German postcard by Verlag Julius Bard, Berlin / Generalvertrieb Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 20. Hans Wassmann in the play 'Viel Lärm um Nichts', a German version of William Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing'. Caption: Offizielle Ausgabe des deutschen Theaters zu Berlin.
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 8667. Photo: Dührkoop. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.
In the section of grave gentlemen of the world and respected men of power
Hans Wassmann was born in 1873 in Berlin as the son of a rentier. He had commercial training after leaving school (Gymnasium) and worked for a year in the grain and commission business. At the age of 19, he made a career change, was trained by Arthur Vollmer and went to the stage.
Wassmann made his debut in Gera in 1892 with the tiny role of a recruit in the play 'Wallenstein's Camp'. After stints in Hanau (1893/94), Elberfeld (1894/95) and Freiburg im Breisgau (1895/96), he came to Berlin in 1896 for a two-year engagement at the Deutsches Theater. In 1898, he moved to the New Theatre.
In the autumn of 1901, he returned to the Deutsches Theater, later directed by Max Reinhardt. In 1903, he toured with the Kleines Theater. Wassmann's early role subject was that of the bon vivant, nature boy and youthful character actor.
In later life, the compact Berliner with the massive skull and the wart between his eyes grew into the section of grave gentlemen of the world and respected men of power, but he also repeatedly proved his considerable talent for comedy and received much praise for his portrayal of dull, limited characters. His best-known late stage roles include his Baron in 'Nachtasyl', his Junker Bleichenwang in 'Was ihr wollt' (As You Like It) and the Mopsus in 'Das Wintermärchen'.
In films during the Weimar Republic, the extremely popular mime played a wealth of supporting roles in farces such as the mayors in 'Schützenfest in Schilda' and 'Die Schlacht von Bademünde' or the admiral in 'Der Herr Bürovorsteher'. In other comedy plays, he was even given the leading role: for example, he was the mayor Eusebius Müller in 'Vater geht auf Reisen' and the financially strapped owner of a baby equipment shop in the comedy 'Der Storch streikt'.
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 705. Photo: Fritz Richard. Hans Wassmann as the jester Probstein in 'Wie es Euch gefällt' (As You Like It) by William Shakespeare.
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 20. Photo: Atelier Dührkoop. Hans Wassmann in the play 'Was Ihr wollt', a German version of William Shakespeare's 'As You Like It'.
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 4151. Photo: Zander & Labisch. Hans Wassmann in the play 'Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung' (The Taming of the Shrew) by William Shakespeare. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.
German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 7123. Hans Waßmann as the innkeeper in the play 'Minna von Barnhelm' by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing.
Supporting parts in 50 German films
Between 1914 and his death in 1932, Hans Wassmann played in 50 German films, mostly in supporting parts. He started at Deutsche Bioscop in 1914 in Stellan Rye's comedy Bedingung - kein Anhang!, where he had Ernst Lubitsch and Albert Paulig as his co-actors.
A first lead he had in the comedy Hans und Hanni (Max Mack, 1916), with Hanni Weisse. While continuing in comedy, Wassmann also acted in dramas such as Lola Montez (Robert Heymann, 1918), starring Leopoldine Konstantin.
In the 1920s, Wassmann appeared with many of the German film stars of the era. He acted opposite Asta Nielsen in Die Tänzerin Navarro / The Dancer Navarro (Ludwig Wolff, 1922), Der Absturz / Downfall (Ludwig Wolff, 1923) and Das gefährliche Alter / That Dangerous Age (Eugen Illés, 1927). Other co-stars were Ada Svedin (Miss Venus, Ludwig Czerny, 1921), Henny Porten (Sie und die Drei, Ewald André Dupont, 1922), and Mady Christians in Ein Glas Wasser / A Glass of Water (Ludwig Berger, 1923), and Königin Luise, II / Queen Louise (Karl Grune, 1928).
His other films included Fridericus Rex (1921-1922) starring Otto Gebühr, Nanon (Hanns Schwarz, 1924) with Ágnes Eszterházy, and Garragan (Ludwig Wolff, 1924), starring American actress Carmel Myers. Wassmann also acted with Lilian Harvey in the comedy Die keusche Susanna / Chaste Susanne (Richard Eichberg, 1926), Maria Corda in Eine Dubarry von heute / A Modern Dubarry (Alexander Korda, 1926), Rudolf Rittner in the historical comedy Der Meister von Nürnberg / The Master of Nuremberg (Ludwig Berger, 1927), and Lya Mara in Das tanzende Wien / Dancing Vienna (Friedrich Zelnik, 1927).
In the early 1930s, Hans Wassmann still played several minor parts in German early sound films such as Meine Frau, die Hochstaplerin / My Wife, the Impostor (Kurt Gerron, 1931) with Käthe von Nagy. In 1904, Wassmann married the actress Clara Kollendt. He died in 1932 as a result of a stroke, which he suffered during a film rehearsal in Neubabelsberg. He found his final resting place at the Südwestkirchhof Stahnsdorf. Hans Wassmann was 59.
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