F. W. Murnau - Early Years

Early Years

Although born in Bielefeld, Province of Westphalia, Murnau was raised in Kassel from the time he was seven. He had two brothers, Bernhard and Robert, and two stepsisters, Ida and Anna. Murnau's mother Otilie Volbracht was the second wife of his father Heinrich Plumpe, the owner of a cloth-factory in the north-western part of Germany. Their villa was often turned into a stage for little plays, directed by Murnau, who already read books of Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Shakespeare and Ibsen plays at the age of 12. He took the name "Murnau" from the town in Germany named Murnau am Staffelsee. Openly gay, the 6'11 (210 cm) director was said to have an icy, imperious disposition and an obsession with film.

Murnau studied philology at the University in Berlin and later art-history and literature in Heidelberg, where director Max Reinhardt saw him at a students' performance and decided to invite him to his actor-school. He soon became friends with Franz Marc, Else Lasker-Schüler and Hans Ehrenbaum-Degele. But after World War I broke out Murnau had to serve as a company commander at the eastern front. Murnau joined the German air force in northern France two years later and survived eight crashes without severe injuries. He returned to his home country after an internment in Switzerland, where he won a prize for the best production-concept.