German actor Ernst Hofmann (1890-1944) was one of the most attractive actors of the German silent cinema in the 1910s. He was the producer and star of Der Knabe in Blau/Emerald of Death (1918), the first film by legendary director Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau.
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 422. Photo: Lili Baruch, Berlin.
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 551. Photo: Memelsdorf.
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, no. 254.
German postcard by Verlag W.J. Mörlins / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 9007/3. Photo: Karl Schenker.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 30/2. Photo: Ufa. Ossi Oswalda and Ernst Hofmann in Blitzzug der Liebe/The Cupid Express (Johannes Guter, 1925).
Ernst Hofmann was born as Ernst Carl Heinrich Hofmann von Schönholtz in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Polen) in 1890.
In 1910-1911 he studied art history, and Germanistik und Neue Sprachen (Germanistics and new languages) at the Universität Berlin (University of Berlin). At the same time, he took acting classes at the drama school of the Deutschen Theater (German Theatre).
Hofmann made his stage debut in 1911 and performed at the Kleinen Theater (Little Theater), the Kammerspielen (Chamber Theatre) and the Kleinen Schauspielhaus (Little Theater). As Moritz Stiefel in the play 'Frühlings Erwachen' (Spring Awakening) by Franz Wedekind, he celebrated his first major success.
At the Deutsches Theater, he shared the stage with Conrad Veidt and the later director Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau.
German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 543/2. Photo: Hella-Moja-Film. Hella Moja in Nur ein Schmetterling/Only a Butterfly (Iwa Raffay, 1918).The man sitting is Ernst Hofmann.
German postcard in the Film Sterne Series by Rotophot, no. 560/2. Photo: Eiko Film. Publicity still for Wo ein Wille, ist ein Weg (Hubert Moest, 1918) with Hedda Vernon and right, back, Ernst Hofmann.
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2649. Photo: Neutral-Film. Ernst Hofmann in Der Adler von Flandern/The Eagle of Flanders, released as Ikarus, der fliegende Mensch/Icarus, the Flying Man (Carl Froehlich, 1919).
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2650. Photo: Neutral-Film. Ernst Hofmann in Der Adler von Flandern/The Eagle of Flanders, released as Ikarus, der fliegende Mensch/Icarus, the Flying Man (Carl Froehlich, 1919).
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2789. Photo: Atelier Mac Walten, Berlin.
Ernst Hofmann then became primarily a film actor. Max Reinhardt gave him his first film role in 1913. His film debut was as the dreamy young boy in Die Insel der Seligen/Island of the Blessed (Max Reinhardt, 1913).
Then he appeared opposite the greatest German film stars of this period, Henny Porten, in the film Komtesse Ursel/Countess Ursel (Curt A. Stark, 1913), and Asta Nielsen in Das Feuer/The Fire (Urban Gad, 1914).
From 1914, he served for two years in the First World War as a reserve officer with the Field Artillery.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 273/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 332/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 332/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 332/4, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 332/5, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass.
In 1916 Ernst Hofmann returned before the cameras and enjoyed several years of considerable popularity as a women's idol. New partners were such stars as Pola Negri in Rosen, die der Sturm entblättert/Roses Stripped by the Storm (Kurt Matull, 1917) and Die toten Augen/The Dead Eyes (Otto Jäger, 1917).
He also appeared in the war film Das Tagebuch des Dr. Hart/Dr. Hart's Diary (Paul Leni, 1917) starring Heinrich Schroth, Käthe Haack and Dagny Servaes. The film depicts a German field hospital in occupied Russian Poland during the ongoing First World War. The film was created as part of a major effort to propagandise the German-Polish friendship that led to the re-establishment of Poland by German forces in late 1916. It was produced by Paul Davidson's PAGU in association with the propaganda agency BUFA. Shortly afterwards, hoping to produce several similar films, the German government founded UFA which PAGU merged into.
In 1919 he produced Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's first film Der Knabe in Blau/Emerald of Death (1919) and played the lead. Thomas Gainsborough's painting 'The Blue Boy' and Oscar Wilde's novel 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' were inspirations for the film. F.W. Murnau once stated that he didn't know if the film was released. The film is now considered to be a lost film, though the Deutsche Kinemathek film archive possesses 35 small fragments ranging from two to eleven frames in length.
Ernst Hofmann acted again opposite Henny Porten in the comedy Gräfin Küchenfee/Countess Kitchenmaid (Rudolf Biebrach, 1918). While her mistress is away on an adulterous adventure, a young maid (Porten) takes her place to convince a visiting dignitary that she is there with the other servants impersonating aristocrats.
A box-office hit was Satanas (Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, 1919) with Fritz Kortner. Robert Wiene probably had more control over the film than Murnau did, since he wrote the screenplay. Only a brief fragment of the film has survived. Another huge success was the serial Herrin der Welt/Queen of the World (Joe May, 1920) starring Mia May. Joe May produced Herrin der Welt/Queen of the World as a serial film. Herrin der Welt/Queen of the World is noted for bringing together talent from across German cinema, including many who would work behind the camera during the emergence of German Expressionist cinema.
German postcard by Verlag Ross, Berlin, no. 439/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Nicola Perscheid, Berlin.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 439/3, 1919-1924. Photo: Nicola Perscheid, Berlin.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 484/4, 1919-1924. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 582/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.
German postcard by Verlag Ross, Berlin, no. 582/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Alex Binder.
Ernst Hofmann became a very busy actor in the 1920s and he took part in many well-known productions. In the Sci-Fi morality tale Algol/Algol: Tragedy of Power (Hans Werckmeister, 1920), he acted opposite Emil Jannings
His best-known films of this decade include the historical drama Marie Antoinette - Das Leben einer Königin/Marie Antoinette - The Life of a Queen (Rudolf Meinert, 1922) starring diva Diana Karenne, and Lydia Sanin (Friedrich Zelnik, 1922) starring Lya Mara.
He also appeared in Die keusche Susanne/The Innocent Susanne (Richard Eichberg, 1926) with Lilian Harvey, and Moral (Willi Wolff, 1928).
When the sound film arrived he finished his film career. He only appeared again in two films Gefahren der Liebe/A Woman Branded (Eugen Thiele, 1931) and Spiel mit dem Feuer/Playing with Fire (Ralph Arthur Roberts, 1934) starring Paul Hörbiger.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 974/2, 1925-1926. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1138/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1379/1, 1927-1928. Photo: A. Binder, Berlin. Ross produced several cards with these small 'framed' oval photos and autographed messages from the actor, usually related to art, or some witticism.
Also on the stage, Ernst Hofmann was seen only rarely during the 1930s.
Under his real name Ernst Hofmann von Schönholtz, he published several light novels and crime stories. He also provided articles for newspapers such as Der Tag (The Day).
Ernst Hofmann died in 1944 in Potsdam, during the battle for Berlin. (According to IMDb and Wikipedia he died in 1945).
His wife, Hedda Kemp was also an actress. She appeared in several films with her husband such as Der Knabe in Blau/Emerald of Death (F.W. Murnau, 1919), for which she wrote the screenplay under the pseudonym Edda Ottershausen.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1756/3, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3359/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Suse Byk, Berlin.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3359/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Suse Byk, Berlin.
Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Filmportal.de, Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.
This post was last updated on 12 October 2024.
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 422. Photo: Lili Baruch, Berlin.
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 551. Photo: Memelsdorf.
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, no. 254.
German postcard by Verlag W.J. Mörlins / Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 9007/3. Photo: Karl Schenker.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 30/2. Photo: Ufa. Ossi Oswalda and Ernst Hofmann in Blitzzug der Liebe/The Cupid Express (Johannes Guter, 1925).
First major success
Ernst Hofmann was born as Ernst Carl Heinrich Hofmann von Schönholtz in Breslau, Germany (now Wrocław, Polen) in 1890.
In 1910-1911 he studied art history, and Germanistik und Neue Sprachen (Germanistics and new languages) at the Universität Berlin (University of Berlin). At the same time, he took acting classes at the drama school of the Deutschen Theater (German Theatre).
Hofmann made his stage debut in 1911 and performed at the Kleinen Theater (Little Theater), the Kammerspielen (Chamber Theatre) and the Kleinen Schauspielhaus (Little Theater). As Moritz Stiefel in the play 'Frühlings Erwachen' (Spring Awakening) by Franz Wedekind, he celebrated his first major success.
At the Deutsches Theater, he shared the stage with Conrad Veidt and the later director Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau.
German postcard by Rotophot in the Film Sterne series, no. 543/2. Photo: Hella-Moja-Film. Hella Moja in Nur ein Schmetterling/Only a Butterfly (Iwa Raffay, 1918).The man sitting is Ernst Hofmann.
German postcard in the Film Sterne Series by Rotophot, no. 560/2. Photo: Eiko Film. Publicity still for Wo ein Wille, ist ein Weg (Hubert Moest, 1918) with Hedda Vernon and right, back, Ernst Hofmann.
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2649. Photo: Neutral-Film. Ernst Hofmann in Der Adler von Flandern/The Eagle of Flanders, released as Ikarus, der fliegende Mensch/Icarus, the Flying Man (Carl Froehlich, 1919).
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2650. Photo: Neutral-Film. Ernst Hofmann in Der Adler von Flandern/The Eagle of Flanders, released as Ikarus, der fliegende Mensch/Icarus, the Flying Man (Carl Froehlich, 1919).
German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2789. Photo: Atelier Mac Walten, Berlin.
Dreamy young boy
Ernst Hofmann then became primarily a film actor. Max Reinhardt gave him his first film role in 1913. His film debut was as the dreamy young boy in Die Insel der Seligen/Island of the Blessed (Max Reinhardt, 1913).
Then he appeared opposite the greatest German film stars of this period, Henny Porten, in the film Komtesse Ursel/Countess Ursel (Curt A. Stark, 1913), and Asta Nielsen in Das Feuer/The Fire (Urban Gad, 1914).
From 1914, he served for two years in the First World War as a reserve officer with the Field Artillery.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 273/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 332/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 332/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 332/4, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 332/5, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass.
A women's idol
In 1916 Ernst Hofmann returned before the cameras and enjoyed several years of considerable popularity as a women's idol. New partners were such stars as Pola Negri in Rosen, die der Sturm entblättert/Roses Stripped by the Storm (Kurt Matull, 1917) and Die toten Augen/The Dead Eyes (Otto Jäger, 1917).
He also appeared in the war film Das Tagebuch des Dr. Hart/Dr. Hart's Diary (Paul Leni, 1917) starring Heinrich Schroth, Käthe Haack and Dagny Servaes. The film depicts a German field hospital in occupied Russian Poland during the ongoing First World War. The film was created as part of a major effort to propagandise the German-Polish friendship that led to the re-establishment of Poland by German forces in late 1916. It was produced by Paul Davidson's PAGU in association with the propaganda agency BUFA. Shortly afterwards, hoping to produce several similar films, the German government founded UFA which PAGU merged into.
In 1919 he produced Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's first film Der Knabe in Blau/Emerald of Death (1919) and played the lead. Thomas Gainsborough's painting 'The Blue Boy' and Oscar Wilde's novel 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' were inspirations for the film. F.W. Murnau once stated that he didn't know if the film was released. The film is now considered to be a lost film, though the Deutsche Kinemathek film archive possesses 35 small fragments ranging from two to eleven frames in length.
Ernst Hofmann acted again opposite Henny Porten in the comedy Gräfin Küchenfee/Countess Kitchenmaid (Rudolf Biebrach, 1918). While her mistress is away on an adulterous adventure, a young maid (Porten) takes her place to convince a visiting dignitary that she is there with the other servants impersonating aristocrats.
A box-office hit was Satanas (Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau, 1919) with Fritz Kortner. Robert Wiene probably had more control over the film than Murnau did, since he wrote the screenplay. Only a brief fragment of the film has survived. Another huge success was the serial Herrin der Welt/Queen of the World (Joe May, 1920) starring Mia May. Joe May produced Herrin der Welt/Queen of the World as a serial film. Herrin der Welt/Queen of the World is noted for bringing together talent from across German cinema, including many who would work behind the camera during the emergence of German Expressionist cinema.
German postcard by Verlag Ross, Berlin, no. 439/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Nicola Perscheid, Berlin.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 439/3, 1919-1924. Photo: Nicola Perscheid, Berlin.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 484/4, 1919-1924. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 582/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.
German postcard by Verlag Ross, Berlin, no. 582/2, 1919-1924. Photo: Alex Binder.
Playing with fire
Ernst Hofmann became a very busy actor in the 1920s and he took part in many well-known productions. In the Sci-Fi morality tale Algol/Algol: Tragedy of Power (Hans Werckmeister, 1920), he acted opposite Emil Jannings
His best-known films of this decade include the historical drama Marie Antoinette - Das Leben einer Königin/Marie Antoinette - The Life of a Queen (Rudolf Meinert, 1922) starring diva Diana Karenne, and Lydia Sanin (Friedrich Zelnik, 1922) starring Lya Mara.
He also appeared in Die keusche Susanne/The Innocent Susanne (Richard Eichberg, 1926) with Lilian Harvey, and Moral (Willi Wolff, 1928).
When the sound film arrived he finished his film career. He only appeared again in two films Gefahren der Liebe/A Woman Branded (Eugen Thiele, 1931) and Spiel mit dem Feuer/Playing with Fire (Ralph Arthur Roberts, 1934) starring Paul Hörbiger.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 974/2, 1925-1926. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1138/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1379/1, 1927-1928. Photo: A. Binder, Berlin. Ross produced several cards with these small 'framed' oval photos and autographed messages from the actor, usually related to art, or some witticism.
Light novels and crime stories
Under his real name Ernst Hofmann von Schönholtz, he published several light novels and crime stories. He also provided articles for newspapers such as Der Tag (The Day).
Ernst Hofmann died in 1944 in Potsdam, during the battle for Berlin. (According to IMDb and Wikipedia he died in 1945).
His wife, Hedda Kemp was also an actress. She appeared in several films with her husband such as Der Knabe in Blau/Emerald of Death (F.W. Murnau, 1919), for which she wrote the screenplay under the pseudonym Edda Ottershausen.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1756/3, 1927-1928. Photo: Alex Binder, Berlin.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3359/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Suse Byk, Berlin.
German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3359/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Suse Byk, Berlin.
Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Filmportal.de, Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.
This post was last updated on 12 October 2024.
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