Entertainment · Film · 1 hr ago
A newly published scrapbook reveals how Murnau made Faust
A new book reveals how FW Murnau’s crew made Faust, his silent film released 100 years ago this month.
The film adapts Goethe’s tragedy about scholar Faust, who sells his soul to the devil.
Murnau made the film in Germany for Ufa, and it was the studio’s most expensive and complex production at the time.
The book reproduces unseen images and pages from a scrapbook made by art directors Robert Herlth and Walter Röhrig during production.
They created it from the Bible prop used in the film and gave it to Murnau as a gift.
The scrapbook offers rare evidence of the crew’s work, challenging the mystery around Murnau’s filmmaking methods.
Although Faust flopped at first, it is now acclaimed as a classic.
A newly published book reveals how FW Murnau and his crew made the silent film Faust.
The Faust Bible: The Making of FW Murnau’s Masterpiece publishes previously unseen images from the film’s shoot.
The book reproduces a scrapbook made by art directors Robert Herlth and Walter Röhrig as a gift for Murnau.
Faust, based on Goethe’s tragedy about a scholar who makes a deal with the devil, was released 100 years ago this month.
The film was Murnau’s final German production before he went to Hollywood.
- Who
- Director FW Murnau and the crew who made Faust. Art directors Robert Herlth and Walter Röhrig assembled the scrapbook.
- What
- A newly published book reveals images and details about the making of Murnau’s silent film Faust.
- When
- Faust was released 100 years before the article’s publication in October 2026. The scrapbook was made at the end of the shoot.
- Where
- Faust was made in Germany. The scrapbook was left in Murnau’s flat in Berlin.
- Why
- The scrapbook was assembled as a gift for Murnau and preserves production material and behind-the-scenes images.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Art directors Robert Herlth and Walter Röhrig pasted designs, stills and behind-the-scenes photographs into a prop Bible as a gift for Murnau.
Murnau left the scrapbook in his Berlin flat when he went to Hollywood.
His brother stored his belongings in basements around the city.
Film scholar and archivist Lotte Eisner came to Berlin looking for Murnau’s archives.
The Guardian reported on the newly published book, 100 years after Faust’s release.
- Film
- Faust
- Director
- FW Murnau
- Scrapbook makers
- Robert Herlth and Walter Röhrig
- Lead actors
- Gösta Ekman as Faust; Emil Jannings as Mephistopheles
- Book
- The Faust Bible: The Making of FW Murnau’s Masterpiece
- Release anniversary
- 100 years before October 2026
What people are saying
had a camera instead of a head
a great purist who worked under a sort of hypnosis
Sources
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