South of France where he had been living for several years - cf. points made above.

STOLPERSTEIN:

Am 24. Juni 2023 wurde vor seinem ehemaligen Wohnort, Berlin-Wilmersdorf, Bundesallee 203, ein Stolperstein verlegt.

On 24th June 2023 a memorial stumbling stone was laid for Hans LANDSBERGER at his last Berlin address, Bundesallee 203.

A small ceremony was organised with a piece of the composer's music played by a select orchestra.

Stolperstein arranged by Barbara and financed by Peter.

Ceremony organised, photographed, recorded by Richard SIEDHOFF who had discovered and reworked Hans LANDSBERGER's original score for "Golem, Wie Er In Die Welt Kam" ...