Karlrobert Kreiten

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Karlrobert Kreiten (June 26, 1916 - September 7, 1943) was a German pianist, though holding Dutch citizenship his entire life due to his Dutch father.

He was seen by Wilhelm Furtwängler and others as one of the most talented young pianists in Germany. Born in Bonn, his German mother was the classical singer Emmy Kreiten-Barido, nee Liebergesell and his Dutch father Theo Kreiten, a composer, concert pianist, and writer.

He made his debut at the age of eleven with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Concerto in A major in a live broadcast. He was educated in Vienna by Claudio Arrau.

He was betrayed by Nazi Ellen Ott-Monecke, who notified the Gestapo about Kreiten making negative remarks about Adolf Hitler and the war effort. He was indicted at the Volksgerichtshof, with Roland Freisler presiding, and condemned to death. Friends and family frantically tried to save his life, but to no avail. The family was never notified officially about the judgement, and only accidentally learned that Karlrobert had been executed, with 185 other inmates, at Plötzensee prison.

His execution triggered a wave of hateful articles in the German press about this "treacherous" artist. Prominent journalist Werner Höfer had to retire in 1987 when his particularly infamous articles about Kreiten became known to a wider public.

Today in Berlin, a memorial of the life and death of Kreiten exists along the "Topography of Terror" outdoor exhibit, which deals with the terror inflicted by the German SS and the Gestapo. The very prison cells that held him and others arrested by the Gestapo have been unearthed and remain laid bare for all to see. Streets in Düsseldorf, Bonn, and Cologne have been named in his honor. His only sister, Rosemarie von Studnitz, became a book publisher in the United States and died in 1975.