Born into an aristocratic Prussian family, Von Harbou was educated at a convent school and by private tutors. A gifted child, she became proficient in several languages and by the age of 13 had published a book of poems. She turned to acting and the stage at the age of 18, debuting in Dusseldorf. In 1910, she published her first novel, Die Nach uns Kommen, which became a best-seller in Germany. She married actor Rudolf Klein-Rogge in 1917 and began to devote herself to writing. She produced numerous short stories over the ensuing years. Beginning in 1920, she became involved with director Fritz Lang and subsequently married him in 1922 after her divorce from Klein-Rogge. She then turned to screenwriting and produced all of Lang's scripts until 1933. In 1926, she published her novel, Metropolis, a science-fictional masterpiece which was adapted for the screen in 1927. Becoming attracted to Nazi idealism, Von Harbou joined the party in 1931 which ultimately led to the break-up of her marriage to Lang, a Jew, in 1933. Lang left Germany for the US, but Von Harbou became even more closely associated with the Nazis. Until the end of the war, she wrote numerous screenplays for government propaganda, and this involvement eventually led to her incarceration by the British after the war. On her release, she continued to write screenplays, but her fame and popularity had waned. Her other important works included The Indian Tomb (1921), Dr. Mabuse, King of Crime (1922), Woman in the Moon (1929) and M (1931). |
