Möller, Eberhard-Wolfgang

(1906-1972)

   Playwright. Möller's professional debut came in 1929 with Douamont, which was widely successful because it portrayed heroic conduct among German soldiers on the Western Front. Less successful was Kalifornische Tragödie (California Tragedy) in 1929, set in California during the Gold Rush days. Its main character is Johann Jacob Sutter, whose life is turned upside down when gold is discovered on his property and the government is too weak to help him. Möller joined the Nazi Party in 1931 and was named dramaturg at the Königsberg Theater in 1933. In 1934 Joseph Goebbels assigned him a job in the Propaganda Ministry to censor plays and commissioned him to write an outdoor spectacle titled The Frankenburg Dice Game. It was premiered at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin under the direction of Matthias Wiemann. In 1940 Möller became a "battle reporter" with the SS and remained in that position until 1945. He was arrested by the Allies and spent three years in prison.