Hainer Hill

Hainer Hill (born Heinrich Hill; 28 July 1913 – 20 August 2001) was a German scenic designer, costume designer, painter, graphic artist and theatre photographer who was based in Berlin and worked internationally. After studies in Frankfurt to become a painter, he worked at the Oper Frankfurt, assisting Caspar Neher. Both moved on to Brecht's Berliner Ensemble, where Hill created an iconic stage for Mutter Courage, and took hundreds of scene photographs which are now held by the archive of the Akademie der Künste. When the Berlin Wall was built, Hill, who lived in the West and had worked in the East, began to work freelance, including at the Royal Opera House. He took the opportunity of the 1966 Opernhaus Dortmund to become director of scenery (Ausstattunggsleiter) there, creating the stage for the world premiere of Eli by Walter Steffens there, among 45 productions. He is remembered for his focus on lighting projection.

Hainer Hill
Hainer Hill at work, c. 1956
Born
Heinrich Hill

(1913-07-28)28 July 1913
Eberstadt
Died20 August 2001(2001-08-20) (aged 88)
Karlsruhe, Germany
EducationStädel'sche Kunstschule
Occupation
  • Scenic designer
  • Costume designer
  • Painter
  • Graphic artist
  • Theatre photographer
Organization

Life and work

1913–1945

Born in Eberstadt (now part of Darmstadt), he was called Hainer early. His mother was a tailor and his father a decoration painter. After elementary school, Hill learned the craft of house painting from 1927. Simultaneously, he took a course in decoration painting at the Städtischen Gewerbeschule in Darmstadt.[1] He continued his education at the Staatsschule für Kunst und Handwerk in Mainz from 1931, in the class for Freie und angewandte Malerei with Richard Throll, pursuing to become a painter. He received his diploma in May 1935.[1] During his study years, he created many watercolours, drawings, and oil paintings. He then worked as an assistant to Ludwig Sievert, the chief scenic designer at the Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt.[2]:11–12 In Dezember 1935, he began studies on a scholarship at the Städel'sche Kunstschule, where he was master student (Meisterschüler) of Franz Karl Delavilla,[1] a former scenic designer at the Hessisches Landestheater Darmstadt who taught free graphic art.[2]:12–13 Hill's focus became the use of lighting, and its influence on the space on stage and its relation to the dynamic of music. At the Oper Frankfurt, he met the designer Caspar Neher, and made projections realising Neher's ideas,[1][2]:17–21[1] for projects in Frankfurt, later also in Berlin, Darmstadt, Hamburg, Glyndebourne, Berlin and Vienna, for 34 productions between 1936 to 1951.[2]:21–25

1945–1961

After World War II, Hill worked as scenic designer at the Städtische Bühnen Gera and then at the Schauspiel Leipzig, where he met Bertolt Brecht in 1950. He followed him to Berlin, working from until 1953 as scenic designer and asssistant director, with Brecht, Therese Giehse, Benno Besson and Egon Monk. He introduced the technique of projections, which impressed the critic Friedrich Luft and the playwright Heiner Müller.[2]:28–32 He also turned to Theatre Photography, producing hundreds of photographs of scenes from plays such as Mutter Courage, Urfaust, Dom Juan, Die Gewehre der Frau Carrar, Der Kaukasische Kreidekreis.[2]:32–34 He worked as a guest at the Schillertheater, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Hamburg State Opera and again in Frankfurt. From 1953, he was chief scenic, light and costumes designer (Ausstattungsleiter) at the Staatsoper Berlin, which then played at the Admiralspalast. He moved to West-Berlin in 1954, which made later international work possible. When the opera house Unter den Linden was reopened, he designed the stage for Alban Berg's Wozzeck, played on 14 December 1955, conducted by Johannes Schüler and staged by Werner Kelch, which became an unexpected success.[2]:42–51 He created designs for Elektra by Richard Strauss, Gluck's Orpheus und Eurydike, Borodin's Fürst Igor, Egk's Der Revisor, Jean Kurt Forest's Tai Yang erwacht and Mussorgski's Chowanschtschina.[2]:42–51 In 1959, Hill held a Master class for projection painting at the Bayreuth Festival. He designed the set for the first scenic presentation of Bach's St Matthew Passion in Europe at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, condcted by Hermann Scherchen[2]:51–52

1961–2001

The building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 meant a break in his career. As all positions in West Berlin were taken, he began to work freelance in the world, carrying a mobile workshop. In 1961 he designed for Wagner Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma,[3] well received by the press.[2]:52–53 In 1962 he was a guest at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, and received a contract the following year. He created, beginning with Tchaikovsky' Pique Dame, scenes for 27 plays and operas. In 1963, he designed stage and costumes for Wagner's Lohengrin at the Royal Opera House in London, conducted by Otto Klemperer, with Sandor Konya in the title role and Régine Crespin as Elsa.[4] In 1966 when the new Opernhaus Dortmund opened, he designed the stage for Hindemith's Mathis der Maler, with Howard Vandenburg in the title role and Yvonne Ciannella as his daughter Regina.[5] He remained at the house from 1967 to 1976 as Ausstattungsleiter and Erster Bühnenbildner, working with conductors Wilhelm Schüchter, Werner Egk, Hans Wallat and Marek Janowski, and directors Hans Hartleb, Paul Hager, Jan Biczycki and Karl Paryla. Among his 45 projects there, he designed the stage for the world premiere of Eli by Walter Steffens.[2]:54–61[6] He designed stage and costumes for Shakespeare's Ein Sommernachtstraum,[7] Puccini's La Bohème[8] and Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel in 1967.[9] In 1968, he designed for Der Frieden[10] by Aristophanes, Lohengrin,[11] and Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex coupled with his ballet Der Feuervogel.[12] His last major project was a collaboration with Harry Buckwitz in 1977 at the Schauspielhaus Zürich Schweyk im Zweiten Weltkrieg, with Helmut Lohner and Christiane Hörbiger in the leading roles. He then turned to designs and drawings.[2]:54–61

Hill died on 20 August 2001 in Karlsruhe. His grave stone shows his motto: "Die Seele des Bühnenraums ist das Licht. Es gibt der Phantasie des Betrachters die notwendige Orientierung." ("The lighting is the soul of the stage. From it, the imagination of the audience gets the orientation it needs.") His estate is held at three locations, by Deutsches Theatermuseum, in the Generallandesarchiv Karlsruhe, and in the Bertolt-Brecht-Archiv der Akademie der Künste, especially his photographs of Brecht's performances with the Berliner Ensemble<.[13]

Further reading
  • Die Gewehre der Frau Carrar: Mit 22 Fotos aus der Aufführung des Berliner Ensemble (in German), Berlin: Aufbau-Verlag, 1961
  • Käthe Flamm (1974), Kulturamt der Stadt Dortmund (ed.), "Hainer Hill, der Bühnenbildner", Hier. Dortmunder Kulturarbeit. Rückblick (in German), Dortmund: Wulff & Co. (31 oder 32), pp. 22–25
  • Ingvelde Geleng (1974), Kulturamt der Stadt Dortmund (ed.), "Meister der Projektion. Hainer Hills Beitrag zum zeitgenössischen Bühnenbild", Hier. Dortmunder Kulturarbeit. Rückblick (in German), Dortmund: Wulff & Co. (31 oder 32), pp. 26–28
  • Lothar Schirmer, Dirk Praller (2005), Thomas Lindemann (ed.), Bühnen-Bilder. Hainer Hill und die Kunst der Projektion, Lindemanns Bibliothek 26 (in German), Karlsruhe: Info Verlag, ISBN 3-88190-415-8
  • Lothar Schirmer (1998), Museumspädagogischer Dienst Berlin (ed.), "Bertolt Brecht und Caspar Neher", Museumsjournal. Berichte aus Museen, Schlössern und Sammlungen in Berlin und Potsdam, Berliner Museen (in German), Berlin, 6. Folge (I), pp. 35–36, ISSN 0933-0593
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References
  1. Tretow, Christine; Gier, Helmut (2013). Caspar Neher — Der größte Bühnenbauer unserer Zeit (in German). Springer-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-32-283300-6.
  2. Schirmer, Lothar; Praller, Dirk (2005). Lindemann, Thomas (ed.). Bühnen-Bilder. Hainer Hill und die Kunst der Projektion. Lindemanns Bibliothek 26 (in German). Karlsruhe: Info Verlag.
  3. "Hainer Hill]". archiviostorico.operaroma.it (in Italian). Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  4. "Lohengrin". Royal Opera House. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  5. Mathis der Maler (in German). Oper Dortmund. 1968.
  6. Steffens, Walter. "Werke / Works". walter-steffens.de. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  7. Ein Sommernachtstraum (in German). Schauspiel Dortmund. 1967.
  8. La Bohème (in German). Oper Dortmund. 1967.
  9. Hänsel und Gretel (in German). Oper Dortmund. 1967.
  10. Der Frieden (in German). Schauspiel Dortmund. 1968.
  11. Lohengrin (in German). Oper Dortmund. 1968.
  12. Oedipus Rex / Der Feuervogel (in German). Oper Dortmund. 1968.
  13. "Digitising the Modellbücher ('model books') and the Hainer Hill Photo Archive in the Bertolt Brecht Archive" (in German). Akademie der Künste. 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2002.
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