Gilda Langer

Gilda Langer (1896-1920) was a beautiful German stage and film actress whose career began in the mid-1910s and lasted until her death in 1920. She starred as a dark, mysterious leading lady in the first silent films by Fritz Lang. However, she died at the age of 23 and all films featuring her are now considered lost.


German postcard by NPG, no. 776/6. Photo: Anny Eberth, Berlin.

Fritz Lang

Gilda Langer was born Hermengild Langer into a Sudeten German family in Oderfurt, Austria-Hungary (now, Přívoz, Czech Republic).

Around 1915, she met Austrian dramaturge and screenwriter Carl Mayer in Vienna who then took her to Berlin and helped her to get an engagement as a stage actress at the Residenz Theater. Her first role at the theatre was in a production of the Robert Grötzach-penned 1917 play 'Dyckerpotts Erben'.

In 1917, Carl Mayer announced to the film trade press that Langer would begin appearing in leading lady roles in several films for the newly created Berlin-based Star-Film company.

Her first film role was in the drama Das Rätsel von Bangalor/The Mystery of Bangalore (Alexander Antalffy, Paul Leni, 1917), opposite actors Conrad Veidt and Harry Liedtke. This was followed in 1918 by a starring role in the drama Ringende Seelen/Struggling Souls (Jenő Illés, 1918).

After being introduced to filmmaker Fritz Lang, Langer would appear prominently in Lang's first two films, Halbblut/The Halfbreed (1919) and the high-society drama Der Herr der Liebe/Master of Love (1919), both with Carl de Vogt. She also appeared in Lang's Die Spinnen, I. Der goldene See/The Spiders - Episode 1: The Golden Sea (1919), again opposite Carl de Vogt.


German postcard by Verlag Herm. Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 3046. Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

German postcard by Verlag Herm. Leiser, Berlin-Wilm., no. 5019. Photo: Atelier Eberth, Berlin.

The Woman with the Orchid

Decla had big plans with Gilda Langer and her breakthrough seemed only a matter of time. In 1919, Langer was cast to play the role of Jane in the Carl Mayer and Hans Janowitz-penned German Expressionist horror film Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari/The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1919).

However, Langer became ill before shooting and had to be replaced by actress Lil Dagover. Langer's last film role was in the Fritz Lang-penned drama Die Frau mit den Orchideen/The Woman with the Orchid (Otto Rippert, 1919).

In January 1920, Langer became engaged to Hungarian film director Paul Czinner. Langer fell ill with a lung infection after contracting the Spanish flu shortly after this engagement.

Gilda Langer died on 31 January 1920, aged 23. Her death has been variously attributed to influenza, a nervous breakdown, and a drug overdose. Her funeral was held on 4 February 1920 and she was interred at the Südwestkirchhof Stahnsdorf cemetery in Stahnsdorf, Brandenburg. Paul Czinner moved on to marry Elisabeth Bergner in later years.

In 1995 Gilda Langer's gravestone was rediscovered in an unkempt part of the very large cemetery by film historian Olaf Brill. The headstone had come down but was still there. Carl Mayer was the one who had erected it after her death and apart from her name, notes from the theme of lovers from Richard Wagner's 'Tristan and Isolde' were engraved upon it.


German postcard by NPG, no. 776/3. Photo: Anny Eberth.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 3098. Photo: Alex Binder.

Sources: Bobb Edwards (Find A Grave), Nicole Gagne (AllMovie), Wikipedia, and IMDb.