Hanns Heinz Ewers

Our first film, The Student of Prague (1913 version) was written by Hanns Heinz Ewers (1871-1943), one of the colorful side players in the history of early German film. He penned a number of horror stories that lent themselves to film treatments. Besides, The Student of Prague, he also wrote Alraune, about the immoral spawn of a hanged murderer and a prostitute. It was filmed numerous times--this poster is for the 1928 version:

Ewers's path crossed strangely with that of Horst Wessel, who the Nazis elevated to the level of a hero after his death in 1930. Wessel had a bit part in the 1926 version of Student of Prague (which starred Conrad Veidt, who was a determined opponent of the Nazis). After Wessel's death, Ewers was commissioned to write the script for a movie commemorating him (Einer von vielen [One of Many]). 

Ewers did indeed express interest in the National Socialists, but by 1934 he had fallen out of favor with them, and his writings were banned. In this context, it is worth knowing that one of his writings is called "Warum ich ein Philosemit bin" [Why I'm a  Philosemite].