Gustaf Gründgens
Encyclopedia
Gustaf Gründgens born Gustav Heinrich Arnold Gründgens, was one of Germany
's most famous and influential actors of the 20th century, intendant and artistic director of theatres in Berlin
, Düsseldorf
, and Hamburg
. His career continued undisturbed through the years of the Nazi
regime; the extent to which this can be considered as deliberate collaboration with the Nazis was hotly disputed (see below).
His single most famous role was that of Mephistopheles
in Goethe
's Faust
in 1956/57, which is still considered by many to have been the best interpretation of the role ever given (according to whom?).
, Gründgens after World War I attended the drama school of the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus
and started his career at smaller theaters in Halberstadt
, Kiel
, Berlin
. In 1923 he went to the Kammerspiele in Hamburg
, where he also appeared as a director for the first time, co-working with the author Klaus Mann
, son of Thomas Mann
, and his sister Erika
. Gründgens, who meanwhile had changed his first name to "Gustaf", married Erika in 1926. However, they divorced three years later.
In 1928 he moved back to Berlin to join the renown ensemble of the Deutsches Theater
under director Max Reinhardt
. Apart from straight theatre, Gründgens also worked with Otto Klemperer
at the Kroll Opera, as a kabarett
artist and also as a movie actor, most notably in Fritz Lang
's 1931 film M
, which decisively added to his popularity. From 1932 he was a member of the Prussian State Theatre
ensemble, first scintillating as Mephistopheles.
Gründgens' career proceeded after the Nazi Machtergreifung
: in 1934 he became intendant of the Prussian State Theatre; though constant attacks on his sexual orientation made him ask the Prussian Minister President Hermann Göring
for his discharge after the Night of the Long Knives
. Göring rejected the request and instead appointed him a member of the Prussian state council to ensure his immunity. Gründgens remained his protégé against the ambitions of Reich Minister Joseph Goebbels
to gain control over the whole scope of cultural work in Germany. In 1941 Gründgens starred in the propaganda film Ohm Krüger
and also in Friedemann Bach
, a film he also produced. After Goebbels's total war speech
on 18 February 1943, Gründgens volunteered for the Wehrmacht
but was again recalled by Göring, who had his name added to the Gottbegnadeten list
.
From 1936 till 1946, Gründgens was married to the famous German actress Marianne Hoppe
. The wedlock was widely seen as a lavender marriage
.
Imprisoned by the Soviet NKVD
in 1945, Gründgens was released thanks to the intercession by the Communist actor Ernst Bush
, whom Gründgens himself had saved from execution by the Nazis in 1943. During the denazification
process his statements helped to exonerate acting colleagues like Göring's widow Emmy or the director Veit Harlan
(Jud Süß
). Gründgens turned back to the Deutsches theater, later became intendant of the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus and from 1955 directed the Deutsches Schauspielhaus
in Hamburg. He again performed as Mephistopheles, the 1960 film Faust
by Peter Gorski was shot with the Deutsches Schauspielhaus ensemble.
On October 7, 1963, Gründgens died on a journey in Manila
of an internal hemorrhage, though it has been claimed that he in fact committed suicide
by an overdose of sleeping pills
. He is buried at the Hamburg Ohlsdorf Cemetery
.
by his former brother-in-law Klaus Mann, who had died in 1949. The novel, a thinly veiled account of Gründgens's life, portrayed its main character ("Hendrik Höfgen") as having shady connections with the Nazi regime. Gründgens's adopted son and heir Peter Gorski, who had directed Faust, in 1966 successfully sued the publisher on his late father's behalf, confirmed by the Federal Court of Justice
in 1968.
In the long-time lawsuit the controversy about libel and the freedom of fiction
from censorship
was finally decided by the Federal Constitutional Court
in 1971. It ruled, that Gründgens's post-mortem personality rights
prevailed and the prohibition imposed on the publishing house is valid. However, the novel was again published in 1981 by Rowohlt
, which met with no further protests.
In 1981 the novel was made into the film Mephisto
, Directed by István Szabó
, Klaus Maria Brandauer
played the role of Hendrik Höfgen. The film was a huge commercial and critical success winning the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
in 1981.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
's most famous and influential actors of the 20th century, intendant and artistic director of theatres in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, and Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. His career continued undisturbed through the years of the Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
regime; the extent to which this can be considered as deliberate collaboration with the Nazis was hotly disputed (see below).
His single most famous role was that of Mephistopheles
Mephistopheles
Mephistopheles is a demon featured in German folklore...
in Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
's Faust
Goethe's Faust
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust is a tragic play in two parts: and . Although written as a closet drama, it is the play with the largest audience numbers on German-language stages...
in 1956/57, which is still considered by many to have been the best interpretation of the role ever given (according to whom?).
Biography
Born in DüsseldorfDüsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, Gründgens after World War I attended the drama school of the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus
Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus
The Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus is a theatre building in Düsseldorf, with four auditoria.- External links :*...
and started his career at smaller theaters in Halberstadt
Halberstadt
Halberstadt is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt and the capital of the district of Harz. It is located on the German Half-Timbered House Road and the Magdeburg–Thale railway....
, Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. In 1923 he went to the Kammerspiele in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, where he also appeared as a director for the first time, co-working with the author Klaus Mann
Klaus Mann
- Life and work :Born in Munich, Klaus Mann was the son of German writer Thomas Mann and his wife, Katia Pringsheim. His father was baptized as a Lutheran, while his mother was from a family of secular Jews. He began writing short stories in 1924 and the following year became drama critic for a...
, son of Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann
Thomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
, and his sister Erika
Erika Mann
Erika Julia Hedwig Mann was a German actress and writer, the eldest daughter of novelist Thomas Mann and Katia Mann.-Life:...
. Gründgens, who meanwhile had changed his first name to "Gustaf", married Erika in 1926. However, they divorced three years later.
In 1928 he moved back to Berlin to join the renown ensemble of the Deutsches Theater
Deutsches Theater
The Deutsches Theater in Berlin is a well-known German theatre. It was built in 1850 as Friedrich-Wilhelm-Städtisches Theater, after Frederick William IV of Prussia. Located on Schumann Street , the Deutsches Theater consists of two adjoining stages that share a common, classical facade...
under director Max Reinhardt
Max Reinhardt
----Max Reinhardt was an Austrian theater and film director and actor.-Biography:...
. Apart from straight theatre, Gründgens also worked with Otto Klemperer
Otto Klemperer
Otto Klemperer was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading conductors of the 20th century.-Biography:Otto Klemperer was born in Breslau, Silesia Province, then in Germany...
at the Kroll Opera, as a kabarett
Kabarett
Kabarett is a form of cabaret which developed in Germany from 1901, with the creation of the Überbrettl venue, and that by the Weimar era in the mid 1920s was characterized by political satire and gallows humor...
artist and also as a movie actor, most notably in Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
's 1931 film M
M (1931 film)
M is a 1931 German drama-thriller directed by Fritz Lang and written by Lang and his wife Thea von Harbou. It was Lang's first sound film, although he had directed more than a dozen films previously....
, which decisively added to his popularity. From 1932 he was a member of the Prussian State Theatre
Konzerthaus Berlin
The Konzerthaus Berlin is a concert hall situated on the Gendarmenmarkt square in the central Mitte district of Berlin housing the German orchestra Konzerthausorchester Berlin...
ensemble, first scintillating as Mephistopheles.
Gründgens' career proceeded after the Nazi Machtergreifung
Machtergreifung
Machtergreifung is a German word meaning "seizure of power". It is normally used specifically to refer to the Nazi takeover of power in the democratic Weimar Republic on 30 January 1933, the day Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, turning it into the Nazi German dictatorship.-Term:The...
: in 1934 he became intendant of the Prussian State Theatre; though constant attacks on his sexual orientation made him ask the Prussian Minister President Hermann Göring
Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"...
for his discharge after the Night of the Long Knives
Night of the Long Knives
The Night of the Long Knives , sometimes called "Operation Hummingbird " or in Germany the "Röhm-Putsch," was a purge that took place in Nazi Germany between June 30 and July 2, 1934, when the Nazi regime carried out a series of political murders...
. Göring rejected the request and instead appointed him a member of the Prussian state council to ensure his immunity. Gründgens remained his protégé against the ambitions of Reich Minister Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
to gain control over the whole scope of cultural work in Germany. In 1941 Gründgens starred in the propaganda film Ohm Krüger
Ohm Krüger
Ohm Krüger was a 1941 propaganda film, produced in Nazi Germany, about Paul Kruger in the Boer War. It was the first film to be awarded the 'Film of the Nation' award. It was re-released in 1944.-Plot:...
and also in Friedemann Bach
Friedemann Bach (film)
Friedemann Bach is a German 1941 film depicting the life of Johann Sebastian Bach's son Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. The film is based on Albert Emil Brachvogel's novel Friedemann Bach...
, a film he also produced. After Goebbels's total war speech
Sportpalast speech
The Sportpalast or total war speech was a speech delivered by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels at the Berlin Sportpalast to a large but carefully selected audience on 18 February 1943 calling for a total war, as the tide of World War II had turned against Nazi Germany and its Axis allies.It is...
on 18 February 1943, Gründgens volunteered for the Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
but was again recalled by Göring, who had his name added to the Gottbegnadeten list
Gottbegnadeten list
The Gottbegnadeten list was a 36-page list of artists considered crucial to Nazi culture. The list was assembled in September 1944 by Joseph Goebbels, the head of the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, and Germany's dictator Adolf Hitler.The list exempted the designated artists from...
.
From 1936 till 1946, Gründgens was married to the famous German actress Marianne Hoppe
Marianne Hoppe
Marianne Hoppe was a most distinguished German theatre and film actress.-Life and work:Born in Rostock, Marianne Hoppe became a leading lady of stage and films in Germany. She was born into a wealthy land owning family and was initially privately educated on her father's private estate...
. The wedlock was widely seen as a lavender marriage
Lavender marriage
Lavender marriage is a type of male-female marriage of convenience in which the couple are not both heterosexual and conceal the homosexual or bisexual orientation of one or both spouses...
.
Imprisoned by the Soviet NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
in 1945, Gründgens was released thanks to the intercession by the Communist actor Ernst Bush
Ernst Busch (actor)
Ernst Busch was a German singer and actor.Busch first rose to prominence as an interpreter of political songs, particularly those of Kurt Tucholsky, in the Berlin Kabarett scene of the 1920s...
, whom Gründgens himself had saved from execution by the Nazis in 1943. During the denazification
Denazification
Denazification was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of any remnants of the National Socialist ideology. It was carried out specifically by removing those involved from positions of influence and by disbanding or rendering...
process his statements helped to exonerate acting colleagues like Göring's widow Emmy or the director Veit Harlan
Veit Harlan
Veit Harlan was a German film director and actor.-Life and career:Harlan was born in Berlin. After studying under Max Reinhardt, he first appeared on the stage in 1915 and, after World War I, worked in the Berlin stage. In 1922 he married Jewish actress and cabaret singer Dora Gerson; the couple...
(Jud Süß
Jud Süß (1940 film)
Jud Süß is an antisemitic propaganda film produced in 1940 by Terra Filmkunst at the behest of Joseph Goebbels. The movie was directed by Veit Harlan, who wrote the screenplay with Eberhard Wolfgang Möller and Ludwig Metzger, and starred Ferdinand Marian and Harlan's wife Kristina Söderbaum.The...
). Gründgens turned back to the Deutsches theater, later became intendant of the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus and from 1955 directed the Deutsches Schauspielhaus
Deutsches Schauspielhaus
The Deutsches Schauspielhaus is a theatre in the St. Georg quarter of the city of Hamburg, Germany. With a capacity for 1192 spectators, it places it as Germany's largest theatre...
in Hamburg. He again performed as Mephistopheles, the 1960 film Faust
Faust (1960 film)
Faust is a 1960 West German fantasy film directed by Peter Gorski. It is based on Goethe's Faust and adapted from the theater production at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg...
by Peter Gorski was shot with the Deutsches Schauspielhaus ensemble.
On October 7, 1963, Gründgens died on a journey in Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
of an internal hemorrhage, though it has been claimed that he in fact committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by an overdose of sleeping pills
Hypnotic
Hypnotic drugs are a class of psychoactives whose primary function is to induce sleep and to be used in the treatment of insomnia and in surgical anesthesia...
. He is buried at the Hamburg Ohlsdorf Cemetery
Ohlsdorf Cemetery
-External links:* *...
.
Mephisto judgement
Posthumously, Gründgens was involved in one of the most famous literary cases in 20th century Germany, as the subject of a novel entitled MephistoMephisto (novel)
Mephisto – Novel of a Career is the sixth novel by Klaus Mann, which was published in 1936 whilst he was in exile in Amsterdam. It was published for the first time in Germany in the East Berlin Aufbau-Verlag in 1956...
by his former brother-in-law Klaus Mann, who had died in 1949. The novel, a thinly veiled account of Gründgens's life, portrayed its main character ("Hendrik Höfgen") as having shady connections with the Nazi regime. Gründgens's adopted son and heir Peter Gorski, who had directed Faust, in 1966 successfully sued the publisher on his late father's behalf, confirmed by the Federal Court of Justice
Federal Court of Justice of Germany
The Federal Court of Justice of Germany in Karlsruhe is the highest court in the system of ordinary jurisdiction in Germany. It is the supreme court in all matters of criminal and private law...
in 1968.
In the long-time lawsuit the controversy about libel and the freedom of fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
from censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
was finally decided by the Federal Constitutional Court
Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
The Federal Constitutional Court is a special court established by the Grundgesetz, the German basic law...
in 1971. It ruled, that Gründgens's post-mortem personality rights
Personality rights
"Personality rights" is a common or casual reference to the proper term of art "Right of Publicity". The Right of Publicity can be defined simply as the right of an individual to control the commercial use of his or her name, image, likeness or other unequivocal aspects of one's identity...
prevailed and the prohibition imposed on the publishing house is valid. However, the novel was again published in 1981 by Rowohlt
Rowohlt
Rowohlt Verlag is a publishing house based in Reinbek and also Hamburg and Berlin, part of the Georg von Holtzbrinck Group . The company was created in 1908 in Leipzig by Ernst Rowohlt.- Parts of the company :* Kindler Verlag...
, which met with no further protests.
In 1981 the novel was made into the film Mephisto
Mephisto (1981 film)
Mephisto is the title of a 1981 film adaptation of Klaus Mann's novel of the same name, directed by István Szabó, and starring Klaus Maria Brandauer as Hendrik Höfgen...
, Directed by István Szabó
István Szabó
István Szabó is a Hungarian film director, screenwriter, and opera director.Szabó is the most internationally famous Hungarian filmmaker since the late 1960s. Working in the tradition of European, auteurist art cinema, he has made films that represent many of the psychological and political...
, Klaus Maria Brandauer
Klaus Maria Brandauer
Klaus Maria Brandauer is an Austrian actor, film director, and professor at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna.-Personal life:...
played the role of Hendrik Höfgen. The film was a huge commercial and critical success winning the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
in 1981.
Director
- Eine Stadt steht Kopf (also actor, 1932)
- Die Finanzen des Großherzogs (1933)
- Kapriolen (also actor, 1937)
- Der Schritt vom Wege (1938)
- Zwei Welten (1939)
- Friedemann BachFriedemann Bach (film)Friedemann Bach is a German 1941 film depicting the life of Johann Sebastian Bach's son Wilhelm Friedemann Bach. The film is based on Albert Emil Brachvogel's novel Friedemann Bach...
(also actor, 1940) - FaustFaust (1960 film)Faust is a 1960 West German fantasy film directed by Peter Gorski. It is based on Goethe's Faust and adapted from the theater production at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg...
(also actor)
Actor
- Ich glaub' nie mehr an eine Frau (1929)
- Va Banque (1930)
- Hokuspokus (1930)
- Danton (1930)
- Brand in der Oper (1930)
- YorckYorckYorck is a 1931 German war film directed by Gustav Ucicky and starring Werner Krauss, Grete Mosheim and Rudolf Forster. It portrays the life of the Prussian General Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg, particularly his refusal to serve in Napoleon's army during the French Invasion of Russia in 1812.-Cast:*...
(1931) - M – Eine Stadt sucht einen MörderM (1931 film)M is a 1931 German drama-thriller directed by Fritz Lang and written by Lang and his wife Thea von Harbou. It was Lang's first sound film, although he had directed more than a dozen films previously....
(1931) - Luise, Königin von Preußen (1931)
- Die Gräfin von Monte Christo (1931)
- Der Raub der Mona Lisa (1931)
- Teilnehmer antwortet nicht (1932)
- LiebeleiLiebelei (film)Liebelei is a German film directed by Max Ophüls. The film, based on a play of the same name by Arthur Schnitzler, describes an ill-fated love affair.-Plot:...
(1932) - Der Tunnel (1933)
- Die schönen Tage von Aranjuez (1933)
- So endete eine Liebe (1934)
- Schwarzer Jäger Johanna (1934)
- Das Erbe in Pretoria (1934)
- Pygmalion (1935)
- Das Mädchen Johanna (1935)
- Eine Frau ohne Bedeutung (1936)
- Tanz auf dem Vulkan (1938)
- Ohm Krüger (1941)
- FaustFaustFaust is the protagonist of a classic German legend; a highly successful scholar, but also dissatisfied with his life, and so makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust's tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical...
(1955/1957) - FaustFaust (1960 film)Faust is a 1960 West German fantasy film directed by Peter Gorski. It is based on Goethe's Faust and adapted from the theater production at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg...
(1960) - Das Glas WasserA Glass of WaterA Glass of Water is a 1960 German comedy-musical film directed by Helmut Käutner. It was entered into the 10th Berlin International Film Festival.-Cast:* Gustaf Gründgens - Sir Henry St...
(1960)
External links
- A biographical article http://www.wsws.org/articles/1999/dec1999/gust-d29.shtml
- Photographs of Gustaf Gründgens
- Gustaf Gründgens playing Mephisto in the Hamburg Theatre production of Goethe's Faust, in German with English subtitles