Hans Albers

Hans Albers (September 22 1891 Hamburg - July 24 1960 Starnberg) was a German actor and singer. He was the single 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

He was born Hans Philipp August Albers as the son of a butcher and grew up in the Hamburg district of St. Georg. He had been 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 the fatherland in the Great War (World War I), but he was, in retrospect, lucky enough to be 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 Weimar Berlin that Albers began a long-term relationship with half-Jewish actress Hansi Burg (d 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 supported the Nazi regime, he became the most popular actor under Nazi rule. While Hitler's propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels adored Albers, the actor avoided the Nazi clique, and refused to show with them 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 and were reunited after the war.

In 1943, Albers was paid a huge sum of money to star in Ufa's big-budgeted anniversary picture "Münchhausen" but was always careful not to give the impression that he was endorsing the National Socialist regime. Also in 1943, Albers starred in another classic German film "Große Freiheit Nr. 7" with actress Ilse Werner. The film had to be shot in Prague because of bomb damage to Hamburg.

After World War II, Albers matured into character parts to some public and critical acclaim, but he 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 may also have been due to 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 Starnberger See of internal bleedings. The whole nation mourned his loss.

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 "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.

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 is by far "Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins," ("On the Reeperbahn at half past midnight") which has become the unofficial anthem of the colourful neighbourhood of St. Pauli.

Filmography (selection)

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

*imdb name|id=0002161|name=Hans Albers
* [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=103 Photographs of Hans Albers and Bibliography]
* [http://www.filmportal.de/df/53/Credits,,,,,,,,59736BC60AA64B34BF29473BAF9291C1credits,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.html Albers at filmportal.de]

Persondata
NAME= Albers, Hans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Albers, Hans Philipp August
SHORT DESCRIPTION=German actor and singer
DATE OF BIRTH=September 22 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH= Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH=July 24 1960
PLACE OF DEATH=Starnberg