---
name: "Willy Hameister"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/willy-hameister"
roles: ["Cinematographer"]
born: "3 December 1889"
died: "13 February 1938"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T11:30:26.009976+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."
---

# Willy Hameister

Cinematographer. Born 3 December 1889 in Krzypnica, Poland. Died 13 February 1938.

## Details

- **Work:** Cinematographer
- **Born:** 3 December 1889, Krzypnica, Poland
- **Died:** 13 February 1938

## Biography

Willy Hameister (3 December 1889 – 13 February 1938) was a German cinematographer. He began working for Deutsche Bioscop in 1904, initially filming actualities, and moved to feature films from 1912, often collaborating early in his career with director Otto Rippert.

Hameister is best known for his work on *The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari* (1920) and *Genuine* (1920). His other credits include *The Plague of Florence* (1919), *Peter the Great* (1922) and, uncredited, Leni Riefenstahl’s *Olympia* (1938). From the mid-1930s he worked mainly on short films. He died in Berlin after a long illness.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, filmportal.de.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari* (1920), Fi1m 87, Cinematography — [page](https://film.one/film/the-cabinet-of-dr-caligari.md)

## Also known for

- *Olympia Part One: Festival of the Nations* (1938), Director of Photography
- *Olympia Part Two: Festival of Beauty* (1938), Director of Photography
- *Genuine: The Tragedy of a Vampire* (1920), Director of Photography

---
© 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/willy-hameister