Friedrich Luft (24 August 1911 – 24 December 1990) was a German

feuilleton A ''feuilleton'' (; a diminutive of , the leaf of a book) was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art criticism, a chronicle ...

ist and

theater critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governme ...

Life

Born in

Friedenau Friedenau () is a locality (''Ortsteil'') within the borough (''Bezirk'') of Tempelhof-Schöneberg in Berlin, Germany. Relatively small by area, its population density was the highest in the city. Geography Friedenau is part of the southwestern ...

, Luft was the son of a German student councilor and a Scottish mother. His older brother was the German-American

physiologist Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out chemical and ...

and university teacher . Luft grew up in the Friedenauer ''Kaiserallee 74'' and attended the nearby at Maybachplatz (today: ). He studied German, English and History in Berlin and at the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg () was the university of Königsberg in Duchy of Prussia, which was a fief of Poland. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant Reformation, Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke A ...

. He listened with great interest to Max Herrmann lectures on theatre history. From 1936, he was a freelance writer. He wrote

s for the ''

Berliner Tageblatt The ''Berliner Tageblatt'' or ''BT'' was a German language newspaper published in Berlin from 1872 to 1939. Along with the '' Frankfurter Zeitung'', it became one of the most important liberal German newspapers of its time. History The ''Berli ...

'' and the ''

Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung ''Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung'' (often abbreviated to DAZ) was a German newspaper that appeared between 1861 and 1945. Until 1918 the title of the paper was ''Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung''. Although Wilhelm Liebknecht, one of the founder ...

''. For the

Oberkommando des Heeres The (; abbreviated OKH) was the high command of the Army of Nazi Germany. It was founded in 1935 as part of Adolf Hitler's rearmament of Germany. OKH was ''de facto'' the most important unit within the German war planning until the defeat ...

, he wrote numerous

screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...

s, for example for the films ''Die Brieftaube im Einsatz'' and ''Das Pferd und die Gasmaske für das Pferd''. He also produced texts for the cabaret artist

Werner Finck Werner Finck (2 May 1902 – 31 July 1978) was a German ''Kabarett'' comedian, actor and author. Not politically motivated by his own admission but just a "convinced individualist", he became one of Germany's leading cabaret artists under the co ...

. In 1940, he married the draughtswoman Heide Thilo. Immediately after the Second World War, he initially worked for ''

Der Tagesspiegel (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington, D.C., and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, since reunificati ...

'', which was founded in 1945. He had a column entitled ''Urbanus'' with everyday sketches from the Berlin

post-war period A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, w ...

that are still worth reading today. These were published in 1948 by

Suhrkamp Verlag Suhrkamp Verlag is a German publishing house, established in 1950 and is generally acknowledged as one of the leading European publishers of fine literature. Its roots go back to the "arianized" part of the S. Fischer Verlag. In January 2010, ...

under the title ''Tagesblätter von Urbanus''. ''

Die Neue Zeitung ''Die Neue Zeitung'' (''"The New Times"'', abbreviated ''NZ'') was a newspaper published in the American Occupation Zone of Germany after the Second World War. It was comparable to the daily newspaper ''Die Welt'' in the British Occupation Zone ...

'', founded in 1947 by the American occupying power, took him into service as head of the feature section of its Berlin edition, as a theatre and

film critic Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Academic criticism by film scholars, who study the composition of film theory and publish their findin ...

, until it ceased publication in 1955. In 1959, he wrote the subtle 27-page preface to the autobiography ''Spiel im Dasein'' by

Max Ophüls Maximillian Oppenheimer ( , ; 6 May 1902 – 26 March 1957), known as Max Ophüls ( , , ) or simply Ophuls, was a German and French film director and screenwriter. He was known for his opulent and lyrical visual style, with heavy use of trac ...

, the theatre and film director ''(

Lola Montez Eliza Rosanna Gilbert, Countess of Landsfeld (17 February 1821 – 17 January 1861), better known by the stage name Lola Montez (), was an Irish dancer and actress who became famous as a Spanish dancer, courtesan, and mistress of King Ludw ...

'', '' Letters from an Unknown'') from

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

. Above all, however, he was the "voice of criticism" at the radio station RIAS. Every Sunday at noon, from the first broadcast on 9 February 1946 – at that time still on ''DIAS'' (wire radio in the American sector) – until 28 October 1990 shortly before his death, he spoke in this capacity about Berlin theatre premieres of the previous week. As

rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...

peculiarities were his quick and sometimes breathlessly choppy speech, a sometimes drastic mode of expression combined with

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

squiggles as well as the same recurring farewell formula from the listeners:

We'll talk again in a week. As always - same time, same place, same wave. Yours, Friedrich Luft.

In addition to this, he later wrote articles for the ''

Süddeutsche Zeitung The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest and most influential daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of ''SZ'' is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and ...

'' and ''

Die Welt (, ) is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group and it is considered a newspaper of record in Germany. Its leading competitors are the ...

''. Luft also wrote the German dialogue book on the

David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor, widely considered one of the most important figures of Cinema of the United Kingdom, British cinema. He directed the large-scale epi ...

's classic ''

The Bridge on the River Kwai ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the novel ''The Bridge over the River Kwai'', written by Pierre Boulle. Boulle's novel and the film's screenplay are almost entirely fictional but u ...

'' from 1957. Luft spoke fluent English. He lived and worked for 50 years until his death near the

Nollendorfplatz Nollendorfplatz (colloquially called ''Nolle'' or ''Nolli'') is a square in the central Schöneberg district of Berlin, Germany. History The place was named on November 27 1864 after the village of ''Nollendorf'' () near Petrovice in the prese ...

in the

Schöneberg Schöneberg () is a locality of Berlin, Germany. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a separate borough including the locality of Friedenau. Together with the former borough of Tempelhof it is now part of the new borough of Te ...

Maienstraße 4, where a plaque commemorates the critic, who was very popular in Berlin at the time. Luft was buried at the

Waldfriedhof Dahlem The Waldfriedhof Dahlem (Dahlem (Berlin), Dahlem forest cemetery) is a cemetery in Berlin, in the district of Steglitz-Zehlendorf on the edge of the Grunewald (forest), Grunewald forest at Hüttenweg 47. Densely planted with conifers and design ...

together with his wife Heide, who worked as a graphic artist and illustrator. His grave is dedicated as a grave of honour to the city of Berlin. In 1991, the "Friedrich-Luft-Archive" was established in the

Academy of Arts, Berlin The Academy of Arts () is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany. The academy's predecessor organization was founded in 1696 by Elector F ...

. It contains manuscripts of the reviews of his radio programme ''Stimme der Kritik'' as well as a collection of Lufts newspaper reviews and glosses from 1945 to 1990, his library and a tape archive with recordings of his radio programmes from the RIAS.

Publications

* ''Luftballons''. 1939 * ''Tagesblätter''. by Urbanus. 1948 * ''Puella auf der Insel'' (Kinderbuch). 1949 *
Quatsch in schöner Gestalt… – Vom Tiefsinn unserer Redner und Schreiber.
' In ''

'', 4. Mai 1957 * ''

Gustaf Gründgens Gustaf Gründgens (; 22 December 1899 – 7 October 1963), born Gustav Heinrich Arnold Gründgens, was one of Germany's most famous and influential actors of the 20th century, and artistic director of theatres in Berlin, Düsseldorf, and Hambur ...

''. Rembrandt-Verlag, Berlin 1958 (2nd edition 1960) * ''Vom großen, schönen Schweigen'' (

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered o ...

Biography). 1958 * ''Berliner Theater 1945–1961''. Erhard Friedrich Verlag Velber bei Hannover 1961 (2nd edition 1962) * ''Luftsprünge''. 1962 * ''Stimme der Kritik''. Velber bei Hannover 1965 (erste und zweite Auflage 1961 unter dem Titel ''Berliner Theater 1945–1961'') * ''Stimme der Kritik. Theaterereignisse seit 1965'', Stuttgart 1979. * ''Die Stimme der Kritik. Conversation with .'' In the series "Zeugen des Jahrhunderts", 1991.

Radio plays

* 1953:

Karl Farkas Karl Farkas (28 October 1893 – 16 May 1971) was an Austrian actor and cabaret performer. Biography In accordance with the wishes of his parents, he was to study law, but decided to follow the call of the stage. After attending the Academy of ...

: ''Bei Kerzenlicht'' – Editing (text): Curth Flatow, composition: , Bearbeitung (music): ,

mise en scène Mise or Miše may refer to: * Mise (mythology), a deity addressed in the ''Orphic Hymns'' * Ante Miše (born 1967), Croatian footballer * Jerolim Miše (1890–1970), Croatian painter, teacher, and art critic * MISE, an abbreviation for Mean integ ...

: (Theatermitschnitt – RIAS Berlin) * 1953: and : '' Der Raub der Sabinerinnen'' (Moderator) – editing (text): Friedrich Luft, mise en scène: Willi Sämann; (Theatermitschnitt – RIAS Berlin)

Trivia

The ''

Berliner Morgenpost ''Berliner Morgenpost'' is a German newspaper, based and mainly read in Berlin, where it is one of the most read daily newspapers. History and profile Founded in 1898 by Leopold Ullstein, the paper was taken over by Axel Springer AG in 1959 a ...

'' has been awarding the "" since 1992. This currently endowed with 7500 Euro- prize annually honours the best theatre performance in Berlin.

References

External links

* *
Friedrich-Luft-Archiv
im Archiv der