Nele Hertling

Nele Hertling (; born 23 February 1934) is a German theatre manager and promoter of innovative culture. Working for the Academy of Arts, Berlin, from 1962, she has founded regular programs of innovative art in the city, such as Pantomime-Musik-Tanz-Theater in 1970 and the Tanz im August festival in 1988. She managed the program for Berlin as the European City of Culture that year. Hertling is considered the grande dame of the established German (free theatre).

Life and work Hertling was born in Berlin as daughter of composer Hanning Schröder and musicologist Cornelia Schröder-Auerbach. Growing up in a family of musicians, she was early exposed to the performing arts and contemporary culture. After studying German studies and theatre studies at the Faculty of Philosophy of Humboldt University Berlin, which she completed in 1957, she worked freelance for radio and theatre. From 1989 to 2003, she was artistic director of the Hebbel Theatre.

From the summer of 2003 until the end of 2006, Hertling was director of the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program. Since 2006 she has been vice-president of the Academy of Arts, Berlin.

Work Hertling initiated several programs of innovative culture. From 1970, she created programs and series of events in Berlin, including Pantomime-Musik-Tanz-Theater (PMTT), with Dirk Scheper, for pantomime, music, dance and theatre.