Actress Angelica Domröse is dead

Domröse was born on April 4, 1941 in Berlin-Weißensee. Her childhood was difficult: her father, a French-Jewish forced laborer, died in an explosion during World War II.

Domröse received her first engagement in 1961 with the renowned Berliner Ensemble under Helene Weigel, where, among other things, she played Polly in the “Threepenny Opera”. In 1966 she moved to the Berliner Volksbühne and worked there under director Benno Besson until 1979, mainly in classical roles – from Shakespeare to Hacks. She later described her years at the Volksbühne as “the most exciting theater period of my life.”

However, Domröse achieved her greatest fame through her film and television work. She was named “GDR Television Artist of the Year” three times – in 1971, 1973 and 1975. Before she left for the Federal Republic, she appeared in over 50 feature and television films. Critics attributed it primarily to her that Heiner Carow’s cult film “The Legend of Paul and Paula” (1973) and the film “Effi Briest” became classics for Defa, the largest film company in the GDR. As Paula, a single young mother who falls in love with a married civil servant, she became an icon of GDR cinema. The Stuttgarter Zeitung wrote about her portrayal: “Dreamy, sensitive and yet tough, her Paula was an equal counterpart to all the new female characters in western cinema.” Former Chancellor Angela Merkel also has a special relationship with the film, as you can read here.

In 1976, Domröse signed the petition against the expatriation of the GDR songwriter Wolf Biermann – a decision that the GDR authorities resented and put further obstacles in her way. In 1980 she made her German theater debut as Helena in the farewell production of “Faust” at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg. Together with her husband, the actor Hilmar Thate, she left the GDR on a multi-year exit visa and followed director Boy Gobert to the West Berlin Schillertheater for four years. There she impressed critics, among others, as Mrs. Quangel in “Everyone dies for themselves” (1981) and in the title role of Wedekind’s “Lulu” (1981).

Domröse was one of the few GDR actresses who remained permanently successful after leaving for the West.