Leopold Jessner
Leopold Jessner (3 March 1878 – 13 December 1945) was a noted producer and director of German Expressionist theater and cinema. His first film, Hintertreppe (1921), is considered a major turning point which paved the way for the later German Expressionist experiments of German filmmakers F.W. Murnau, Fritz Lang, and G.W. A native of Königsberg, Jessner was a touring actor in his youth and turned to directing in 1911. He was director of the Berlin State Theater from 1919 to 1925 and was known for bare stages in which flights of steps served as different spaces for scenes and directing actors to act in an oversimplified, unnatural manner.
Leopold Jessner
- Born
- 3 March 1878
- Died
- 13 December 1945
- Occupation
- Producer and director
- Nationality
- Germany · German Empire · Weimar Republic
- Languages
- German
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Leopold Jessner (3 March 1878 – 13 December 1945) was a noted producer and director of German Expressionist theater and cinema. His first film, Hintertreppe (1921), is considered a major turning point which paved the way for the later German Expressionist experiments of German filmmakers F.W. Murnau, Fritz Lang, and G.W. A native of Königsberg, Jessner was a touring actor in his youth and turned to directing in 1911. He was director of the Berlin State Theater from 1919 to 1925 and was known for bare stages in which flights of steps served as different spaces for scenes and directing actors to act in an oversimplified, unnatural manner.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q69217 · wikipedia · Leopold Jessner
In this article
Biography
Biography
Hintertreppe (German for Backstairs), Jessner's first film (co-directed with Paul Leni), exemplified Jessner's use of heavily stylized staircases. These staircases would become regular fixtures in later German films, nicknamed "Jessnertreppe" in Jessner's honor, and would be used to full effect in the 1926 German Expressionist film Faust, directed by F.W. As a Jew and a Socialist, he was forced to emigrate to the United States in 1933, after Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany. He worked in film anonymously in Los Angeles until his death.
Key facts
Key facts
• Born — 3 March 1878 • Died — 13 December 1945 • Occupation — Producer and director • Notable Works — Hintertreppe
Filmography
Filmography
• Hintertreppe (1921; directed with Paul Leni) • Earth Spirit (1923) • Mary Stuart (1927; directed with Friedrich Feher) • Children of the Fog (1935)
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1878
Leopold Jessner born at Königsberg.
1945
Leopold Jessner died at Hollywood.
Places
Named by the record
Places
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Königsberg.
Birth place
Hollywood.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q69217: Leopold Jessner
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Leopold Jessner”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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