Aenne Willkomm

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).

Aenne Willkomm
Born	(1902-06-17)17 June 1902 Shanghai, China
Died	20 June 1979(1979-06-20) (aged 77) Hamburg, Germany
Other names	Änne Willkomm, Aenne Kettelhut (after marriage)
Occupation	Costume designer
Spouse	Erich Kettelhut

Early life

Willkomm was born in Shanghai to European parents in 1902.^[1]

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.^[2] She went on to work with Lang on Metropolis,^[3] for which she designed and oversaw "literally thousands"^[2] of Bauhaus-inspired "futuristic" costumes,^[4] including for the film's main character, Maria, played by Brigitte Helm.^[5] She often clashed with the demanding Lang on the set of Metropolis.^[2] 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.^[6]

References

1. Sigler, Lora Ann (2019-06-27). Medieval Art and the Look of Silent Film: The Influence on Costume and Set Design. McFarland. pp. 80–81. ISBN 978-1-4766-7352-3.
2. McGilligan, Patrick (2013-09-01). Fritz Lang: The Nature of the Beast. U of Minnesota Press. pp. 95–96. ISBN 978-1-4529-4064-9.
3. Kreimeier, Klaus (1999-01-01). The Ufa Story: A History of Germany's Greatest Film Company, 1918-1945. University of California Press. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-520-22069-0.
4. Ganeva, Mila (2008). Women in Weimar Fashion: Discourses and Displays in German Culture, 1918-1933. Camden House. pp. 134–135, 149 note 71. ISBN 978-1-57113-205-5.
5. Fischer, Lucy (2003). Designing women : cinema, art deco, and the female form. Internet Archive. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 208–210. ISBN 978-0-231-12500-0.
6. Kettelhut, Erich (2009). Erich Kettelhut: der Schatten des Architekten (in German). Belleville. ISBN 978-3-936298-55-0.

External links

• Aenne Willkomm at IMDb
• Aenne Willkomm at the British Film Institute^{[better source needed]}