Hans Albers

Hans Albers
Hans Albers
Born	(1891-09-22)September 22, 1891 Hamburg, German Empire
Died	Starnberg, West Germany
Occupation	German actor and singer
Years active	1918–1960

Hans Albers with a woman, 1924

Hans Philipp August Albers (September 22, 1891 – July 24, 1960) was a German actor and singer. He was the biggest male movie star in Germany between 1930 and 1945 and one of the most popular German actors of the twentieth century.

Life and work

Hans Albers was born in Hamburg, the son of a butcher, and grew up in the district of St. Georg. He was seriously interested in acting by his late teens and took acting classes without the knowledge of his parents. In 1915 Albers was drafted to serve in the German Army in World War I, but was wounded early on. After the war Albers moved to Berlin, where he found work as a comedic actor in various Weimar-Era Berlin theatres. His breakthrough performance was that of a waiter in the play Verbrecher (Criminals). It was also in Berlin that Albers began a long-term relationship with half-Jewish actress Hansi Burg (1898–1975). The relationship ended only when he died in 1960.

After roles in over one hundred silent films, Albers starred in the first German talkie Die Nacht gehört uns (The Night Belongs to Us) in 1929. Soon thereafter, Albers played big-mouthed strong man Mazeppa alongside Marlene Dietrich in her star-making classic Der blaue Engel (The Blue Angel). Albers himself shot to fame in 1930 with the movie Der Greifer and constantly enhanced his star status with similar daredevil roles in the 1930s. He was probably at his best when teamed-up with fellow German movie legend Heinz Rühmann, as in Bomben auf Monte Carlo (1931) and Der Mann, der Sherlock Holmes war (1937). Many of Albers' songs from his movies became huge hits and some even remain popular to this day.

When the Nazis came to power in 1933, Albers and his Jewish girlfriend Hansi Burg moved to Starnberger See in Bavaria. While Albers himself never showed public support for the Nazi regime, he became the most popular actor under Nazi rule. The actor nevertheless, avoided an overly close association in public. As the ultimate sign of his popularity, the Nazis even silently accepted his relationship with Hansi Burg for a long time. But Albers finally gave in to the pressure. Hansi Burg went to Switzerland and then to Great Britain in 1939, but they secretly remained a couple with him even managing to send her financial support. They were reunited after the war, when she returned to Germany in a British uniform.

Hans Albers statue in the Hans-Albers-Platz, Hamburg-St. Pauli. By Jörg Immendorff, 1986

Inscription at the base of the Hans Albers statue: Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins

In 1943, Albers was paid a huge sum of money to star in Ufa's big-budgeted anniversary picture Münchhausen but was careful not to give the impression that he was endorsing the National Socialist regime, which was indeed, never asked of him. Also in 1943, Albers starred in another classic German film Große Freiheit Nr. 7 with actress Ilse Werner. Some of the scenes are said to have been shot in Prague because of bomb damage to Hamburg. The sailing ship Padua for the outdoor scenes of the film has survived under Soviet and Russian flag until this day as Krusenstern.

After World War II, well-funded Albers avoided the financial plight and professional banning many actors faced on account of his association with Hansi Burg. Nevertheless, German "heroes" were considered undesirable by the occupation government that wanted to promote their own. This accounted for a major break in his career and made him hard to cast. Eventually he found an opening with respectful wisdom-with-age type character parts with some public acclaim, but with these never again enjoyed the huge stardom of the 1930s and early 1940s. By the early 1950s, his age finally showed and his powerful presence and freshness was almost gone. This was promoted by his increasing alcoholism during the 1950s. Yet he remained active in movies until the very end. Albers died in 1960 in a sanatorium near the Starnberg See of internal bleedings. The whole nation mourned his loss.

Taking a position in Germany that roughly corresponds with that of John Wayne in the USA, Albers' name will forever be closely associated with the North German port city of Hamburg, and especially the Hamburg neighbourhood of St. Pauli, where there is a square named "Hans-Albers-Platz". Today he is probably more known for his music than his films, and his music is still widely known in modern Germany, even among young people. Outside of Northern Europe, however, Albers remains virtually unknown, although the image of an older man in a seaman's cap and raincoat playing accordion and singing may be recognised by many outside of Germany, even if they don't know that this image is based on Hans Albers. As a case in point, McDonald's used such an image in an American television ad campaign in 1986. In reality, Albers had no experience on the water, this being restricted to a one-day trip to Heligoland.

Many of Albers' songs were humorous tales of drunken, womanizing sailors on shore-leave, with double entendres such as "It hurts the first time, but with time, you get used to it" in reference to a girl falling in love for the first time. Albers' songs were often peppered with expressions in Low German, which is spoken in Northern Germany. His most famous song by far is Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins, ("On the Reeperbahn at Half Past Midnight") which has become one of the best known songs about Hamburg and an unofficial anthem of the colourful neighbourhood of St. Pauli. The Hans-Albers-Platz, one block south of the Reeperbahn, has a statue of Albers, by the German artist Jörg Immendorff.

Selected filmography

Title	Year	Director	Co-stars
Der Mut zur Sünde	1918	Heinrich Bolten-Baeckers and Robert Leffler	Olga Desmond and Guido Schützendorf
The Grand Babylon Hotel	1920	E.A. Dupont	Max Landa
The False Dimitri	1922
Inge Larsen	1923	Hans Steinhoff	Henny Porten, Paul Otto
By Order of Pompadour	1924	Frederic Zelnik	Lya Mara, Frida Richard
The Venus of Montmartre	1925	Frederic Zelnik	Lya Mara, Jack Trevor
The Girl with a Patron	1925	Max Mack	Ossi Oswalda and Willy Fritsch
Wood Love	1925
Women of Luxury	1925
The King and the Girl	1925
Athletes	1925
A Modern Dubarry	1926	Alexander Korda	Maria Corda, Alfred Abel, Marlene Dietrich
The Blue Danube	1926	Graf Jaromir
The Three Mannequins	1926	Jaap Speyer	Anton Pointner, Lydia Potechina
The Fallen	1926	Hammer
We Belong to the Imperial-Royal Infantry Regiment	1926	Oberleutnant Ahrens
Rinaldo Rinaldini	1927	Max Obal, Rudolf Dworsky	Luciano Albertini, Olga Engl
A Perfect Gentleman	1927	Vilhelm Bryde, Gösta Ekman	La Jana
Marie's Soldier	1927	Erich Schönfelder	Xenia Desni, Harry Liedtke
Princess Olala	1928	Robert Land	Walter Rilla, Marlene Dietrich
Asphalt	1929	Joe May	Albert Steinrück, Gustav Fröhlich
Der rote Kreis	1929	Frederic Zelnik	Lya Mara, Fred Louis Lerch and Stewart Rome
The Night Belongs to Us	1929	Carl Froelich	Charlotte Ander, Otto Wallburg
Dear Homeland	1929	Verbrecher / Chefingenieur Orginsky
Der blaue Engel	1929/30	Josef von Sternberg	Marlene Dietrich, Emil Jannings, Kurt Gerron
Der Greifer	1930	Richard Eichberg	Charlotte Susa, Eugen Burg
Hans in allen Gassen	1930	Carl Froelich	Camilla Horn, Gustav Diessl
Bomben auf Monte Carlo	1931	Hanns Schwarz	Heinz Rühmann, Anna Sten, Peter Lorre
Der Draufgänger	1931	Richard Eichberg	Martha Eggerth, Leonard Steckel
The White Demon	1932	Kurt Gerron	Gerda Maurus, Peter Lorre
The Victor	1932	Hans Hinrich and Paul Martin	Käthe von Nagy
Quick	1932	Robert Siodmak	Lilian Harvey, Paul Hörbiger
F.P.1 antwortet nicht	1932	Karl Hartl	Sybille Schmitz, Paul Hartmann, Peter Lorre
Heut kommt's drauf an	1933	Kurt Gerron	Luise Rainer, Oscar Karlweis
Ein gewisser Herr Gran	1933	Gerhard Lamprecht	Albert Bassermann, Walter Rilla, Olga Tschechowa
Flüchtlinge	1933	Gustav Ucicky	Käthe von Nagy, Eugen Klöpfer, Veit Harlan
Gold	1934	Karl Hartl	Brigitte Helm, Friedrich Kayßler, Lien Deyers
Peer Gynt	1934	Fritz Wendhausen	Lucie Höflich, Marieluise Claudius, Olga Tschechowa
Henker, Frauen und Soldaten	1935	Johannes Meyer	Charlotte Susa, Aribert Wäscher
Varieté	1935	Nicolas Farkas	Annabella, Attila Hörbiger
Savoy Hotel 217	1936	Gustav Ucicky	Brigitte Horney, Rene Deltgen, Käthe Dorsch
Die gelbe Flagge	1937	Gerhard Lamprecht	Olga Tschechowa, Dorothea Wieck, Rudolf Klein-Rogge
Der Mann, der Sherlock Holmes war	1937	Karl Hartl	Heinz Rühmann, Marieluise Claudius, Paul Bildt
Sergeant Berry	1938	Herbert Selpin	Alexander Golling, Herbert Hübner
Travelling People	1938	Jacques Feyder	Francoise Rosay, Camilla Horn
Water for Canitoga	1939	Herbert Selpin	Charlotte Susa, Hilde Sessak
Ein Mann auf Abwegen	1939	Herbert Selpin	Charlotte Thiele, Hilde Weissner
Trenck, der Pandur	1940	Herbert Selpin	Käthe Dorsch, Sybille Schmitz, Hilde Weissner
Carl Peters	1941	Herbert Selpin	Herbert Hübner, Fritz Odemar
Münchhausen	1942/43	Josef von Baky	Brigitte Horney, Ilse Werner, Ferdinand Marian
Große Freiheit Nr. 7	1943/44	Helmut Käutner	Ilse Werner, Hans Söhnker
And the Heavens Above Us	1947	Josef von Baky	Paul Edwin Roth, Lotte Koch
The White Hell of Pitz Palu	1950	Rolf Hansen	Liselotte Pulver, Adrian Hoven
Chased by the Devil	1950	Viktor Tourjansky	Willy Birgel, Lil Dagover, Heidemarie Hatheyer
Bluebeard	1951	Christian-Jaque	Cecile Aubry, Fritz Kortner
Nights on the Road	1952	Rudolf Jugert	Hildegard Knef, Marius Goring
Jonny Saves Nebrador	1953	Rudolf Jugert	Margot Hielscher, Peter Pasetti
Captain Bay-Bay	1953	Helmut Käutner	Bum Krüger, Lotte Koch
On the Reeperbahn at Half Past Midnight	1954	Wolfgang Liebeneiner	Heinz Rühmann, Gustav Knuth
The Last Man	1955	Harald Braun	Romy Schneider, Rudolf Forster, Joachim Fuchsberger
Vor Sonnenuntergang	1956	Gottfried Reinhardt	Annemarie Düringer, Martin Held
I fidanzati della morte	1957	Romolo Marcellini	Sylva Koscina, Rik Battaglia
The Mad Bomberg	1957	Rolf Thiele	Marion Michael, Gert Fröbe, Harald Juhnke
The Heart of St. Pauli	1957	Eugen York	Hansjörg Felmy, Gert Fröbe
The Copper	1958	Eugen York	Hansjörg Felmy, Werner Peters, Horst Frank
It Happened Only Once	1958	Géza von Bolváry	Helga Martin, Stanislav Ledinek
Man in the River	1958	Eugen York	Gina Albert, Hans Nielsen
Thirteen Old Donkeys	1958	Hans Deppe	Marianne Hoppe, Karin Dor, Werner Peters
Kein Engel ist so rein	1960	Wolfgang Becker	Sabine Sinjen, Peter Kraus, Horst Frank

Songs (selection)

1931

• Das ist die Liebe der Matrosen (from picture Bomben auf Monte Carlo)
• Kind, du brauchst nicht weinen (from picture Der Draufgänger)

1932

• Flieger, grüß' mit mir die Sonne (from picture F. P. 1 antwortet nicht)
• Hoppla, jetzt komm' ich (from picture Der Sieger)
• Komm' auf die Schaukel, Luise (from stage play Liliom)
• Komm und spiel mit mir (from picture Quick)

1933

• "Mein Gorilla hat 'ne Villa im Zoo" (from picture Heut kommt's drauf an)

1936

• "In meinem Herzen Schatz, da ist für viele Platz" (from picture Savoy-Hotel 217)

1937

• "Jawohl, meine Herrn" [with Heinz Rühmann] (from picture Der Mann, der Sherlock Holmes war)

1939

• "Good bye, Jonny" (from picture Wasser für Canitoga)

1944

• "La Paloma" (from picture Große Freiheit Nr. 7)
• "Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins" (from picture Große Freiheit Nr. 7)

1952

• "Kleine weiße Möwe" (from picture Käpt'n Bay-Bay)
• "Nimm mich mit, Kapitän, auf die Reise" (from picture Käpt'n Bay-Bay)

1954

• "Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins" (from picture Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins)
• "Komm auf die Schaukel, Luise" (from picture Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins)

1957

• "Das Herz von St. Pauli" (from picture Das Herz von St. Pauli)

1959

• "Mein Junge, halt die Füße still" (from picture Dreizehn alte Esel)

Bibliography

• Joachim Cadenbach: Hans Albers. Berlin: Universitas-Verlag, 1975, ISBN 3-8004-0818-X
• Eberhard Spieß: Hans Albers. Eine Filmographie. Herausgegeben von Hilmar Hoffmann und Walter Schobert in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Deutschen Institut für Filmkunde, Wiesbaden. Verlag: Frankfurt am Main: Kommunales Kino, 1977
• Uwe-Jens Schumann: Hans Albers – seine Filme, sein Leben. (= Heyne-Filmbibliothek, Band 18) München: Heyne, 1980, ISBN 3-453-86018-7
• Hans-Christoph Blumenberg: In meinem Herzen, Schatz … Die Lebensreise des Schauspielers und Sängers Hans Albers . Frankfurt am Main: Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, 1981, ISBN 3-596-10662-1
• Michaela Krützen: Hans Albers: Eine deutsche Karriere. Berlin; Weinheim: Beltz Quadriga 1995
• Michaela Krützen: „Gruppe 1: Positiv“ Carl Zuckmayers Beurteilungen über Hans Albers und Heinz Rühmann. In: Carl Zuckmayer Jahrbuch/ hg. von Günther Nickel. Göttingen 2002, S. 179-227
• Matthias Wegner: Hans Albers. Ellert & Richter, Hamburg 2005 (Hamburger Köpfe) ISBN 3-8319-0224-0

External links

• Hans Albers at the Internet Movie Database
• Photographs of Hans Albers and Bibliography
• Albers at filmportal.de