Meg Gehrts

author

Meg Gehrts

1891–1966

Best known for a vivid early travel memoir, this German actress and writer turned her experiences filming in West Africa into a firsthand adventure story. Her work blends cinema history, travel writing, and a rare personal view of colonial-era Togoland.

1 Audiobook

A Camera Actress in the Wilds of Togoland The adventures, observations & experiences of a cinematograph actress in West African forests whilst collecting films depicting native life and when posing as the white woman in Anglo-African cinematograph dramas

A Camera Actress in the Wilds of Togoland The adventures, observations & experiences of a cinematograph actress in West African forests whilst collecting films depicting native life and when posing as the white woman in Anglo-African cinematograph dramas

by Meg Gehrts

About the author

Born Emma Augusta Gehrts in Hamburg in 1891, she became known as Meg Gehrts and worked as an actress, writer, and film editor. She was active in the early film world in Germany and is remembered today above all for her unusual memoir of travel and filmmaking.

In 1913–1914, she joined an expedition to Togoland with filmmaker and explorer Hans Schomburgk, appearing in films shot on location and later writing about the journey. That experience became A Camera Actress in the Wilds of Togoland, a lively account of travel, filmmaking, and daily life as she saw it during the expedition.

Gehrts later continued her screen career and is also associated with early German adventure films. She died in Berlin in 1966, leaving behind a book that still interests readers for its mix of personal storytelling, film history, and eyewitness description.