Richard Tauber

Austrian opera singer Richard Tauber (1891-1948) was one of the world's finest Mozartian tenors of the 20th century. With his monocle and high hat, he became the 'epitome of Viennese charm' with such popular musical films as Das Land des Lächelns/The Land of Smiles (1930) and Melodie der Liebe/Right to Happiness (1932).


German postcard in the Ross Luxusklasse series by Ross Verlag, no. 548, 1919-1924. Photo: Atelier Schneider, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4877/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Atelier Ernst Schneider, Berlin / Tauber Tonfilm G.m.b.H.


Dutch postcard. Photo: Filma Film. Publicity still for Ich glaub nie mehr an eine Frau/Never Trust a Woman (Max Reichmann, 1930).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7564/1, 1932-1933. Photo: H. Jeidels, Berlin. Richard Tauber as Ito in tha stage operetta 'Frühlingsstürme' (1933, Spring Storms). Jaromir Weinberger’s operetta 'Frühlingsstürme' was "the last Weimar Republic operetta”. It was written for Richard Tauber and premiered at the end of January 1933. After only 20 performances – disturbed by rioting Nazi troups – the show was gone, and forgotten, except for a few obligatory Tauber recordings and this postcard. In 2019, 'Frühlingsstürme' was finally restaged at the Komische Oper in Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 7048/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Atelier Schneider, Berlin. Richard Tauber as composer Franz Schubert in Blossom Time (Paul Stein, 1934), in Germany known as 'Das Driemäderlhaus' (House of the Three Girls). Tauber played Schubert in several productions and tours of 'Das Dreimäderlhaus' in Europe, first at Plauen, Germany, on 24 January 1920, and then in five performances of the original version at the Theatre an der Wien in October 1921. He presented a new version of it in German in 1933 at the Aldwych Theatre under the title 'Lilac Time', adapted by himself and Sylvio Mossée. Tauber then made the 1934 film version.

Illegitimate Son

Richard Tauber was born in Linz, Austria in 1891. He was the illegitimate son of soubrette Elisabeth Seiffert and actor and theatre director Richard Anton Tauber. He was given the name Richard Denemy (Denemy being his mother's maiden name).

The boy was raised by his mother until he was seven and later by his father, who officially gave Richard his name. At the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, he studied piano, composition and conducting, subjects which stood Tauber in good stead in later years. He was heard singing by the well-known voice teacher Professor Carl Beines, who encouraged him to sing more quietly and to interprete the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

In 1913 he made his stage debut as Tamino in Mozart's 'Die Zauberflöte' (The Magic Flute) with the help of his father, who had become the Intendant of both the Stadt-Theater in Chemnitz. He was quickly engaged for major roles at the Dresden Opera, where he stayed until 1926. Then he joined the Vienna Staatsoper.

In these years, he worked up a rich repertoire of roles in such operas as 'Don Giovanni', 'Tosca', and 'Carmen'. Franz Lehár composed several operettas specifically designed for Tauber's voice, including 'Der Zarewitsch' (1926), 'Friederike' (1928), and 'Das Land des Lächelns/The Land of Smiles' (1929). Tauber made over seven hundred gramophone records, mainly for the Odeon Records label. His recordings include opera, operetta, art song, popular tunes and novelties.

He also tested the then new talking pictures in such popular musical films as Ich küsse Ihre Hand, Madame/I Kiss Your Hand Madame (Robert Land, 1929) with Marlene Dietrich, Das Land des Lächelns/The Land of Smiles (Max Reichmann, 1930), and Melodie der Liebe/Right to Happiness (Georg Jacoby, 1932).

Richard Tauber was elegant in appearance. He had a slight squint in his right eye and disguised it by wearing a monocle which, when accompanied by a top hat, added to the elegant effect. For many people he became the epitome of Viennese charm.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 124/1. Photo: Emelka / Tauber. Richard Tauber in Das Land des Lächelns/Land of Smiles (Max Reichmann, 1930).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 124/2. Photo: Emelka / Tauber. Richard Tauber and Hella Kürty in Das Land des Lächelns/Land of Smiles (Max Reichmann, 1930).


German postcard by Odeon. Photo: Ernst Schneider, Berlin.


German postcard by Odeon. Photo: Ernst Schneider, Berlin. Caption: Richard Tauber as Zarewitsch (Tsarevich) only on Odeon.


German postcard by Odeon-Electric. Photo: Ernst Schneider, Berlin. Richard Tauber as Goethe in the operetta Friederike in 1928.

Land Without Music

In 1933, Richard Tauber was assaulted by a group of Nazi Brownshirts because he was part Jewish on his father's side. Despite his fame and popularity, he decided to leave Hitler's Germany for his native Austria.

He often worked in London where he appeared in some musical films. He earned fine notices for his portrayal of composer Franz Schubert in Blossom Time (Paul L. Stein, 1934), as well as for his work in Heart's Desire (Paul L. Stein, 1935), and Land Without Music (Walter Forde, 1936).

He married his British co-star Diana Napier. They appeared together again in the Leoncavallo tragedy Pagliacci (Karl Grune, 1936). In 1938, he made his London operatic debut in Die Zauberflöte under Sir Thomas Beecham.

Earlier that year, Nazi Germany annexed Austria and Tauber left Austria for good. Despite receiving lucrative offers from the USA, he remained in the UK for the entire war.

In 1947, Tauber sought help for an aggravated cough which was subsequently diagnosed as lung cancer. The Vienna State Opera was in London for a short season at the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden and they invited Tauber to sing one performance with his old company. He gave a bravura performance as Don Ottavio in 'Don Giovanni' and fulfilled this engagement the following day at the Camden Theatre, having begun and ended his formidable career performing Mozart.

Three days later, he entered a London hospital to have his left lung removed, but it was too late. Richard Tauber died of complications in January 1948. He was 56. In the musical bio Du bist die Welt für mich/You Are the World for Me (Ernst Marischka, 1953) Rudolf Schock acted and sang the role of Tauber.


Dutch postcard by JosPe, no. 468. With Marta Eggerth.


German collectors card in the series 'Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Tonfilm', album no. 11, picture no. 25. Photo: Bayerische Filmges. / Ross Verlag. Richard Tauber in Das Land des Lächelns/The Land of Smiles (Max Reichmann, 1930).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5880/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Walther Jaeger, Berlin.


German postcard. Richard Tauber and Petra Unkel in Melodie der Liebe (Georg Jacoby, 1932). Caption: We will soon bring the artistic film event of 1932. Chamber singer Richard Tauber with his daughter in the film "Melody of Love". Don't miss out on this real film wonder.


French postcard in the Europe series, no. 997, ca. 1932. Photo: Emelka Konzern.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5251/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Atelier Ernst Schneider, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 6307/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Atelier Jacobi, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 8540/1, 1933-1934. Photo: Dietrich, Wien.


Dutch postcard by Smeets & Schippers, Amsterdam. Photo: City-Film.


Dutch postcard by J.S.A., no. 168. Photo: Verleih Deutscher Ton-Filme / Leopold Barth & Co.

Sources: Gary Brumburgh (IMDb), Trevor Peak (Find A Grave), Wikipedia and IMDb.

Photo by d'Ora

Atelier d’Ora was one of the most important Austrian photo salons of the first decades of the 20th century. The studio was founded in 1907 by Dora Kallmus with the support of Arthur Benda, who was the technical director. Kallmus, who took the pseudonym Madame d’Ora in 1907, quickly became with her studio one of the most sought-after of Vienna's society photographers. She also portrayed many European film stars in her Vienna salon and from 1925 on also in her second studio in Paris.


Small French card by Columbia. Photo: d'Ora.

Josephine Baker (1906-1975) was well-known as a singer and dancer. In 1925 she became an instant success in Paris, because of her erotic dance. She also performed in a handful of silent and early sound films, La Sirene des Tropiques (1927), Zouzou (1934), and La princesse TamTam (1935).


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 994. Photo: d'Ora.

Eric Barclay (1894-1938) was a Swedish film actor. Barclay became a prominent actor in French silent films of the early 1920s, often working with director Jacques de Baroncelli. He also appeared in German and British films and those of his native Sweden.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3264/1, 1928-1929. Photo: d'Ora / Arthur Benda.

Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992) is regarded as the first German actress to become successful in Hollywood. Throughout her long career, she constantly re-invented herself, starting as a cabaret singer, chorus girl and film actress in 1920s Berlin, she became a Hollywood movie star in the 1930s, a World War II frontline entertainer, and finally an international stage show performer from the 1950s to the 1970s, eventually becoming one of the entertainment icons of the 20th century.


German postcard by Ross-Verlag, Berlin, no. 5070/1, 1930-1931. Photo: d'Ora, Paris.

Beautiful and seductive French actress Lily Damita (1902-1994) appeared in 33 French, Austrian, and Hollywood films between 1922 and 1937. Her marriage with Errol Flynn was rather tempestuous and led to her nickname 'Dynamita'.

Indecent jokes

Dora Philippine Kallmus was born in 1881 in Vienna, Austria. She came from a wealthy Jewish family. Her father Dr. Philipp Kallmus was a respected law attorney. Her mother died early and so she and her sister Anna were brought up by her grandmother and a governess.

Dora's first career aspiration was to become an actress. Because this job was not very well regarded in her family, she decided to become a milliner or tailor. On a trip to France, she discovered photography and decided to become a photographer.

Her family tolerated this plan more than her previous career plans, but there was another obstacle. As a woman, she was not allowed to attend a photography training. At that time women were denied a photography apprenticeship, but Dora Kallmus was allowed to work in the summer studio of the society photographer Hans Makart.

By an exemption, she could also attend the theoretical lectures of the at the Graphische Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt (Graphic Training Institute). However, she was not authorised to visit the practical seminars. Dora Kallmus: “It was found sufficient that I was the first woman to be allowed access to the lectures, but the chemical reagents were kept away from me as if they were indecent jokes.”

In 1905, she became a member of the Association of Austrian photographers. It was through the mediation of her uncle and financial support from her father that she was able to train for a few months in 1907 with the famous photographer Nicola Perscheid in Berlin. Perscheid described her as his "best student so far".

After her internship was over, Perscheid offered to keep her as an employee in his studio, but Dora Kallmus wanted to become self-employed. From then on, Kallmus worked under the pseudonym 'Madame d'Ora'.

She returned to Vienna and founded her own studio, Atelier d'Ora. During her training in Berlin, she had met Arthur Benda, Perscheid's first assistant, and brought him with her to Vienna.

Arthur Benda was born in Berlin in 1885. He worked as an assistant for Nicola Perscheid from 1906 to 1907. Benda became the technical manager of Atelier d'Ora and from 1922 on, they ran the studio together.


German postcard by NPG (Neue Photographische Geselschaft), no. 1116. Photo: d'Ora, Wien.

Actress Magda Sonja (1895-1974) was one of the divas of the Austrian silent cinema. She often starred in the films of her famous husband, actor and director Friedrich Feher.


German postcard by Verlag Hermann Leiser, Berlin, no. 4357. Photo: Atelier d'Ora, Wien.

Austrian film star Lilly Flohr (1893-1978) was a busy actress, soubrette, cabaret artist, and chanson singer on stage. From 1918 on she starred in 25 silent films.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 804. Photo: d'Ora.

Hungarian Maria Corda (1898-1975) was an immensely popular star of the silent cinema of Austria and Germany. The pretty, blonde actress was a queen of the popular epic spectacles of the 1920s, which were often directed by her husband, Alexander Korda.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 5624. Photo: d'Ora / Arthur Benda. Collection: Didier Hanson.

Ukrainian actress Vera Voronina (1905-?) had a short but shining career in the late silent era, in Berlin as well as in Hollywood.

No frozen portrait poses

Atelier d’Ora soon gained a foothold in Viennese society. This success was probably partly due to the social ties that Dora Kallmus cultivated. Among the customers were the Austro-Hungarian aristocracy, rich industrialists, and politicians, but also such artists, actors, and writers as Gustav Klimt, Arthur Schnitzler, Marlene Dietrich, Oskar Kokoschka, Anna Sacher, Franz Werfel, and Richard Strauss.

D’Ora quickly was much in demand, especially for its society portraits, fashion photographs, and actor shots. It became chic to be portrayed by d’Ora. With her photographs, Madame d'Ora distinguished herself from the usually frozen portrait poses and looked for new, individual image solutions that matched the portrayed persons.

In addition to being a portrait studio for Viennese society, the Atelier d’Ora was also in high demand for its fashion shots. Designs of the Wiener Werkstätte were also photographed here. Many of the portraits and fashion photographs have been published in newspapers and magazines.

Atelier d’Ora was a commercial photo studio, but Madame d’Ora paid great importance to the artistic demands of her photographs and her studio. She strove for the recognition of her studio as an artistic photo studio. So she tried that to implement principles of pictorial photography and to create images as independent works of art could be viewed.

After the First World War, however, Vienna was no longer the centre of a world power, but only the capital of a small impoverished country. In the summer of 1921, d'Ora and Benda relocated their studio to the fashionable health resort Karlsbad (now Karlovy Vary). There, they worked during the summer months at the Olympic Palace Hotel. From 1921 to 1926 they were very successful there.

Possibly inspired by the French clientele that d’Ora found in Karlovy Vary, she decided to set up a second studio in Paris. In 1925, together with Benda, she opened the Parisian studio in rue Flachard in the 17th arrondissement. But Benda was not able to settle in Paris, their collaboration failed and Benda returned to Vienna.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 640-1. Photo: d'Ora.


Austrian postcard by Iris Verlag, no. 640-2. Photo d'Ora.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 994/3, 1925-1926. Photo: d'Ora, Vienna.

In spite of her French name, Lucy Doraine (1898-1989) was a major Hungarian actress in the Austrian and German cinema in the 1920s. When she moved to Hollywood, the revolution of the sound film finished her career.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4077/1, 1929-1930. Photo: d'Ora, Wien / Arthur Benda.

German singer/actress Charlotte Ander (1902-1969) was a star in the silent era before making the transition to sound. The Nazis broke her successful career because she was not of 'pure blood'.

A long, violent legal dispute

In 1927, Madame d’Ora remained in Paris to continue her studio there. Arthur Benda took over the studio in Vienna, replaced d’Ora's share and it came to a long, violent legal dispute over the name of the Vienna studio.

After a long time, it was agreed that Benda had to add his name in Vienna. The studio would now bear the name 'd’Ora-Benda-Vienna' and the Paris studio operated under the name 'd’Ora-Paris'. From the Second World War on, Benda ran the Vienna studio only under his name.

Arthur Benda stayed in Vienna for the rest of his life and became one of the most respected studio photographers and colour technology pioneers. He retired in 1965, and four years later he died of a stroke.

In Paris, Dora Kallmus managed to establish herself a second time and again attracted celebrities for her studio. Among d’Ora's Parisian clientele were again famous dancers, actors, painters, writers, and upper-class ladies. d'Ora portrayed such celebrities as Josephine Baker, Coco Chanel, Anna Pawlowa, Tamara de Lempicka, Alban Berg, Colette, and Maurice Chevalier.

Her photographs changed in terms of the contemporary taste of art and fashion. They became softer and more fluid in the transitions. Carefully elaborated light and glitter effects gave her pictures a glamour effect that was characteristic of this period.

During the Second World War, Dora Kallmus fled to the south of France. After the war, her photographs, her working methods, and their topics changed. In 1945, she travelled to Austria and took photos in a refugee camp where she documented the grief and displacement of the refugees. She reopened her studio in Paris and again made photographs of artists, and did numerous fashion shoots.

Her last significant work is a series of animal carcasses in Paris slaughterhouses from 1956. Kallmus made countless photos of killed, cut, and skinned animal carcasses and documented the consequences of mass slaughter.

After a serious traffic accident in Paris in 1959, Dora Kallmus was no longer able to work. In 1961 she returned to Austria in need of care. At her request, she spent her last years in Frohnleiten in Styria in her family's house. Madame d’Ora died there in 1963.

In the last decade, Madame d'Ora has been rediscovered. Her work was shown in three major exhibitions in Austria: 'Vienna's Shooting Girls – Jüdische Fotografinnen aus Wien' (2012-2013) in the Jewish Museum Vienna, 'Madame d’Ora. Machen Sie mich schön!' (2018) in the Leopold Museum, Vienna, and 'Der große Bruch: d'Oras Spätwerk' (2019-2020) in the GrazMuseum in Graz, Austria.


Vintage postcard. Photo: d'Ora, 1923. Collection: Didier Hanson. Photo for 'Dances of Vice, Horror, & Ecstasy' written and danced by Anita Berber and Sebastian Droste.

Expressionistic dancer and film actress Anita Berber (1899–1928) challenged many taboos during the Weimar period. With her drug and booze addiction and her bisexual affairs, she epitomised the decadence of 1920s Berlin. Her charcoaled eyes, her black lipstick, and bright red, bobbed hair were featured on a famous portrait of her by Otto Dix and in silent films by Richard Oswald and Fritz Lang.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 3111/1, 1928-1929. Photo: d'Ora.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5493/1, 1930-1931. photo: Atelier d'Ora Benda, Wien.

Fast-talking German actor Harald Paulsen (1895-1954) appeared in 125 films between 1920 and 1954, including Robert Wiene's Genuine (1920) and Alraune (1930) with Brigitte Helm. He was on stage from 1913 and an ensemble member of Max Reinhardt's Deutsche Theater in the 1920s. Paulsen also played Mack the Knife in the original cast of 'Die Dreigroschenoper' (The Threepenny Opera) written by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht. The show's opening number, 'Mack the Knife', became the most popular song of its time.


German postcard by Ross Verlag / Das Programm von Heute für Film und Theater. Photo: d'Ora. Paris.

Madeleine Renaud (1900-1994) was an acclaimed French stage actress, who also had a career in film. One of her best-known films was La Maternelle (1933).

Sources: Sophie Dorothée Vitovec (Anita Berber im fotografischen Blick von Madame d’Ora - German), Wikipedia and Luminous Lint.

Marte Harell

Austrian actress Marte Harell (1907-1996) played strong women who determined the events, in several Viennese comedies and operettas of the 1940s and 1950s.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 2858/2, 1939-1940. Photo: Haenchen / Tobis.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 2859/1, 1939-1940. Photo: Haenchen / Tobis.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3354/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Wien Film / Terra.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3765/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Hämmerer / Wien Film.

Wiener Mädel

Marte Harell was born as Martha Schömig in Wien (Vienna), Austria-Hungary, now Austria in 1907. She was the daughter of architect Rudolf Schömig and his wife Emilie Mathilde Passetzky.

Marte visited a secondary school for girls in Vienna. Her acting career started when she married director Karl Hartl in 1930. She followed acting classes from Margit von Tolnai and attended the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar.

At 30, she made her debut at the Kammerspielen des Theaters in der Josefstadt. She worked for theatres in Munich and Berlin, where she was spotted by director Géza von Bolváry at the Deutsches Theater. He asked her for the leading lady tole in his film Opernball/Opera Ball (Géza von Bolváry, 1939) opposite Paul Hörbiger.

Her film debut at 32 as the typical 'Wiener mädel' (Viennese girl) became an unexpected success. More leading roles followed in Wiener G'schichten/Vienna Tales (Géza von Bolváry, 1940) again opposite Paul Hörbiger, and an adaption of the Carl Zeller operetta 'Der Vogelhändler', Rosen in Tirol/The Bird Seller (Géza von Bolváry, 1940) with Johannes Heesters.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3109/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Haenchen / Tobis.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3109/2, 1941-1944. Photo: Wien-Film.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. A 3206/2, 1941-1944. Photo: Wien Film / Terra.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3765/2, 1941-1944. Photo: Hämmerer / Wien-Film.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3934/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Hämmerer / Wien-Film.

Not a Hollywood-style Glamourpuss

Marte Harell became very busy as an actress for the new founded Wien-Film, when her husband, Karl Hartl, became the production manager of this company.

She convinced critics and audiences with her performances in Brüderlein fein/Dear Brother (Hans Thimig, 1941), the comedy Die heimliche Gräfin/The Secret Countess (Géza von Bolváry, 1942) with Wolf Albach-Retty, Frauen sind keine Engel/Women Are No Angels (Willi Forst, 1943) with a young Curd Jürgens, and Tolle Nacht/Great Night (Theo Lingen, 1943).

She always played the strong woman who determined the events and was not able to hide her typical Viennese accent. The part of Fiakermilli (Cabby Milli) in the beautiful tragi-comedy-musical Schrammeln (Géza von Bolváry, 1944) was her most popular role.

For the adaptation of Johann Strauss' comic opera Die Fledermaus/The Bat (1945), she worked again with director Géza von Bolváry, with whom she would make a total of ten films.

Harell continued her film career immediately after the Second World War with Glaube an mich/Believe in Me (Géza von Cziffra, 1946), but the film was torn to pieces by the critics. Two years later she returned in the romance Nach dem Sturm/After the Storm (Gustav Ucicky, 1948), based on a story by Carl Zuckmeyer.

Wien Tanzt/Vienna Waltzes (Emil E. Reinert, 1951) was an old-fashioned musical extravaganza in the tradition of the pre-war Austrian films. The story centers upon Waltz King Johann Strauss (Adolf Wohlbrück) and his ‘progressive’ composer son Richard, and their terrific music.

About the female lead, Hal Erickson writes at AllMovie: “The feminine interest in Wien Tanzt is provided by Marte Harell, who refreshingly is not a Hollywood-style glamourpuss.”


Austrian postcard by Eberle Verlag, Wien, no. 21. Photo: I.S.B. Films.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. G 141, 1941-1944. Photo: Hämmerer / Wien-Film.


German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. G 220, 1941-1944. Photo: Hämmerer / Wien-Film.


German postcard by Ross. Photo: Terra / Baumann.

Most Popular Actress

In 1951, the Austrian public chose Marte Harell as the most popular actress, but her film roles became rarer during the 1950s. In between, she had a successful stage comeback and dedicated herself again to the theatre.

She appeared in one film a year, among others the comedy Liebeskrieg nach Noten/Love War for Music (Karl Hartl, 1953) with Johannes Heesters, the historical thriller Spionage/Espionage (Franz Antel, 1955) based on the tragic life story of the homosexual ‘Oberst’ Alfred Redl, and the operetta Im Prater blühn wieder die Bäume/Trees Are Blooming in Vienna (Hans Wolff, 1958).

Her last films were the spy yarn Assignment K (Val Guest, 1968) starring Stephen Boyd, Abenteuer eines Sommers/Summer Adventure (Helmut Pfandler, 1974) starring Matthias Habich, the sex comedy Das Love-Hotel in Tirol/Love Hotel in Tyrol (Franz Antel, 1978), and the historical drama Der Bockerer (Franz Antel, 1980), about the naïve Viennese butcher Karl Bockerer who refuses to get assimilated by the Nazi system and with his aggressive but charming behaviour, and a whole lot of luck, survives the war.

During the 1970s, Marte Harell also worked regularly for television and made guest appearances in series like Hallo – Hotel Sacher… Portier!/Hello – Hotel Sacher… Doorman! (1973), Van der Valk und die Reichen/Van der Valk and the Rich (1975), and the popular Krimi Tatort (1974).

In 1985, she was awarded the Filmband in Gold for her longtime and important attributions to the German cinema, and that same year she retired.

In 1996, Marte Harell died in Vienna. Her husband, Karl Hartl, had passed away in 1978. In 1951 the couple was divorced, but eight years later they remarried. In 2000 a street was named after her, the Marte-Harell-Gasse in Wien-Liesing.


Scene with Heli Finkenzeller, Theo Lingen and Marte Harell from Opernball/Opera Ball (1939). Source: BD130 (YouTube).


Clips with Marte Harell, Willy Fritsch and Johannes Heesters from Die Fledermaus/The Bat (1944). Source: Fritz 5108 (YouTube).


Another, long scene from Die Fledermaus/The Bat (1944-1945, but released in 1946), with Dorit Kreysler, Hans Brausewetter, Johannes Heesters, Marte Harell, Siegfried Breuer, Will Dohm, and Willy Fritsch. Source: Atqui (YouTube).


The final scene from Rosen in Tirol/The Bird Seller (1940) with Marte Harell, Johannes Heesters and Hans Moser. Source: Ein Lied Geht um die Welt (YouTube).

Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Stephanie D’heil (Steffi-Line - German), Wikipedia (German) and IMDb.