Am 19.11.2023 konnten wir nun endlich die Gedenktafel für Adolf Wohlbrück enthüllen. Näheres finden Sie hier auf dem Blog meines englischen Kollegen Dr. James Downs vom Filmmuseum Exeter.
New plaque for Anton Walbrook’s house in Berlin
in a leafy suburb of southwest Berlin, was AW’s
home from the autumn of 1934 until his departure for Hollywood (and
then onto the UK) two years later. On 19 November this year – the
anniversary of the actor’s birthday – I was delighted to take part in a
programme of events at the house in which a plaque was unveiled to
commemorate AW’s time here.
The programme was organised by Dr Rosemarie Killius, who had
already hosted a similar ‘Hommage’ for Maria Cebotari in Vienna, as
well as other events relating to AW in Frankfurt and elsewhere.
We were joined for the occasion by actor and director Holger Mahlich,
whose father-in-law was Wolfgang Liebeneiner (1905-87), an actor and
director at the Munich Kammerspiele, Preußisches Staatstheater, UFA
studios and other venues familiar to AW – they probably met at some
point. Holger read out a passage from Schiller, ‘Der Nachruhm eines
Schauspielers’ [‘The posthumous fame of an actor’], after which Dr
Killius gave an overview of AW’s film career in Germany, and I added a
few words on his life in England.
Dr Killius and I then unveiled the plaque:
Thanks to the kind generosity of the current owners of the house, we
were all invited inside for drinks and home-made cake. The interior of
the house remains substantially unchanged since AW lived here, and as
the cultural tastes of the owners mean that the rooms are full of books
and paintings, as well as a grand piano and numerous sculptures, it
was not hard to imagine AW living here in similar surroundings. Some
glimpses into the actor’s life here can be found in Hanna Heßling’s
article, ‘Zigeunerbaron zu Hause: Adolf Wohlbrück plaudert am Kamin,’
Mein Film, No. 484 (1935), pp. 4–6, and in Werner Holl, Das Buch von
Adolf Wohlbrück (1935), pp. 44–5.
I’d always understood the house to be located in Zehlendorf, but the
owner explained to me that the boundary line between Zehlendorf and
Dahlem runs up the middle of the street, with AW’s house lying on the
Dahlem side. As this is regarded as a more desirable district, the
houses on this side are – rather absurdly – priced far higher than those
across the road.
Also present in the house was Frau Dr. Karin Timme, of the publisher
Frank & Timme GmbH, with whom we are having some discussions
about a possible German translation of the biography. Copies of the
book were for sale, alongside Holger Mahlich’s biography of Wolfgang
Liebeneiner, and Dr Killius’ book on Maria Cebotari.
Afterwards, a group of us went to the nearby local history museum, the
Heimatmuseum Zehlendorf, for a special screening of Allotria (1936),
the stylish and fast-paced comedy in which AW co-starred with Renate
Müller (for the fourth time), Hilde Hildebrand (for the sixth time), Heinz
Rühmann and Jenny Jugo. All in all, this was a wonderful day, and we
are all deeply indebted to Dr Killius for her hard work in organising the
Hommage and for commissioning the design and construction of the
plaque.