Johann Schwarzer facts for kids
Johann Schwarzer was born in Javornik, a town that was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and is now in the Czech Republic. He became a pioneer in early filmmaking, known for starting Austria's first film production company.
Early Life and Career
In the early 1900s, Johann Schwarzer moved to Vienna, the capital of Austria. There, he worked as a photographer, taking portraits and family pictures. He was also a chemist, which likely helped him with the technical side of photography and early film.
Schwarzer saw that there was a growing interest in films. In 1906, he decided to start his own film company called Saturn-Film. This company was based in his studio in Vienna. Saturn-Film was special because it was the first film production company to be started in Austria itself. Before this, most films shown in Austria came from other countries, especially France.
Schwarzer ran his company like a modern business. He advertised in newspapers and magazines about movies. He also added a special logo to his films, just like other big film producers in Europe. Saturn-Film even published a regular catalog of its movies. However, sometimes when Saturn-Films were shown far from Vienna, their logos were missing. This might have been because of piracy, where others copied his films without permission.
Challenges and Later Life
In 1911, Saturn-Film faced a big problem. Authorities destroyed the company's main film storage, which held 52 movies. This happened because of strict rules and censorship at the time regarding the types of films being made.
Because of this censorship, Saturn-Film could not continue making movies. Johann Schwarzer tried to start a new business distributing films, but without the popular movies he was known for, it was difficult. After only three months, he gave up and left Vienna for Africa.
He returned in April 1914 and got married to Olga Emilie Jarosh-Stehlik. Soon after, World War I began on July 28, 1914. Schwarzer was an army reservist, meaning he was called to serve in the military. He became a second lieutenant. Sadly, he died in battle on October 10, 1914, in Wirballen, Poland.
Legacy in Film History
Even though many of Saturn-Film's movies were destroyed in 1911, about half of the 52 films still exist today. They are kept in film archives across Europe.
A quote from Saturn-Film's 1907 catalog, likely written by Schwarzer himself, said that "our films are of a purely artistic tendency, and we avoid tasteless subjects in favor of beauty." This shows his aim to create artistic and beautiful films.
The Filmarchiv Austria (Austrian Film Archive) has preserved four of Schwarzer's works on the Europa Film Treasures website. These include Das Sandbad (1906), Baden Verboten (1906), Das Eitle Stubenmädchen (1908), and Beim Fotografen (1908). The Internet Archive also has more than twenty of his films available online.
Known Works
This is a list of some of the films produced by Johann Schwarzer's Saturn-Film company:
- Aufregende Lektüre
- Baden verboten
- Beim Fotografen
- Das eitle Stubenmädchen
- Das Sandbad
- Der Angler
- Der Hausarzt
- Der Traum der Bildhauers
- Diana im Bade
- Die Macht der Hypnose
- Die Zaubereien des Mandarins
- Eine aufregende Jagd
- Eine lustige Geschichte am Fenster
- Eine modern Ehe
- Im Bade
- Jugendspiele
- Lebender Marmor
- Schleiertanz
- Sklavenmarkt
- Sklavenraub
- Vorbreitung auf das Rendez-vous
- Weibliche Assentierung
