Vogel

Herr Vogel is a fictional magistrate featured in films produced by Universal Pictures and is part of the "Universal Monsters" line-up. Played by actor Lionel Belmore, he was introduced in the 1931 classic, Frankenstein.

Biography
Herr Vogel was the Burgomaster of Frankenstein Village. When Baron Frankenstein announced the pending nuptials of his son Henry Frankenstein to a woman named Elizabeth, Herr Vogel made all of the necessary preparations. He gathered the town villagers together to throw a festival in honor of the important event. Vogel visited the Baron shortly before the wedding, but the Baron had little time or patience for Vogel. In fact, he even intimated that there might not even be a wedding.

A few nights later, Henry Frankenstein returned home after spending several weeks in Goldstadt. Everything seemed to be going well and the wedding festival was under way. That same evening, a villager named Ludwig discovered that his daughter Maria had drowned - an apparent murder victim of a hideous monster that had been seen terrorizing the area. Herr Vogel put aside all other matters and put together a search party to track down and destroy the monster. Vogel's group succeeded in tracking down the monster and pursued him to an old windmill in the mountains. They trapped him inside and set the building on fire, burning most of it to the ground.

Notes & Trivia



 * In Frankenstein, Lionel Belmore is credited only as the Burgomaster.


 * Actor Lionel Belmore also played a character named Lang in 1939's Son of Frankenstein as well as Beacon in Tower of London, which was released that same year.


 * Lionel Belmore played a councilor in the 1942 movie The Ghost of Frankenstein. It is possible that this character is also Herr Vogel, though he is never identified by name.


 * Although Herr Vogel was the Burgomaster who was present at the burning of the windmill in Frankenstein, he is not the same magistrate who instructs everyone to return to their homes in The Bride of Frankenstein, which takes place immediately following the events of the first film. That magistrate was played by actor E.E. Clive.