Vintage German postcard. Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, No. 7123. Hans Waßmann as innkeeper in the play Minna von Barnhelm by Lessing.
Hans Waßmann (01.01.1873 Berlin - 05.04.1932 Berlin) was a German film actor. Between 1914 and his death in 1932 Wassmann played in 50 German films, mostly in supporting parts.
Wassmann, the son of a rentier, had undergone commercial training after leaving school (Gymnasium) and worked for a year in the grain and commission business. At the age of 19, he made a career change, was trained by Arthur Vollmer and went to the stage. Wassmann made his debut in Gera in 1892 with the tiny role of a recruit in the play Wallenstein's Camp. After stints in Hanau (1893/94), Elberfeld (1894/95) and Freiburg im Breisgau (1895/96), he came to Berlin in 1896 for a two-year engagement at the Deutsches Theater. In 1898 he moved to the New Theatre. In the autumn of 1901 he returned to the Deutsches Theater, later directed by Max Reinhardt. In 1903 he toured with the Kleines Theater. Wassmann's early role subject was that of the bon vivant, nature boy and youthful character actor. In later life, the compact Berliner with the massive skull and the wart between his eyes grew into the section of grave gentlemen of the world and respected men of power, but he also repeatedly proved his considerable talent for comedy and received much praise for his portrayal of dull, limited characters.
His best-known late stage roles include his Baron in Nachtasyl, his Junker Bleichenwang in Was ihr wollt and the Mopsus in Das Wintermärchen. In films during the Weimar Republic, the extremely popular mime played a wealth of supporting roles in farces such as the mayors in Schützenfest in Schilda and Die Schlacht von Bademünde or the admiral in Der Herr Bürovorsteher. In other comedy plays, the accomplished comedian was even given the leading role: for example, he was the mayor Eusebius Müller in "Vater geht auf Reisen" and the financially strapped owner of a baby equipment shop in the comedy "Der Storch streikt".
Between 1914 and his death in 1932 Wassmann played in 50 German films, mostly in supporting parts. He started at Deutsche Bioscop in 1914 in Stellan Rye's comedy Bedingung - kein Anhang!, where he had Ernst Lubitsch and Albert Paulig as his co-actors. A first lead he had in the comedy Hans und Hanni (Max Mack, 1916), with Hanni Weisse. While continuing in comedy, Wassmann also acted in dramas such as Lola Montez (Robert Heymann, 1918), starring Leopoldine Konstantin. In the 1920s, Wassmann acted with e.g. Ada Svedin (Miss Venus, 1921), Henny Porten (Sie und die Drei, 1922), Asta Nielsen (Die Tänzerin Navarro, 1922; Der Absturz, 1923; Das gefährliche Alter, 1927), Mady Christians (Ein Glas Wasser, 1923; Königin Luise, II, 1928), Otto Gebühr (Fridericus Rex, 1921-22), Ágnes Eszterházy (Nanon, 1924), Carmel Myers (Garragan, 1924), Lilian Harvey (Die keusche Susanna, 1926), Maria Corda (Eine Dubarry von heute, 1926), Rudolf Rittner (Der Meister von Nürnberg, 1927), Lya Mara (Das tanzende Wien, 1927), etc. In the arly 1930s Wassmann still played several minor parts in German earfly sound films such as Meine Frau, die Hochstaplerin (1931) with Käthe von Nagy.
Hans Wassmann was married to the actress Clara Kollendt since 1904. He died as a result of a stroke which he suffered during a film rehearsal in Neubabelsberg. He found his final resting place at the Südwestkirchhof Stahnsdorf.
Source: German Wikipedia.
