Thea von Harbou
Thea von Harbou was a prominent German writer and filmmaker born in 1888 in Bavaria. Coming from a well-off family with noble ties, she demonstrated early talent in languages and writing. After initially pursuing a career in acting, she transitioned into screenwriting and became a significant figure in the German film industry during the silent film era. Von Harbou is best known for co-creating the iconic science fiction film "Metropolis," released in 1927, which explores themes of class struggle and dystopia through its stunning visual effects and storytelling.
Her partnership with director Fritz Lang was both professional and personal, as they were married from 1922 until their divorce amid growing political tensions in Germany. Von Harbou's later years were marked by her continued involvement in film during the Nazi regime, a period that sparked controversy due to her nationalistic views and their impact on her relationships, particularly with Lang, who had Jewish heritage. Despite a decline in her career after World War II, her work, particularly "Metropolis," has had a lasting influence on science fiction cinema, inspiring later films including "Star Wars." She passed away in Berlin in 1954, leaving behind a complex legacy intertwined with the cultural and political narratives of her time.
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Subject Terms
Thea von Harbou
Playwright
- Born: December 12, 1888
- Birthplace: Tauperlitz, Bavaria (now Germany)
- Died: January 1, 1954
- Place of death: Berlin, West Germany (now in Germany)
Biography
Thea von Harbou was born in Tauperlitz, Bavaria (now Germany), in 1888, to a well-off Prussian family with ties to minor nobility. She seemed favored by fortune; she was precocious enough to learn several languages well and to write saleable fiction and poetry even as a teenager. Educated in convent schools, at eighteen she defied family expectations and became an actress. Her striking Nordic good looks and a self-assured presence brought her quick success in theaters in Dusseldorf and other cities.
Acting did not consume all her efforts. In 1910, she published a screenplay titled Die Nachl uns kommen, and other short fiction works. Besides having a rich imagination that led her into varied genres, she already showed a flair for philosophy. During her time in the theater she met the actor Rudolf Klein-Rogge, who became her mentor and, in 1917, her husband.
The German movie industry was prospering at this time. Thea was drawn into the cinematic world by producer Joe May, who hired her to adapt one of her own books. Working in films, she met director Fritz Lang. From 1920 to 1933, they collaborated on all of Lang’s movies, as well as some others. Her range of themes and genres was eclectic, but a glance at a few plots show a definite tendency to including science fiction or fantasy elements, for example Frau im Mond and Das wandernde Bild. Working together, and also married to each other from 1922 on, Lang and von Harbou became preeminent among German filmmakers.
The most famous of von Harbou’s movies is Metropolis, first produced in 1927. A brilliant dystopia, it shows a future society populated and powered by an oppressed underclass that exists only to serve the city’s master and a few fortunte inhabitants. The story was created in both novel and film formats. The novel conveys the plot somewhat more easily, but without the memorable visual effects that are one of Metropolis’s many strengths. Despite repeated and drastic cutting, it remains a powerful artistic vision and work of “cautionary science fiction.”
Von Harbou was living at a cultural nexus where it would have been impossible to ignore the rise and influence of Adolf Hitler’s ideas even if she wished to. Unfortunately, with her philosophical and nationalistic bent, it doesn’t appear that she wished to. This created a rift with her husband Fritz Lang, who not only was part Jewish but who, in 1932, released Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse, which put Hitler’s words into the villain’s mouth. Soon after, the two divorced, and Lang left Germany. Von Harbou stayed in Germany for the rest of her life, continuing to write and direct movies, and even serving as head of the association of German screenwriters. None of the movies she made during the Nazi regime were very notable or popular. She quietly married Ayi Tendulkar, an Indian engineer, in 1938.
In von Harbou’s defense, she claimed that her actions before and during World War II had stemmed from patriotism, not Nazi ideology. She did not cause trouble for Lang, or for any other Jew. Nonetheless, Occupation authorities were suspicious enough to keep her picking up rubble under British direction before she could return to writing. Eventually she did some work synchronizing scripts, but never regained her former credibility. She died in 1954 in Berlin. Von Harbou remains important today for her influence on later science-fiction cinema. The appearance of the robot R2D2 in Star Wars is drawn directly from Metropolis.