Michael Tschesno-Hell (17 February 1902 – 24 February 1980) was a screenwriter and cultural official of the

Deutsche Demokratische Republik East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

Life

Born in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

, Hell came from an impoverished Jewish petit bourgeois family that had emigrated to Germany after the First World War. He joined communist associations in his youth. He later studied law at the universities of Jena and Leipzig and in 1922 joined the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (, ; KPD ) was a major Far-left politics, far-left political party in the Weimar Republic during the interwar period, German resistance to Nazism, underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and minor party ...

(KPD). During the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

, Hell worked for various communist newspapers, as a translator and as a factory and farm worker. After the ''

Machtergreifung The rise to power of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919, when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He quickly rose t ...

'' by the Nazis, he fled with his wife to France and later via the Netherlands to Switzerland, where he lived until 1945. Here he became, together with

Stephan Hermlin Stephan Hermlin (; 13 April 1915 – 6 April 1997), real name ''Rudolf Leder,'' was a German author. He wrote, among other things, stories, essays, translations, and lyric poetry and was one of the more well-known authors of former East Germany. ...

and

Hans Mayer Hans Mayer (pseudonym: Martin Seiler; 19 March 1907, Cologne – 19 May 2001, Tübingen) was a German literary scholar. Mayer was also a jurist and social researcher and was internationally recognized as a critic, author and musicologist. Life ...

publisher of the publication ''Über die Grenzen''. At the end of the war, he returned to the

Soviet Occupation Zone The Soviet occupation zone in Germany ( or , ; ) was an area of Germany that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a communist area, established as a result of the Potsdam Agreement on 2 August 1945. On 7 October 1949 the German Democratic Republ ...

and was appointed vice-president of the "Central Administration for Resettlers" in 1945. In 1947, Hell was appointed head of the newly founded ' in East Berlin, which he himself had co-founded. From 1950, Hell, who had been a member of the

Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (, ; SED, ) was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) from the country's foundation in 1949 until its dissolution after the Peaceful Revolution in 1989. It was a Mar ...

(SED) since 1946, worked as a writer and scriptwriter and also lived in the so-called "Intelligenzsiedlung" in , which includes . The basic attitude of Tschesno-Hell's works was thereby the glorification of the Soviet Union and the Red Army as well as the heroisation of the communist movement and of functionaries of the KPD, such as

Karl Liebknecht Karl Paul August Friedrich Liebknecht (; ; 13 August 1871 – 15 January 1919) was a German politician and revolutionary socialist. A leader of the far-left wing of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Liebknecht was a co-founder of both ...

and

Ernst Thälmann Ernst Johannes Fritz Thälmann (; 16 April 1886 – 18 August 1944) was a German communist politician and leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) from 1925 to 1933. A committed communist, Thälmann sought to overthrow the liberal democr ...

. Between 1967 and 1972, Tschesno-Hell was president of the Association of Film and Television Workers of the GDR. He was a member of the board of the GDR Writers' Association. Tschesno-Hell was the recipient of numerous high state awards. These include the

National Prize of the GDR The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) () was an award of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, and other meritorious achievement. With scientific achievem ...

, which he received in 1954, 1957 and 1966. In 1962, he was awarded the

Banner of Labor The Banner of Labor () was an order issued in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was given for "excellent and long-standing service in strengthening and consolidating the GDR, especially for achieving outstanding results for the national ec ...

order, in 1969, the

Patriotic Order of Merit The Patriotic Order of Merit (German: ''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'', or VVO) was a national award granted annually in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was founded in 1954 and was awarded to individuals and institutions for outstanding ...

in gold, in 1972, the

Star of People's Friendship The Star of Peoples' Friendship (), Star of Nations' Friendship, was an order awarded by the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Established 20 August 1959, it was given to individuals of exceptional merit who had contributed to the "understandi ...

, in 1977, the

Karl Marx Order The Order of Karl Marx () was the most important Order (distinction), order in the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR). The award of the order also included a prize of 20,000 East German marks. The order was founded on May 5, 1953 on ...

and in 1979 the . Tschesno-Hell was married to the illustrator

Ingeborg Meyer-Rey Ingeborg Meyer-Rey (also Ingeborg Meyer-Tschesno: 14 December 1920 – 4 April 2001) was a German illustrator. She was one of the best known illustrators of children's books in the German Democratic Republic. Life Ingeborg Meyer-Rey was born in ...

from 1951 to 1954. Mit seiner langjährigen Ehefrau Ursula Tschesno-Hell schrieb er gemeinsam an Drehbüchern, darunter ''Die Mutter und das Schweigen''. Tschesno-Hell died in East-Berlin at the age of 78. His urn was buried in the ''Pergolenweg'' grave of the at the Berlin

Zentralfriedhof Friedrichsfelde The Friedrichsfelde Central Cemetery () is a cemetery in the borough of Lichtenberg in Berlin. It was the cemetery used for many of Berlin's Socialists, Communists, and anti-fascist fighters. History When the cemetery was founded in 1881 it ...

. His written legacy can be found in the archives of 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 ...

Scripts and scenarios

* 1954: '' Ernst Thälmann – Sohn seiner Klasse'' * 1955: '' Ernst Thälmann – Führer seiner Klasse'' * 1956: ''

The Captain from Cologne ''The Captain from Cologne'' () is an East Germany, East German film directed by Slatan Dudow. It was released in 1956. Cast * Rolf Ludwig as Albert Hauptmann * Erwin Geschonneck as Hans Karjanke * Else Wolz as Adele * Christel Bodenstein as Ha ...

'' * 1965: ''Die Mutter und das Schweigen'' * 1965: ''

Solange Leben in mir ist Solange Leben in mir ist (English: As Long As There's Life in Me) is a 1965 German biopic from the East German state-owned DEFA studios and director Günter Reisch following the life of the German communist leader Karl Liebknecht during the first ...

'' * 1969: ''Der Maler mit dem Stern'' * 1972: ''Trotz alledem!''

References

External links

* * *
Nachlass Bundesarchiv NY 4219
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tschesnohell, Michael 20th-century German writers Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in gold Recipients of the Banner of Labor Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany 1902 births 1980 deaths Jewish writers from Vilnius

Life

Scripts and scenarios

Further reading

References

External links