A Google Doodle pays tribute to the renowned biologist and filmmaker Heinz Sielmann, on what would have been his 101st birthday.
Despite creating a wide range of wildlife documentaries over his life, Sielmann gained the nickname “Mr Woodpecker” after the release of one of his most best-loved films, Carpenters of the Forest, in 1954.
Detailing the life of the bird, it featured then-groundbreaking footage from inside its nests and became hugely popular in Britain after it was broadcast on the BBC.
That the film, known as The Woodpecker on UK broadcasts, remains his most famous work among a career littered with award-winning movies pays testament to its ability to capture the imaginations of audiences at the time.
Born in in Rheydt, Germany, in 1917, Sielmann moved to East Prussia at an early age where his father opened a business selling electrical and building supplies.
His fascination with wildlife began as a child, often waking up early in order to watch birds before school.
At the age of 17, he received his first camera and made his first steps into the world of wildlife photography.
East Prussia became the setting for his first nature film in 1938, a silent movie on birdlife in the province.
However, the young Sielmann’s career was interrupted the following year by the outbreak of the Second World War.
He was initially stationed in occupied Poland as an instructor at a radio communications training unit for the Luftwaffe, spending time as a prisoner of war in Cairo and London.
After the war, he began his critically-acclaimed work for the Educational Film Institute of the Federal Republic of Germany.
It was during this time he started filming Carpenters of the Forest, capturing the elusive woodpecker in a degree of depth that had not been seen before.
Sielmann placed cameras inside woodpecker nests and in doing so was able to film intimate moments between parents and offspring, a move that helped the documentary become a global hit.
“Of all the animals that I have worked with, the woodpeckers are my favourites,” Sielmann would later write, “because I was able to find out many new facts about the biology of these birds.”
In the late 1950s, he released his first feature film, Les Seigneurs de la Forêt, or Lords of the Forest, which was commissioned by the King of Belgium and filmed in the then-Belgian Congo.
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The film was notable for being one of the first to capture the social nature of gorillas in their natural habitat. It won first place at the Moscow Film Festival and quickly became one of his most revered works, being translated into 26 languages including an English version narrated by Orson Welles.
In 1971 he photographed for the Academy Award winning film The Hellstrom Chronicle, along with Walon Green, about the threat that insects collectively pose to humans and the struggle between the two.
In 1994, he founded the Heinz Sielmann Stiftung, a foundation that has successfully reintroduced otters and beavers into the wild in Germany.
He died surrounded by his family in Munich in 2006.
Heinz Sielmann, the late German naturalist and documentary maker, was hailed for his ingenious way of capturing elusive animal behaviour on film.
Often referred to as "Mr Woodpecker", Sielmann would have celebrated his birthday on June 2.
In his honour, Google is changing its logo in nine countries to a doodle, or illustration of him and nature.
This is his story:
Carpenters of the Forest
Born in Rheidt, Germany in 1917, Sielmann moved to East Prussia at a young age where his father opened a business of electrical materials.
He showed a fascination with the natural world from the first years of his life; he would often wake up early to observe birds.
At the age of 17, after being given his first camera, he started photographing his natural surroundings.
One of Sielmann's most notable works was Carpenters of the Forest, which captured one of Europe's most elusive birds, the woodpecker, in a way that had never been seen before.
Sielmann placed cameras inside woodpeckers' nests and in this way he ended up capturing intimate moments between parent and offspring.
The film was an enormous success globally. The BBC, which broadcast it, was inundated with requests to show it again. The programme's appreciation index matched that of a football final, according to British newspaper The Guardian.
The project was followed by a book about its making called My Year with the Woodpeckers. In it, Sielmann wrote: "Of all the animals that I have worked with, the woodpeckers are my favourites ... because I was able to find out many new facts about the biology of these birds."
Of all the animals that I have worked with, the woodpeckers are my favourites Heinz Sielmann
Lords of the Forest
HEINZ Sielmann would have turned 101 today and so Google has paid tribute to the renowned filmmaker, photographer and biologist with one of its Google Doodles.
Here's Sielmann's story and why the search engine is celebrating him.
Getty - Contributor Sielmann was one of the most acclaimed wildlife filmmakers of the 20th century
Who was Heinz Sielmann?
Born on June 2, 1917, in Mönchengladbach, a city in western Germany, Sielmann became one of the most revered and respected wildlife photographers and documentary filmmakers of the 20th century.
His first film was released in 1938 - a silent movie on the birds of East Prussia before further work was disrupted and halted due to the outbreak of the Second World War.
Sielmann was stationed in occupied Poland during WW2 as an instructor at a radio-communications unit for the Luftwaffe - the German airforce.
In 1940 he went to study at a university in Poland, gaining a degree in biology and specialising in zoology.
He was later sent to Crete as well as serving time as a prisoner of war in Cairo and London.
Following the end of the war he became to receive acclaim for his work, particularly a feature film about woodpeckers titled Carpenters of the Forest.
Sir David Attenborough lobbied the BBC on his behalf for the film to be aired in the UK.
Later works including Lords of the Forest, Galapagos - Dream Island in the Pacific and The Mystery of Animal Behaviour also won the admiration of fellow wildlife enthusiasts and experts.
Such was the fame of Sielmann that he was even referenced in an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus.
At the age of 89 in 2006, he passed away surrounded by his family and was buried in the German town of Duderstadt. He is survived by his wife Inge.
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GOOGLE A Google Doodle honours Heinz Sielmann
What is a Google Doodle?
In 1998, the search engine founders Larry and Sergey drew a stick figure behind the second 'o' of Google as a message to that they were out of office at the Burning Man festival and with that, Google Doodles were born.
The company decided that they should decorate the logo to mark cultural moments and it soon became clear that users really enjoyed the change to the Google homepage.
In that same year, a turkey was added to Thanksgiving and two pumpkins appeared as the 'o's for Halloween the following year.
Now, there is a full team of doodlers, illustrators, graphic designers, animators and classically trained artists who help create what you see on those days.
Among the Doodles published recently were ones commemorating German scientist Robert Koch, Jan Ingenhousz (who discovered photosynthesis) and the 50th anniversary of kids coding languages being introduced.
To celebrate St Patrick's Day 2018, Google created a special design using stones to spell out the search engine's name.
Heinz Sielmann, the renowned biologist and documentary filmmaker, has been celebrated in a Google Doodle, on what would have been his 101st birthday.
Also recognised as Mr. Woodpecker after one of his most beloved wildlife documentaries was released, his most significant achievement was his ability to feature the elusive bird more closely than had ever before.
After being commissioned by the King of Belgium, Heinz Sielmann came out with his first feature film in the 1950s, it went to become one of the world’s most revered films. But who is Heinz Sielmann?
Who was Heinz Sielmann?
Born on June 2, 1917, in Rheydt, Germany, now referred to as Mönchengladbach, Heinz Sielmann is a renowned wildlife photographer, biologist, zoologist and documentary filmmaker.
His first film was a silent movie on birdlife in East Prussia and the Memelland and was released in 1938. With his further work being halted by the war, he was then stationed as an instructor at a Luftwaffe radio-communications unit.
Prince Philip pictured here sitting next to Heinz Sielmann, noted for his books on nature
In 1940, he gained a degree in Biology with a specialism in Zoology at the University of Posen, a Germanised University, an institution part of the German Reich. While he was stationed in Crete, he was able to work on his cinematography.
After his time as a prisoner of war, he was able to edit his footage from Crete for a three-part documentary whilst in London.
Heinz began to become recognised in certain circles and his feature film about woodpeckers, Zimmerleute des Waldes, which can be roughly translated as Carpenters of the forest, was a huge hit in the UK and was broadcast by the BBC after David Attenborough’s encouragement.
The film was followed by a book about it’s making and in it Sielmann wrote: ‘of all the animals that I have worked with, the woodpeckers are my favourites... because I was able to find out many new facts about the biology of these birds.’
Sielmann also released his first feature film, Les Seigneurs de la Forêt (Lords of the Forest), which was commissioned by the King of Belgium and was filmed in what was the Belgian Congo at the time, becoming the first to capture the gorillas behaving in a social nature.
Lords of the Forest won the Moscow Film Festival, became one of his most revered films and was translated into 26 more languages.
Heinz Sielmann, the biologist and filmmaker, has been celebrated in the Google Doodle
Other notable works include Lord of the Forest, Galapagos - Dream Island in the Pacific, Vanishing Wilderness and The Mystery of Animal Behavior - all became worldwide successes. Sielmann then collaborated with National Geographic on documentaries in the 1960s.
During this time, he met Walon Green and they worked together on the Oscar-winning documentary The Hellstrom Chronicle about insects in 1971. Heinz was also awarded the Royal Geographical Society’s Cherry Kearton Medal and Award two years later.
One of his biggest achievements was the launch of the Heinz Sielmann-Stiftung which introduced beavers and otters in Germany and maintains the aim of making children aware of nature conversation.
Heinz Sielmann died in his sleep at the age of 89, surrounded by his family in Munich. He was buried in Duderstadt.
What is a Google Doodle?
The Google Doodle for June 2, 2018, illustrated by Dieter Braun, depicts Heinz Sielmann on his television programme, Expeditionen ins Tierreich, on which he documented the wildlife around him.
The Google Doodle for June 2, 2018, illustrated by Dieter Braun, depicts Heinz Sielmann on TV
When the co-founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin wanted to mark their visit to the 1998 Burning Man Festival in California, the Google Doodle was introduced.
Now, Google Doodles honour people and mark events around the world with illustrations on the Google homepage, that are incorporated into the Google logo.
A team of illustrators, designers, animators or guest artists, like Dieter Braun, work on the Google Doodles and the logos are hyperlinked to a page that provides more information about the cultural event celebrated.
Recent Google Doodles include S.P.L. Sørensen, Sam Selvon and James Wong Howe.
