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10 February 2020

Ingeborg Körner

Ingeborg Körner (1929) is a Namibian-born German actress, best known for her parts in such West-German films as Die Rose von Stambul/The Rose of Stamboul (1953), Keine Angst vor großen Tieren/Not Afraid of Big Animals (1953) and Das ideale Brautpaar/The Perfect Couple (1954). from 1955 on she only appeared on German TV and stage.

Ingeborg Körner
West-German postcard by Ufa/Film-Foto, Berlin-Tempelhof, no FK 741. Photo: Arthur Grimm / Berliner Bühne und Film / Allianz Film.

Ingeborg Körner and Heinz Rühmann in Keine Angst vor grossen Tieren (1953)
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 245, 1956. Photo: Real Film. Ingeborg Körner and Heinz Rühmann in Keine Angst vor grossen Tieren (1953).

One of the last of the Rubble films


Ingeborg Körner was born in 1929 in Keetmanshoop, in the former German colony South West Africa (now Namibia). She was the daughter of captain Oskar Körner.

After attending a ballet school and acting classes with Fritz Wagner at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg and at Herma Clement in Berlin, she joined the Thalia Theater in Hamburg in 1949.

She made her film debut in the comedy Gefährliche Gäste/Dangerous Guests (Géza von Cziffra, 1949), starring Wolf Albach-Retty and Vera Molnar. She played another supporting part as student in the comedy Absender unbekannt/Unknown Sender (Ákos Ráthonyi, 1950) starring screen legend Henny Porten.

Des Lebens Überfluss/Abundance of life (Wolfgang Liebeneiner, 1950) was one of the last of the Rubble films made in the immediate post-war years. It updates a story by Ludwig Tieck to modern-day Hamburg, addressing the shortage of housing in the heavily bombed city.

Körner could also been seen in popular films like Das Haus in Montevideo/The House in Montevideo (Curt Goetz, Valerie van Martens, 1951), Toxi (Robert A. Stemmle, 1952), and Die Rose von Stambul/The Rose of Stamboul (Karl Anton, 1953), starring Inge Egger.

Ingeborg Körner in Toxi (1952)
West-German postcard by F.J. Rüdel, Filmpostkartenverlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no 660. Photo: Fono / Allianz Film / Lilo. Ingeborg Körner in Toxi (Robert A. Stemmle, 1952).

Ingeborg Körner in Keine Angst vor großen Tieren (1953)
East-German postcard by VEB Volkskunstverlag Reichenbach I.V., no. G 708, 1956. Photo: Von Mindszenty. Ingeborg Körner in Keine Angst vor großen Tieren/Not Afraid of Big Animals (Ulrich Erfurth, 1953).

Heinz Rühmann and Ingeborg Körner in Keine Angst vor großen Tieren (1953)
German postcard by K & B / Filmwelt Berlin Archiv für Film-Geschichte, no. 57. Photo: Deutsche London Film / T. von Mindszenty. Heinz Rühmann and Ingeborg Körner in Keine Angst vor großen Tieren/Not Afraid of Big Animals (Ulrich Erfurth, 1953).

Then her film career was suddenly over


Ingeborg Körner was the leading lady opposite Heinz Rühmann in the circus comedy Keine Angst vor großen Tieren/Not Afraid of Big Animals (Ulrich Erfurth, 1953). She also starred in the comedies Das ideale Brautpaar/The ideal bridal couple (Robert A. Stemmle, 1954) and Mein Leopold/My Leopold (Géza von Bolváry, 1955) as Paul Hörbiger's daughter, but then her film career was suddenly over.

In 1955, Ingeborg Körner married theatre director Hans Wölffer, and from then on she only appeared on stage and in irregular television productions. In 1951 she had moved from the Thalia Theater in Hamburg to the Komödie in Berlin. She also played guest roles at the Munich Kammerspiele.

Her stage roles included Atlanta in 'Das Haus in Montevideo' (The House in Montevideo) by Curt Goetz and the Queen in the operetta 'Der Kurier der Königin' (The Courier of the Queen) by Nico Dostal.

She also appeared in 'A Weird Lady' by John Patrick at the Theater am Kurfürstendamm, in 'It remains in the family' by Louis Verneuil at the Münchner Kammerspiele as well as as Dorrit in 'My best friend' by John van Druten at the Komödie in Berlin.

On television she could be seen in the TV film Die Zeit und die Conways/Time and the Conways (John Olden, 1960) opposite Maria Emo. Her final screen appearance was in the comic TV film Mensch, Teufel noch mal/Hell, hell (1983) with Günter Pfitzmann.

Ingeborg Körner made one of her last public appearances on 23 July 2004 on the occasion of Inge Meysel's funeral.

Ingeborg Körner in Keine Angst vor großen Tieren (1953)
East-German postcard by VEB Volkskunstverlag Reichenbach I.V., no. G 707, 1956. Photo: Von Mindszenty. Ingeborg Körner in Keine Angst vor großen Tieren/Not Afraid of Big Animals (Ulrich Erfurth, 1953).

Ingeborg Körner
German autograph card, signed in April 1954. Photo: Arthur Grimm.

Ingeborg Körner in Mein Leopold (1955)
German collectors card by Helmstedter Margarinewerk GMBH, Helmstedt. Photo: Berolina / Constantin / Wesel. Ingeborg Körner in Mein Leopold (Géza von Bolváry, 1955). Gift by Didier Hanson.

Sources: Wikipedia (English and German) and IMDb.

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