SPRING/SUMMER 2014 - boersenblatt.net

Horst von Harbou
Metropolis
Fritz Lang’s Metropolis from 1927 is the undisputed prototype of science fiction films in the twentieth century. A
collection of images by the still photographer Horst von Harbou, bequeathed by Brigitte Helm who had appeared in the
film as a seventeen-year-old, has re-emerged at an auction in Berlin in late 2010. Edition 7L Paris, the new owner of
the originals, has now printed an identical facsimile of the original album which was once given to Brigitte Helm as a
souvenir by von Harbou and his wife.
Metropolis displays the photographs and some of their reverse sides which feature hand-written notes. The images
exclusively show scenes from the film during its making and off-camera action and mainly feature the young actress. They
not only offer a rare insight into Lang’s film but have been crucial in reconstructing missing scenes from it.
Horst von Harbou was born in 1879 in Hutta, Posen, and died in 1953 in Potsdam-Babelsberg. Very little is known about
von Harbou, except for the films on which he worked as a still photographer: these include Mensch ohne Namen (1932),
Starke Herzen im Sturm (1937) and Augen der Liebe (1951).
Horst von Harbou
Metropolis
Book design by Karl Lagerfeld and Gerhard Steidl
88 pages
9.1 × 6.7 in. / 23 × 17 cm
35 photographs
Four-color process
Clothbound hardcover photo album
€ 38.00 / £ 32.00 / US$ 48.00
ISBN 978-3-86930-369-7
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