Albers, Hans

ACTOR (GERMANY)
BORN 22 Sep 1892, Hamburg - DIED 24 Jul 1960, Kempfenhausen, Bayern
BIRTH NAME Albers, Hans Philipp August
GRAVE LOCATION Hamburg: Friedhof Ohlsdorf, Fühlsbüttler Strasse 756 (Y 23 245-254 (ashes))

Hans Albers took acting lessons against his parents' wishes and debuted in 1910. He was seriously wounded during the First World War and went to Berlin afterwards. After Max Reinholdt engaged him at the Deutsches Theater he became famous. In 1930 he played next to Marlene Dietrich in "Der Blaue Engel".

He had a relationship with the Jewish actress Hansi Burg, who fled to England for the nazis. Albers was questioned by the Gestapo, but he was so famous that he was soon released. He was successful in the non political movie "Münchhausen" (1943), but Goebbels put pressure him to act in "Große Freiheit Nr. 7" together with Ilse Werner. After Hamburg was bombed the production of this movie was relocated to Berlin and Prague. In these years Albers developed a serious drinking problem.

After the war he was reunited with Hansi Burg and they lived at the Starnberger See near Munich. In 1958 he expressed a political view for the first time, speaking against providing the Bundeswehr with nuclear weapons.

Shortly before his death in a clinic he finished "Kein Engel ist so rein" (1960). After his death the Wilhelmsplatz in Hamburg was named after him.

Movies: "Münchhausen" (1943); "Das Herz von St. Pauli" (1957).

Related persons
• lived with Burg, Hansi
• cooperated with Dietrich, Marlene
• has a connection with Reinhardt, Max
• was the lover of Wedekind, Tilly
• cooperated with Werner, Ilse

Events
28/3/1929Performance of Frank Wedekind's "Der Marquis von Keith" in honour of the recently deceased Albert Steinrück. It took place at the Schauspielhaus at the Gendarmemarkt in Belrin. Director was Leopold Jessner and Heinrich Mann speeched. Among the participating actors were Heinrich George, Werner Krauss, Carola Neher, Tilla Durieux, Jakob Tiedtke, Conrad Veidt, Max Pallenberg, Elisabeth Bergner, Paul Wegener, Hans Albers, Käthe Dorsch and Veit Harlan. [Bergner, Elisabeth][Brausewetter, Hans][Dietrich, Marlene][Durieux, Tilla][George, Heinrich][Goetz, Curt][Harlan, Veit][Körber, Hilde][Kortner, Fritz][Krauss, Werner][Mann, Heinrich][Pallenberg, Max][Steinrück, Albert][Veidt, Conrad][Wedekind, Frank][Wedekind, Tilly][Wegener, Paul]
15/12/1944Premiere of the movie "Grosse Freiheit Nr. 7" in Prague. It was directed by Helmut Käutner and featured Hans Albers. Propaganda minister Goebbels had banned the movie from Germany because he didn't like the prostitution scenes in the movie. A few months after the fall of the nazis the movie was also shown in the western occupation zones of Germany. [Käutner, Helmut]

Images

The grave of Hans Albers at the Ohlsdorfer Friedhof, Hamburg.
Picture by Androom (16 Aug 1999)

 

The grave of Hans Albers at the Ohlsdorfer Friedhof in Hamburg.
Picture by Androom (26 Jan 2006)

 

Plaque at the house where Hans Albers was born in Hamburg.
Picture by Androom (29 Aug 2012)

 

Sources
Biographies Database, Internet, 1994
Internet Movie Database
Albert Steinrück: Abschiedsvorstellung am Gendarmenmarkt
LeMO Hans Albers


Albery, James

Published: 01 Jan 2006
Last update: 25 Apr 2022