1867–1948
✕ Suicide after a stroke
Berlin theatre critic of the Weimar era nicknamed the "Culture Pope"
Born Alfred Kempner into a Jewish wine merchant's family in Breslau in 1867, he made Kerr his official surname in 1909. From naturalism to 1933 he was one of the most influential German theatre critics, nicknamed the "Culture Pope", and treated criticism as an art form of its own. He attacked the Nazi Party publicly very early on and fled to Prague in February 1933. At the book burnings that May the Fire Oaths gave his writings to the flames "against the arrogant mangling of the German language", and in August he was stripped of his citizenship. Settling in London in 1935, he lived in poverty and was president of the German PEN Club in exile from 1941 to 1946; he became a British subject in 1947. In 1948 he suffered a stroke in Hamburg and then took his own life.
Also known as: Alfred Kempner
Activities and affiliations
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1891–1948
Literature and arts
Career Timeline
- 1891Began writing theatre criticism as Kerr
- 1894Doctorate at Halle
- 1900–1919Theatre critic of Der Tag
- 1909Kerr made his official surname
- 1912–1915Sole editor of the art and literary review Pan
- 1919–1933Wrote for the Berliner Tageblatt and the Frankfurter Zeitung
- 1933.02.15Fled to Prague
- 1933.08Stripped of German citizenship
- 1935Settled in London
- 1938Co-founded the Free German League of Culture
- 1941–1946President of the German PEN Club in exile
- 1947Became a British subject