Paul Abraham
Born on 2 November 1892Died on 6 May 1960Conductor, ComposerThe Hungarian composer Paul Abraham had an enthusiastic following in Berlin from September 1930. His breakthrough came with the operetta Viktoria und ihr Husar (Victoria and her Hussar) at the Metropol Theater, known today as the Komische Oper.
Erna Adler
Born on 25 March 1913Died on 7 March 2007PhotographerErna Adler was just 23 years and an assistant in the photography studio of Trude Geiringer and Dora Horovitz in Vienna when she went into exile. In late 1936 the young photographer had initially planned only a work stay in Antwerp.
Josef Albers
Born on 19 March 1888Died on 25 March 1976Painter, Graphic designerJosef and Anni Albers lost their jobs when the Bauhaus was closed in the summer of 1933. Alarmed by the anti-Semitism, the couple never hesitated in following the call to the United States.
Erich Arendt
Born on 15 April 1903Died on 25 September 1984WriterErich Arendt began as a teacher at a reform school in the Berlin district of Neukölln, now the Rütli school. In 1926 his first poems appeared in Der Sturm, the Expressionist journal headed by Herwart Walden.
Ellen Auerbach
Born on 20 May 1906Died on 30 July 2004PhotographerEllen Auerbach first of all studied sculpting in Karlsruhe and Stuttgart from 1924 until she went to Berlin in 1929 to learn photography under Walter Peterhans. It was there that she met the photographer Grete Stern with whom she worked and lived together from then on.
Theo Balden
Born 6 February 1904Died 30 September 1995Sculptor, Graphic designerThe sculptor Theo Balden was born Otto Koehler in Brazil, the child of an expatriate couple. His father's death prompted his mother to return to Germany with her children.
Albert Bassermann
Born on 7 September 1867Died on 15 May 1952ActorAlbert Bassermann began his career at the age of 20 in his home city of Mannheim. For a number of years he formed part of the renowned Meininger Hoftheater ensemble. In 1895 he moved to Berlin, where he performed first under Otto Brahm, and from 1909 under Max Reinhardt at the Deutsches Theater.
Vicki Baum
Born on 24 January 1888Died on 29 August 1960WriterThe novels of Vicki Baum were popular throughout Europe in the 1920s. Grand Hotel (Menschen im Hotel) (1929) ultimately made her famous in the USA.
Herbert Bayer
Born on April 5, 1900Died on September 30 1985PainterIt was in 1938 that Herbert Bayer took the decision to leave Germany. The Austrian had arrived in the country in 1920 to work alongside Emanuel Margold at the Mathildenhöhe artist’s colony in Darmstadt. From there he journeyed to Weimar and studied at the Bauhaus, before moving on to Dessau.
Johannes R. Becher
Born on 22 May 1891Died on 11 October 1958Poet, Dramatist, WriterThe sonnet Windflüchter by the poet Johannes R. Becher not only describes the storm-battered trees on the coast of the Baltic Sea, it also reveals something of the life of the poet and emigrant in a turbulent story.
