Aenne Willkomm
{{Short description|German costume designer}}
{{Infobox person
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| other_names = Änne Willkomm, Aenne Kettelhut (after marriage)
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1902|6|17|df=y}}
| birth_place = Shanghai, China
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1979|6|20|1902|6|17|df=y}}
| death_place = Hamburg, Germany
| occupation = Costume designer
| years_active =
| spouse(s) = Erich Kettelhut
}}
Aenne Willkomm (17 June 1902 – 20 June 1979), later Aenne Kettelhut, was a German costume designer, born in Shanghai. She worked in German silent films in the 1920s, including as costume designer on Metropolis (1927).
Early life
Willkomm was born in Shanghai to European parents in 1902.{{Cite book|last=Sigler|first=Lora Ann|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TZ2fDwAAQBAJ&dq=Aenne+Willkomm&pg=PT88|title=Medieval Art and the Look of Silent Film: The Influence on Costume and Set Design|date=2019-06-27|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-7352-3|location=|pages=80–81|language=en}}
Career
Willkomm worked in the fashion industry before she worked with designer Heinrich Umlauff on Fritz Lang's two-part film epic, Die Nibelungen (1924). She became head of UFA-GmbH's costuming department on the strength of her work on that first assignment.{{Cite book|last=McGilligan|first=Patrick|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wu5zDwAAQBAJ&dq=Aenne+Willkomm&pg=PT217|title=Fritz Lang: The Nature of the Beast|date=2013-09-01|publisher=U of Minnesota Press|isbn=978-1-4529-4064-9|location=|pages=95–96|language=en}} She went on to work with Lang on Metropolis,{{Cite book|last=Kreimeier|first=Klaus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I1u5qMPO0RkC&dq=Aenne+&pg=PA154|title=The Ufa Story: A History of Germany's Greatest Film Company, 1918-1945|date=1999-01-01|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-22069-0|location=|pages=154|language=en}} for which she designed and oversaw "literally thousands" of Bauhaus-inspired "futuristic" costumes,{{Cite book|last=Ganeva|first=Mila|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d_GByB6YjCkC&dq=Aenne+Willkomm&pg=PA149|title=Women in Weimar Fashion: Discourses and Displays in German Culture, 1918-1933|date=2008|publisher=Camden House|isbn=978-1-57113-205-5|location=|pages=134–135, 149 note 71|language=en}} including for the film's main character, Maria, played by Brigitte Helm.{{Cite book|last=Fischer|first=Lucy|url=http://archive.org/details/designingwomenci0000fisc|title=Designing women : cinema, art deco, and the female form|date=2003|location=New York |publisher=Columbia University Press|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-0-231-12500-0|pages=208–210}} She often clashed with the demanding Lang on the set of Metropolis. She worked on a few other films, including My Leopold (1924), Sister Veronika (1926), and Der Katzensteg (1927, based on the novel by Hermann Sudermann).
Personal life
Willkomm retired from film and by 1931 married her colleague, production designer Erich Kettelhut. She died in Hamburg in 1979, aged 77 years.{{Cite book|last=Kettelhut|first=Erich|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ye4nAQAAIAAJ&q=Aenne+|title=Erich Kettelhut: der Schatten des Architekten|date=2009|publisher=Belleville|isbn=978-3-936298-55-0|language=de}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0932523}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20200411075418/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2badcbf12d Aenne Willkomm] at the British Film Institute{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}}
{{Subject bar|portal1=Biography}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Willkomm, Aenne}}