12 Facts About Falk Harnack

Falk Harnack was a German director and screenwriter.

Falk Erich Walter Harnack was the younger son of the painter Clara Harnack and literary historian Otto Harnack; a nephew of the theologian Adolf von Harnack and Erich Harnack, professor of pharmacology and chemistry; the grandson of theologian Theodosius Harnack and the younger brother of the jurist and German Resistance fighter Arvid Harnack.

Falk Harnack was a cousin of the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Ernst von Harnack, who, like his brother and sister-in-law, Mildred Harnack, became victims of the Third Reich.

Falk Harnack never got to know his father, who committed suicide in 1914.

Falk Harnack received his doctorate with a dissertation on Karl Bleibtreu in 1936 and the following year, began working at the Nationaltheater Weimar and the state theatre in Altenburg.

Falk Harnack worked there as a director until 1940, when he was drafted into the Wehrmacht.

Falk Harnack put them in touch with his cousins, Klaus and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

On 19 April 1943, Falk Harnack was acquitted because of a lack of evidence and "unique special circumstances".

Falk Harnack then joined the Greek partisans fighting the Nazis, worked with the Greek People's Liberation Army and co-founded the Anti-Fascist Committee for a Free Germany with Gerhard Reinhardt and became the leader of the organisation.

Falk Harnack wrote the screenplays for many of his films.

Falk Harnack was married to German actress Kathe Braun, who was often in his films.

Falk Harnack died on 3 September 1991, aged 78, after a long illness.