Emil Preetorius (visual artist)
He belonged to the circle of friends of Thomas Mann, and designed the book covers for the novella A Man and his Dog, and the 1954 novel Confessions of Felix Krull.
Others that were considered "divinely blessed" included the tenor Peter Anders, the stage designer Ulrich Roller, and the composer Gottfried Muller.
Brigitte Hamannn argues that the intervention that led to Preetorius' reprieve was made by Hermann Goering, initiated by Tietjen.
There were rumours at the time of her denazification trial (Spruchkammer) that she had been Hitler's lover: she feared being classified as a major offender (Hauptschuldige) and expected to be sentenced to prison or a labour-camp.
His bitterness now erupted in his reply to Winifred's appeal:- I don't want to meet your children again, none of whom treated me very well; Wieland in particular was positively hostile, treacherous, even contemptuous.
The incredible arrogance of your children - especially Wieland, who exploited his connections with Hitler and Bormann to get away with absolutely everything - that arrogance, lack of respect, and unwillingness to recognize anyone else's achievements, or give them their due at all - I'm so bitter about it, that I can't be sure I won't violently erupt and create an atmosphere not at all favourable to you...No, my dear Frau Wagner, for all my friendship towards you, please understand - I cannot come!
[16] In autumn 1929 Siegfried and Winifred Wagner travelled to the Berlin City Opera for the premiere of a production of Lohengrin staged and directed by its artistic director Heinz Tietjen with design by Preetorius.
Siegfried was particularly impressed by the musical impact of the chorus and crowd scenes that he recommended Tietjen to Winifred as a future artistic director of the Bayreuth Festival in association with Preetorius and Furtwangler.
[18] Preetorius's first stagings at Bayreuth were Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and Der Ring des Nibelungen at the 1933 Festival.
At a time when the cultural clock under National Socialism was being turned back he remarked that here, at Hitler's Festival,[22] were two productions 'with an entirely novel scenic dress, and executed in a fashion which departed completely from the Bayreuth tradition'.
Preetorius had, Einstein thought, compromised his art when attempting to be faithful to blame Wagner's poor stage instructions.
[28] In 1944, he made his debut as a set designer for the Richard Strauss premiere of Die Liebe der Danae at the Salzburg Festival.
Under the direction of the "non-Aryan" Max Reinhardt, Salzburg had become a sanctuary for artists displaced from Germany, and soon came to be seen as the "Jewish" counterpart of "German" Bayreuth.
In 1948 Preetorius designed the sets for Günther Rennert's Salzburg production of Beethoven's Fidelio with Wilhelm Furtwängler on the podium.
He began to collect mostly visual art but also Japanese theatre masks, Persian ceramics, Chinese textiles and carpets, and miniatures from India.
[31] 1953: Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1938: From the stage design with Richard Wagner 1940: Thoughts on Art 1947: Weltbild und Weltgestalt tr.
Worldview and world salary 1963: Mystery of the Visible 1908: Adelbert von Chamisso : Peter Schlemihl's miraculous story 1909: Emil Lucka : Isolde Weisshand 1910: Alain-René Lesage : The Limping Devil 1911: Felix Schloemp : Laurel Wreath and Frill 1912: Jean Paul : Giannozzo's Airship's Sea Book 1912: Kurt Friedrich-Freksa : Phosphorus 1913: Alphonse Daudet : The Wonderful Adventures of Tartarin from Tarascon 1913: Ernst Elias Niebergall : Datterich 1914: Joseph von Eichendorff : From the life of a good-for-nothing 1914: Klabund : The German Soldier's Song 1915: Jean Paul: Life of the cheerful schoolmaster Wuz in Auenthal 1916: Claude Tillier : My Uncle Benjamin 1917: Friedrich Gerstäcker : Mr. Mahlhuber's travel adventure 1919: Thomas Mann : Herr und Hund, Ein Idyll 1919: ETA Hoffmann : The Elementalist 1920: Frank Wedekind : Lute Songs Lithographic portfolio: sketches, portraits 1910–1919.
