Hans Bertram (26 February 1906 – 8 January 1993) was a German

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators because they a ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

Biography

Early life

Hans Bertram was born on 26 February 1906 in

Remscheid Remscheid () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is, after Wuppertal and Solingen, the third-largest municipality in Bergisches Land, being located on the northern edge of the region, on the south side of the Ruhr area. Remscheid ha ...

, Germany.

Career

During 1920, Bertram trained under flying instructor Paul Bäumer, a noted German aviator of World War I, at Hamburg Fuhlsbuttel Airport. From 1927, Bertram was an aviation advisor to the

Chinese government The government of the People's Republic of China is based on a system of people's congress within the parameters of a Unitary state, unitary communist state, in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacts its policies through people's ...

and was involved in establishing its naval aviation service. When Bertram piloted a

Junkers W 33 The Junkers W 33 was a German 1920s single-engine low-wing monoplane transport aircraft that followed Junkers standard practice making extensive use of corrugated aluminium alloy over an aluminium alloy tube frame, that was developed from the s ...

seaplane on an around-the world flight during 1932, he became lost over a sparsely populated part of the

Kimberley region of Western Australia The Kimberley is the northernmost of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy and Tanami deserts in the region of the Pilbara, and on ...

and made a forced landing. Bertram and mechanic Adolf Klausmann were rescued and hospitalised in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. Klausmann suffered significant long-term psychological effects from their ordeal. Books by Bertram regarding his adventures became best-sellers in Germany during 1933. It was dramatised in the radio play '' Wings Over Westralia''. In 1934, Bertram joined the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

and the SA ("Brownshirts"). Bertram's script for a drama set in an Australian gold mining town, was made into '' Frauen für Golden Hill'' ("Women for Golden Hill"), released in 1938. The World War I aviation drama '' D III 88'' (1939), also written by Bertram, was made with the support of ''

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

'' chief

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...

. Another script by Bertram (based on a novel by Nicola Rhon), was endorsed by the Nazis: '' Der Fuchs von Glenarvon'' ("The Fox of Glenarvon") set in Ireland during the 1880s and concerned with Irish opposition to British rule was released in 1940. During World War II, Bertram wrote and directed two feature-length propaganda-oriented documentaries about German aviators. While on active service with the ''Luftwaffe'' during 1941, he was shot down in

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

and taken prisoner. Bertram was sent to POW camps in Australia (where he was to remain for the duration of the war). Meanwhile, in Germany, release of Bertram's film ' ("Symphony of a Life") was suspended when it was found that he had employed Jews, such as the lead actor

Harry Baur Harry Baur (12 April 1880 – 8 April 1943) was a French actor, famous for his titular role in ''Beethoven's Great Love'' and as Jean Valjean in Les Misérables (1934 film), the 1934 version of ''Les Misérables''. Life Initially a stage actor ...

. Bertram's membership of the

Reich Chamber of Culture The Reich Chamber of Culture (''Reichskulturkammer'', abbreviated as RKK) was a government agency in Nazi Germany. It was established by law on 22 September 1933 in the course of the ''Gleichschaltung'' process at the instigation of Reich Ministe ...

was suspended and when ''Symphonie eines Lebens'' was released (1942), the names of Bertram, the rest of the crew and cast were omitted from the credits. Bertram wrote the scripts of 10 films completed between 1938 and 1985, and directed six films. In 1985, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation screened ''

Flight into Hell ''Flight into Hell'' is a 1985 television miniseries about German pilot Hans Bertram and his co-pilot who go missing in 1932, based on Bertram's book of the same name, and in what was also known as 1932 Kimberley rescue.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Aust ...

'', a television miniseries based on Bertram's accounts of his experiences during 1932.

German language books authored by Bertram

* 1933: ''Flug in die Hölle. Mein australisches Abenteuer''. Frankfurt/Berlin; Ullstein. * 1933: ''Flug in die Hölle. Bericht von der „Bertram-Atlantis-Expedition“''. Berlin; Drei Masken Verlag. * 1937: ''Ruf der weiten Welt''. Berlin; Drei Masken Verlag. * 1954: ''Flug zu den Sternen''. München/Wien/Basel; Verlag Kurt Desch. * 1980: ''Götterwind. Pioniere der Luftfahrt.'' Frankfurt/Berlin; Universitas. (A revised edition of ''Flug zu den Sternen''.)

Filmography

* 1938: '' Frauen für Golden Hill'' a.k.a. ''Women for Golden Hill'' (scriptwriter) * 1939: '' D III 88'' (scriptwriter, in collaboration with Wolf Neumeister) * 1940: ''

Baptism of Fire The phrase baptism by fire, baptism of fire or baptism with fire is a Christian theological concept originating from the words of John the Baptist in Matthew 3:11. It also has related meanings in military history and popular culture. Christiani ...

'' Baptism of Fire. Film from Operations by our Air Force in Poland(director; scriptwriter) * 1940: '' Der Fuchs von Glenarvon'' a.k.a. ''The Fox of Glenarvon'' (scriptwriter) * 1941: ' Bomber Wing Lützow" (director, line producer, scriptwriter) * 1942: ' Symphony of a Life"(director, line producer, scriptwriter) * 1949: ''

Eine große Liebe Eine may refer to: * EINE, a text editor * Eine (river), in Germany * Eine, Belgium Eine is a village located in the province of East Flanders, Belgium. Since 1965, it has been a ''deelgemeente'' (subdivision) of the municipality of Oudenaarde. ...

'' a.k.a. ''True Love'' (director; scriptwriter) * 1950: ''Der verzauberte Klang'' The Enchanted Sound"(short documentary) (director) * 1952: '' Türme des Schweigens'' a.k.a. ''Towers of Silence'' (director; scriptwriter)

Personal life

He was married to German actress

Gisela Uhlen Gisela Uhlen (16 May 1919 – 16 January 2007) was a German film actress and occasional screen writer. Biography Uhlen was born Gisela Friedlinde Schreck (German national library entry) in Leipzig, Germany as fourth child of Luise Frieda a ...

. Bertram died on 8 January 1993 in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, Germany.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bertram, Hans 1906 births 1993 deaths Film people from North Rhine-Westphalia Sturmabteilung personnel German World War II pilots German prisoners of war in World War II World War II prisoners of war held by Australia German male screenwriters Shot-down aviators People from Remscheid German Nazi propagandists German propaganda film directors