Editing F. W. Murnau (section)

==Personal life==
Murnau joined the German air force as a radio operator in 1916. In December 1917 he had to make an emergency landing in Switzerland and was interned until the end of the war.

Murnau was gay.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Spoto |first=Donald |title=The Dark Side of Genius: The Life of Alfred Hitchcock |publisher=[[William Collins, Sons]] |year=1983 |isbn=0-00-216352-7 |location=Great Britain |pages=68}}</ref> His friend and lover, the poet [[Hans Ehrenbaum-Degele]], also served in the war but was killed on the eastern front in 1915. This had a profound effect on Murnau, who drew from the horrors of loss, sacrifice and the violence of war in his film work. It was Ehrenbaum who introduced Murnau to the work of expressionists such as [[Franz Marc]] and [[Else Lasker-Schüler]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kaes |first=Anton |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/282966375 |title=Shell shock cinema : Weimar culture and the wounds of war |date=2009 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-03136-1 |location=Princeton |oclc=282966375}}</ref>

[[File:Actor_David_Rollins_sitting_and_unclothed.jpg|thumb|Actor David Rollins sits unclothed in a 1927 photo taken by Murnau.]]
In Hollywood, Murnau reportedly became enamored with the young actor [[David Rollins (actor)|David Rollins]], whom he invited to his home.<ref name=schloss>{{cite journal |last1=Welter |first1=Volker |title=Schloss Murnau, Hollywood, CA 90068 |journal=Cabinet - A Quarterly of Art and Culture |date=November 2017 |issue=63 |page=41}}</ref> In late 1927, Murnau convinced Rollins to pose nude, with the pool and garden of the Wolf's Lair castle in Hollywood serving as the backdrop.<ref name=schloss/> In a later interview Rollins claimed to have been puzzled and surprised by the request, but felt comfortable enough with his body to oblige.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ankerich |first1=Michael |title=Broken Silence |date=1993}}</ref>