---
name: "Rolf Zehetbauer"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/rolf-zehetbauer"
fi1m_id: "rolf-zehetbauer"
imdb_id: "nm0954250"
tmdb_id: 3771
wikidata_id: "Q105725"
roles: ["Producer"]
born: "13 February 1929"
died: "23 January 2022"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_as: "producer"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-20T05:28:59.590626+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Rolf Zehetbauer

## Identity

Rolf Zehetbauer

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/rolf-zehetbauer
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** rolf-zehetbauer
- **IMDb ID:** nm0954250
- **TMDB ID:** 3771
- **Wikidata ID:** Q105725
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolf_Zehetbauer, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q105725, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0954250/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/3771

Producer. Born 13 February 1929 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Died 23 January 2022.

## Details

- **Work:** Producer
- **Born:** 13 February 1929, Munich, Bavaria, Germany
- **Died:** 23 January 2022
- **Active:** 1972–1981
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 2: 1 producing, 1 crew
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won)
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1970s 88 (1), 1980s 89 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolf_Zehetbauer, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q105725, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0954250/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/3771

## Biography

Rolf Zehetbauer (13 February 1929 – 23 January 2022) was a German production designer, art director and set decorator. He trained at the Munich art school and began working at Bavaria Film studios in 1948, rising to chief set designer by 1963. He contributed to more than 150 productions over a career spanning 1948 to 2003.

Zehetbauer is known for his work on *Das Boot* (1981), for which he created the claustrophobic U-boat interiors and exteriors, as well as *The NeverEnding Story* (1984), *Enemy Mine* (1985) and several films by Rainer Werner Fassbinder, including *Lili Marleen* (1981) and *Lola* (1981). He shared the Academy Award for Best Art Direction for *Cabaret* (1972) with Jürgen Kiebach and Herbert Strabel. He also received multiple German Film Prizes and a BAFTA award.

*Sources: filmportal.de, en.wikipedia.org, spiegel.de, metacritic.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

### Produced (1) — the average rests on these

- *Cabaret* (1972), Fi1m 88, Production Designer — [page](https://film.one/film/cabaret.md)

### Crew (1)

- *Das Boot* (1981), Fi1m 89, Production design, Production Design — [page](https://film.one/film/das-boot.md)

## Complete filmography (77)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Luther* (2003), Production Designer, Production Design
- *Manila* (2000), Production Designer
- *Marlene* (2000), Production Design
- *The Harmonists* (1997), as Art Direction
- *Brother of Sleep* (1995), Production Designer
- *The NeverEnding Story III* (1994), Production Designer
- *Cyber Eden* (1992), Production Design
- *To Kill a Dragon* (1988), Production Design
- *Ödipussi* (1988), Production Design
- *Enemy Mine* (1985), as Set Decoration · Production Design
- *The NeverEnding Story* (1984), as Set Decoration · Production Designer
- *Wunderland* (1983), Concept Artist
- *The Roaring Fifties* (1983), Production Design
- *Ace of Aces* (1982), Production Design
- *Doctor Faustus* (1982), Production Designer
- *Querelle* (1982), Production Designer
- *Veronika Voss* (1982), Production Design
- *Inside the Third Reich* (1982), series, Production Design
- *Das Boot* (1981), Production Design — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/film/das-boot.md)
- *Lola* (1981), Production Design
- *Lili Marleen* (1981), Production Design, Production Designer
- *From the Life of the Marionettes* (1980), Production Designer
- *The First Polka* (1979), Production Design
- *Brass Target* (1978), as Set Decoration · Production Designer
- *Despair* (1978), Production Design
- *Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?* (1978), Production Design
- *The Serpent's Egg* (1977), Production Designer
- *The Devil's Advocate* (1977), Production Designer
- *Twilight's Last Gleaming* (1977), Production Design
- *The Swiss Conspiracy* (1976), Production Designer, Production Design
- *Hardness 10* (1974), series, Production Designer
- *The Odessa File* (1974), Production Designer
- *Oh Jonathan – oh Jonathan!* (1973), as Art Direction
- *Cry of the Black Wolves* (1972), Production Designer
- *Cabaret* (1972), Production Designer — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/cabaret.md)
- *Wie eine Träne im Ozean* (1970), series, Production Design
- *Madame Bovary* (1968), as Art Direction
- *The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism* (1967), as Art Direction
- *Space Patrol* (1966), series, as Art Direction
- *Jerry Cotton: The Trap Snaps Shut at Midnight* (1966), Production Designer
- *Situation Hopeless... But Not Serious* (1965), as Art Direction
- *The Nutcracker* (1964), Production Design
- *Ein Mann im schönsten Alter* (1964), as Art Direction
- *Meine Tochter und ich* (1963), Production Designer
- *Orden für die Wunderkinder* (1963), Production Design
- *Der jähzornige junge Mann* (1963), Production Design
- *Er kann's nicht lassen* (1962), Production Designer
- *Der Vogelhändler* (1962), as Art Direction
- *Murder Party* (1961), Production Design
- *Town Without Pity* (1961), as Art Direction
- *Mein Schulfreund* (1960), as Art Direction
- *The High Life* (1960), as Art Direction
- *The Judge and the Sinner* (1960), as Set Decoration
- *Crook and the Cross* (1960), Production Designer
- *Enchanting Arabella* (1959), Production Design
- *Jons und Erdme* (1959), as Art Direction
- *As Long as the Heart Still Beats* (1958), Production Designer
- *Der Maulkorb* (1958), Production Design
- *Ist Mama nicht fabelhaft?* (1958), Production Designer
- *Immer wenn der Tag beginnt* (1957), as Art Direction
- *The Devil Strikes at Night* (1957), Production Design
- *Goodbye, Francesca!* (1957), Production Design
- *Königin Luise* (1957), Production Design
- *Johannisnacht* (1956), Production Design
- *Liebe* (1956), as Art Direction
- *Before Sundown* (1956), as Art Direction
- *Das Bad auf der Tenne* (1956), Production Design
- *Alibi* (1955), Production Design
- *Du mein stilles Tal* (1955), Production Design, Art Direction
- *Hotel Adlon* (1955), Production Design
- *The Rats* (1955), Production Design
- *Liebe ohne Illusion* (1955), as Art Direction
- *It Was Always So Nice with You* (1954), Production Design
- *The Charming Young Lady* (1953), Production Design
- *Die Alm an der Grenze* (1951), Production Design
- *Ich mach Dich glücklich* (1949), Production Design
- *Die kupferne Hochzeit* (1948), Production Design

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 1 won

- 1973: Best Production Design (won), for *Cabaret*

### Other awards — 1 won

- Bavarian Film Awards (Production Design) 2004: Bavarian Film Awards (Production Design) (won), for *Luther*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/rolf-zehetbauer