- Karlrobert Kreiten
Karlrobert Kreiten (
June 26 ,1916 -September 7 ,1943 ) was a Germanpianist , though holding Dutch citizenship his entire life due to his Dutch father.He was seen by
Wilhelm Furtwängler and others as one of the most talented young pianists inGermany . Born inBonn , his German mother was the classical singer Emmy Kreiten, nee Liebergesell, who sang under the stage name Emmy Kreiten-Barido. His Dutch fatherTheo Kreiten , was a composer, concert pianist, and writer. The Kreiten family originated in the area of the Lower Rhineland, along the current Dutch-German border.He made his debut at the age of eleven with
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 's Piano Concerto in A major in a live broadcast. He was educated inVienna byClaudio Arrau .Kreiten was reported to the
Gestapo by Nazi neighbor Ellen Ott-Monecke about making negative remarks aboutAdolf Hitler and the war effort. He was indicted at theVolksgerichtshof , withRoland Freisler presiding, and condemned to death. Friends and family frantically tried to save his life, but to no avail. The family only accidentally learned that Karlrobert had been executed by hanging, with 185 other inmates, atPlötzensee prison.His execution triggered a wave of articles in the German press about this "treacherous" artist. Prominent journalist
Werner Höfer had to retire in 1987 when his articles about Kreiten became known to a wider public.Today in
Berlin , a memorial of the life and death of Kreiten exists along the "Topography of Terror " outdoor exhibit, which deals with the terror inflicted by the German SS and theGestapo . The very prison cells that held him and others arrested by the Gestapo have been unearthed and remain laid bare for all to see. Streets in Düsseldorf, Bonn, and Cologne have been named in his honor. His only sister, Rosemarie von Studnitz, became a book publisher in the United States and died in 1975.External links
* [http://www.fkoester.de/kreiten/home/seite1.html In Erinnerung an Karlrobert Kreiten] (in German)
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