Robert Wiene
Robert Wiene (lang; 27 April 1873 – 17 July 1938) was a German film director, screenwriter and producer, active during the silent era. He is widely-known for directing the landmark 1920 film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and a succession of other expressionist films.
Robert Wiene

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- Name
- Robert Wiene
- Born
- 27 April 1873
- Birthplace
- Breslau, Silesia, German Empire
- Died
- 17 July 1938
- Place of death
- Paris, France
- Occupation
- * Film director
- Nationality
- Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
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Documentary summary
Robert Wiene (lang; 27 April 1873 – 17 July 1938) was a German film director, screenwriter and producer, active during the silent era. He is widely-known for directing the landmark 1920 film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and a succession of other expressionist films.
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Note VALÉORINE
Robert Wiene (1873–1938) was an actor, director and dramaturge, among other activities, of Czechoslovak and Hungarian nationality. The actor was born in Wrocław and died in Paris. Languages used include German.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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Authority files
wikidata · Q76552 · wikipedia · Robert Wiene
In this article
Biography
Biography
Wiene worked between 1873 and 1938 across film director, screenwriter, film producer, actor and director and 1 further recorded occupations. This article rests on 2 published texts and 14 scholarly references drawn from named institutional registers. Every statement below returns to a source shown in the evidence panel; where the record is silent or divided, the article says so instead of resolving it.
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Robert Wiene • Born — 27 April 1873 • Birthplace — Breslau, Silesia, German Empire • Died — 17 July 1938 • Place of death — Paris, France • Relatives — Conrad Wiene (brother) • Occupation — * Film director • screenwriter • producer • Years Active — 1913–1938
Early life
Early life
Robert Wiene was born in Breslau, in the German Province of Silesia (now the city of Wrocław in Poland), as the elder son of the successful theatre actor Karl Wiene. His younger brother Conrad also became an actor. Wiene spent his childhood in various cities throughout Central and Western Europe, including Vienna, Stuttgart, Dresden and Prague. Prior to his directing career, Wiene had studied law at the University of Berlin and, from 1895, at the University of Vienna. He practiced law in Weimar until 1908, when he moved back to Vienna to manage a theatre company. During this time, he also acted, in small parts on the stage.
Career in Austria and Germany
Career in Austria and Germany
• Illustration — The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) His first involvement with film was in 1912, writing and (possibly) directing Die Waffen der Jugend. In 1919, he co-founded with Heinz Hanus the Filmbund (Film Union), a professional association of Austrian filmmakers and one of the first organizations of its kind in Europe. His most memorable feature films are the horror film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) and Raskolnikow (1923), an adaptation of Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, both of which had a deep influence on the German cinema of that time.
Exile and death
Exile and death
Four months after the Nazis took power, Wiene's latest film, Taifun, was banned on 3 May 1933. A Hungarian film company had been inviting German directors to come to Budapest to make films in simultaneous German/Hungarian versions, and given his uncertain career prospects under the new German regime Wiene took up that offer in September to direct "One Night in Venice" (1934). Wiene went later to London, and finally to Paris where together with Jean Cocteau he tried to produce a sound remake of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Wiene never returned to Germany, although the reason is unclear. Although one German obituary identified him as a Jew, he had identified himself as a Protestant in Viennese university and residence records from 1894 through 1925. In addition, Wiene had adapted from a novel and directed the 1923 silent religious film I.N.R.I., depicting in a conventional way the events preceding the crucifixion of Christ. Wiene died in Paris ten days before the end of production of a spy film, Ultimatum, after having suffered from cancer. The film was finished by Wiene's friend Robert Siodmak.
Selected filmography
Selected filmography
Only about 20 of the more than 90 movies in which Robert Wiene collaborated still exist:
Director
Director
• 1912 Die Waffen der Jugend (The Weapons of Youth) {probably co-director of Friedrich Müller} • 1914 Er rechts, sie links (He Right, She Left) • 1915 Die Konservenbraut (The Canned Bride) • 1915 Der springende Hirsch oder Die Diebe von Günsterburg (The Leaping Stag) (directed together with Walter Turszinsky) • 1916 Höhen und Tiefen (Highs and Lows) {Short film} • 1916 Frau Eva (Mrs. Eva) • 1916 Der Liebesbrief der Königin (The Queen's Love Letter) • 1916 Der Sekretär der Königin (The Queen's Secretary) • 1916 Das wandernde Licht (The Wandering Light) • 1916 Die Räuberbraut (The Robber Bride) • 1916 Der Mann im Spiegel (The Man in the Mirror) • 1916 Lehmanns Brautfahrt (Lehmann's Honeymoon) • 1917 Das Leben ein Traum (Life Is a Dream) • 1917 Der standhafte Benjamin (Steadfast Benjamin) • 1917 Veilchen Nr. 4 (Violet no. 4) {probably director} • 1917 Furcht (Fear) • 1920 Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) • 1920 Die drei Tänze der Mary Wilford (The Three Dances of Mary Wilford) • 1920 Genuine (Genuine) • 1920 Die Nacht der Königin Isabeau (The Night of Queen Isabeau) • 1920 Der Schrecken im Hause Ardon (Panic in the House of Ardon) • 1921 Die Rache einer Frau (A Woman's Revenge) • 1922 Die höllische Macht (The Infernal Power) • 1923 Raskolnikow (Raskolnikow) • 1923 Der Puppenmacher von Kiang-Ning (The Doll Maker of Kiang-Ning) • 1923 I.N.R.I. (I.N.R.I.) • 1924 Orlac's Hände (The Hands of Orlac) • 1924 Pension Groonen (Boarding House Groonen) • 1925 Der Leibgardist (= Der Gardeoffizier) (The Guardsman) • 1926 Der Rosenkavalier (Der Rosenkavalier) • 1926 Die Königin vom Moulin Rouge (The Queen of Moulin Rouge) • 1927 Die Geliebte (The Mistress) • 1927 Die berühmte Frau (The Famous Woman) • 1928 Die Frau auf der Folter (The Woman on the Rack) • 1928 Leontines Ehemänner (Leontine's Husbands) • 1928 Die grosse Abenteuerin (The Great Adventuress) • 1928 Unfug der Liebe (Folly of Love) • 1930 Der Andere (The Other) • 1930 Le procureur Hallers (The Prosecutor Hallers) • 1931 Nuits de Venise (co-director Pierre Billon) • 1931 Der Liebesexpress (The Love Express) • 1931 Panik in Chicago (Panic in Chicago) • 1933 Polizeiakte 909 (= Taifun) (Typhoon) • 1934 Eine Nacht in Venedig (One Night in Venice) • 1938 Ultimatum (Ultimatum) (finished after his death by Robert Siodmak)
Life and work
Life and work
Robert Wiene was born on 27 April 1873 in Wrocław. Wiene held the nationality of Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Wiene worked as film director, screenwriter, film producer and actor, and the authority record catalogues a further 2 occupations under the same name, among them director and dramaturge. Wiene worked in German. Wiene died on 17 July 1938 in Paris. Wiene is buried at Cimetière parisien de Bagneux.
Work for the screen
Work for the screen
Wiene worked for the screen, as film director, screenwriter and film producer. 45 films survive in the institutional catalogues, spanning 1913 to 1938. Among them are The Weapons of Youth (1913), Frau Eva (1914), Der springende Hirsch oder Die Diebe von Günstersburg (1915), He This Way, She That Way (1915), The Canned Bride (1915) and Lehmann's Honeymoon (1916). The whole run is set out in the catalogue below.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
Explore 1873–1938
The full dated record · 3 entries
1873
Born at Wrocław.
1938
Dies at Paris.
1938
Robert Wiene died on 17 July 1938.
Writer
• The Weapons of Youth (1913) • The Marriage of Luise Rohrbach (1917) • Frank Hansen's Fortune (1917) • Imprisoned Soul (1917) • The Princess of Neutralia (1917) • Countess Kitchenmaid (1918) • The Blue Lantern (1918) • The Ringwall Family (1918) • Put to the Test (1918) • Precious Stones (1918) • The Lady, the Devil and the Model (1918) • Agnes Arnau and Her Three Suitors (1918) • The Homecoming of Odysseus (1918) • Her Sport (1919) • The Man of Action (1919) • Victim of Society (1919) • A Drive into the Blue (1919) • The Living Dead (1919) • Ruth's Two Husbands (1919) • Diamonds (1920) • Monika Vogelsang (1920) • The Adventure of Doctor Kircheisen (1921) • The Power of Darkness (1924) • The Guardsman (1925) • Strauss Is Playing Today (1928) • Typhoon (1933)
Catalogued output
Films and moving-image works
These entries are catalogued as moving-image works. The 1920s are the densest part of the run, with 22 titles, and that concentration is a fact about what the registers have catalogued rather than a judgement on the work itself. A selection is set out below and the complete run may be opened beneath it.
45 films carry dates between 1913 and 1938
The run opens with The Weapons of Youth and closes with Ultimatum
The Weapons of Youth
1913
Frau Eva
1914
Der springende Hirsch oder Die Diebe von Günstersburg
1915
He This Way, She That Way
1915
The Canned Bride
1915
Lehmann's Honeymoon
1916
The Queen's Love Letter
1916
The Queen's Secretary
1916
The Robber Bride
1916
The Wandering Light
1916
The complete catalogue · 48
45 films carry dates between 1913 and 1938
The run opens with The Weapons of Youth and closes with Ultimatum
The Weapons of Youth
1913
Frau Eva
1914
Der springende Hirsch oder Die Diebe von Günstersburg
1915
He This Way, She That Way
1915
The Canned Bride
1915
Lehmann's Honeymoon
1916
The Queen's Love Letter
1916
The Queen's Secretary
1916
The Robber Bride
1916
The Wandering Light
1916
Fear
1917
Life Is a Dream
1917
Steadfast Benjamin
1917
The Man in the Mirror
1917
Countess Kitchenmaid
1918
The Cabinet of Dr
Caligari
1920
Genuine
1920
Panic in the House of Ardon
1920
The Night of Queen Isabeau
1920
The Three Dances of Mary Wilford
1920
A Woman's Revenge
1921
Playing with Fire
1921
The Infernal Power
1922
I.N.R.I
1923
Crime and Punishment
1923
The Doll Maker of Kiang-Ning
1923
The Hands of Orlac
1924
The Knight of the Rose
1925
Boarding House Groonen
1925
The Guardsman
1926
The Queen of Moulin Rouge
1926
The Famous Woman
1927
The Mistress
1927
Folly of Love
1928
Leontine's Husbands
1928
The Great Adventuress
1928
The Woman on the Rack
1928
The Other
1930
The Prosecutor Hallers
1930
The Love Express
1931
Venetian Nights
1931
Panic in Chicago
1931
A Night in Venice
1934
Typhoon
1934
Ultimatum
1938
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Robert Wiene”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
institutional register
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q76552: Robert Wiene
Unverified · Wikimedia Foundation
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Christian Rogowski, The Many Faces of Weimar Cinema: Rediscovering Germany's Filmic Legacy, Camden House (2010), p. 6
- 2.Robert Wiene filmportal.de. www.filmportal.de.
- 3.Cassell Illustrated. 501 Movie Directors. 13. 2007. 9781844035731.
- 4.Palfy, Isabella. Kino und Film in der ersten österreichischen Republik. Die Filmpublizistik der Tonfilmzeit von 1929-1938. Fakultät für Grund- und Integrativwissenschaften. Universität Wien. 77. 1993.
- 5.The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari German Expressionism, Silent Film, Horror Britannica. www.britannica.com.
- 6.Raskolnikow. 1923. Directed by Robert Wiene MoMA. The Museum of Modern Art.
- 7.Robinson, David. . British Film Institute, 2004, p. 58.
- 8.Jung, Uli. The Invisible Man behind "Caligari": The Life of Robert Wiene. Film History. 5. 1. 22–35. 1993. 3815107.
- 9.I.N.R.I. filmportal.de. www.filmportal.de.
- 10.Uli Jung, Walter Schatzberg: Beyond Caligari – The Films of Robert Wiene. Berghahn Books, p. vi.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Partially resolvedinstitutional register
Wikidata, structured authority record Q76552: Robert WieneWikimedia Foundation
Unverified
People, houses and institutions
Knowledge graph
People, houses and institutions
Teachers, collaborators, publishers and institutions recorded against this person, each on a stated basis.
Died at
1- ParisPlace
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
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.
Elsewhere in Film memorabilia
37,408 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Robert WaldenPerson
- Robert Walker Jr.Person
- Robert WebberPerson
- Robert WiemerPerson
- Robert WilliamsPerson
- Robert WisdomPerson
- Robert WisePerson
- Robert WuellnerPerson
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