Hans Fischerkoesen(1896-1973)
- Director
- Producer
- Animation Department
Hans Fischerkoesen was born Hans Fischer in Bad Koesen, Germany. A
sickly child, he was encouraged by his parents to indulge in such
indoor activities as drawing and puppetry. His asthma kept him from
active service during WWI, but he did work in a hospital near the
front. His experiences there haunted him for the rest of his life. In
the 1920s Fischerkoesen turned to advertising, developing earlier
animated cartoons for German merchants. He later established his
Fischerkoesen Studio in Leipzig to produce advertising animation. After
the Nazis passed an edict in 1941 declaring most non-German art
"degenerate", Fischerkoesen was forced by the German government to
relocate to Potsdam, near UFA studios, and began producing theatrical
cartoons. Despite governmental control, Fischerkoesen managed to keep
his productions free of Nazi propaganda. When the war ended,
Fischerkoesen was imprisoned by the Soviets as a possible Nazi
sympathizer, despite the fact that he had been a member of the
Underground. He was released after three years imprisonment, and later
escaped to West Germany, where he re-established his advertising
animation studio. Fischerkoesen spent the remainder of his life working
in advertising, receiving many awards for his work.