Siegfried Kracauer

Siegfried Kracauer (1889–1966) was a journalist, sociologist, film critic, and historian of ideas. Born in Frankfurt am Main, he trained as an architect and initially worked in architectural firms before becoming a freelance writer and, from 1924, an editor at the Frankfurter Zeitung. He headed the newspaper’s feuilleton section from 1930 to 1933. In 1933, he fled to France with his wife and in 1941 to the United States. His major works include The Salaried Masses, The Mass Ornament, From Caligari to Hitler, Theory of Film, and Ginster, an autobiographically influenced novel.