Foto: Alexander Binder (1888-1929)

1892 - 1990

He studied architecture between 1912 and 1914 and served as an officer of a mountain guide companie during World War I. From 1922 to 1927 he worked as a self-employed architect in Bozen. 

When Luis Trenker was called on as an Alpine consultant for the shooting of "Der Berg des Schicksals" (23), he was engaged as a leading actor by director Arnold Fanck (1889-1974). Thereafter they shot the movies "Der heilige Berg" (26), "Der grosse Sprung" (27) and "Der Kampf ums Matterhorn" (28).

The sound film continued fascinating the audience with spetaculars pictures from the mountain world. The music, mostly written by composer Giuseppe Becce - emphasized the whole scenario in perfection.

Luis Trenker obtained the hight of his film career with the successful productions "Der Sohn der weissen Berge" (30), "Berge in Flammen" (31), "Der Rebell" (32), "Der verlorene Sohn" (34), "Der Kaiser von Kalifornien" (36), "Condottieri" (37), "Der Berg ruft" (37) and "Liebesbriefe aus dem Engadin" (38), which got him a unique place in the world of mountain films.

In some of his movies he portrayed the pulsating type who attracted attention because of his self-confident appearance and was automatically the focus of interest. The people around this figure degraded themselves to extras with pleasure who put their existence  into service of the "Hoppla, jetzt komm ich" caricature. 
A character which would no longer find acceptance today. 

Because Luis Trenker saw himself visibly restricted by the National Socialism he went to Italy where he realized the documentary "Pastor Angelicus" (42) and the movie "Germanin" (43).

In the following years he shot normally short documentaries which dealt with the mountain world like "Skiurlaub in den Dolomiten" (50), "Frühling in Südtirol" (50), "Urlaub im Schnee" (51), "Die Sphinx von Zermatt" (52) and "Gold aus Gletschern" (55), but also Venice got his attention in "Gondelfahrt durch Venedig" (50) and "Schönes Venedig" (50).

At the end of the 50's he had a short comeback with his motion-pictures "Flucht in die Dolomiten" (55), "Von der Liebe besiegt/Schicksal am Matterhorn" (56), "Wetterleuchten um Maria" (57) and "Sein bester Freund" (62), after that he concentrated again on documentaries like "Zwei Wege, ein Gipfel" (65), "Der Tagesablauf eines Bergpfarrers" (68), "Erlebnisse am Matterhorn" (71) and "Liebeserklärung an Südtirol" (76).

Beside the film Luis Trenker was also able to make a name as a writer of mountain novels and he was a eloquent narrator for the TV.
 

Other movies with Luis Trenker (Actor, Director):
Südtirol (26) Der Ruf des Nordens (29) Die heiligen drei Brunnen (30) Die grosse Sehnsucht (30) The Doomed Battalion (32) 5 Minuten Skikurs (33) Es leuchten die Sterne (38) Der König der Berge (38) Grenzfeuer (39) Urlaub im Schnee (39) Der Feuerteufel (40) Unsere Gebirspioniere (40) Im Banne des Monte Miracolo (43) Bildschnitzer im Grödnertal (49) Barriera a settentrione (49) Benvenuto reverendo! (50) An der Dolomitenstrasse (50) Niemals mutlos (50) Lofotenfischer (51) Aus König Laurins Rosengarten (52) Bergsommer (52) Kleine Kletterfahrt (52) Sonniges Südtirol (53) Liebe zum Fels (53) Kavaliere im Eis (53) Seilbahn und Pulverschnee (53) SOS Zinnen-Nordwand (54) Ski Heil! (55) Unser Freund der Haflinger (58) Unser Maibaum (59) Grüss Gott, Herr Pfarrer (60) Filmatelier in Fels und Eis (62) Der weisse Rausch (65) Zufallsreise (66) Das ist Tirol (69) Serie "Luftsprünge" (69) Skifreuden in den Dolomiten (70) Mein Südtirol (70) Serie "Berge und Geschichten" (71) Komm mit nach Sexten! (72) Sperrfort Rocca Alta (73) Krone der Schönheit (78) Heimat aus Gottes Hand (79) Südtirol und seine Bergführer (82)