German postcard by Film und Bild, Frankfurt-Main. Photo: Gaza-Studio.
Belgian postcard. Photo: Terra Film. Bruni Löbel played Schellebelle in the Belgian-German production Wenn die Sonne wieder scheint / De Vlaschaard (Boleslaw Barlog, 1943), an adaptation of the homonymous Flemish novel (1907) by Stijn Streuvels. On the back of this card is publicity for the film's premiere at the Ghent cinema Capitol on 28 August 1943.
German postcard by Starfoto Hasemann, no. 393. Photo: Herzog Filmverleih.
Not to be stopped by her parents
Bruni Löbel was born Brunhilde Melitta Löbel in Chemnitz, Germany, in 1920. She was the daughter of Richard Löbel and his wife Melitta, née Goldammer. She had three older brothers and two younger sisters, Ruth and Margot. Her youngest sister Margot Leonard (1927-2014) was later a sought-after dubbing actress during her active years and was the standard German voice of Marilyn Monroe.
Bruni failed the entrance exam to drama school. However, this did not deter her from her desire to become an actress. In 1935, Löbel made her stage debut at the Chemnitz municipal theatre in 'The Imaginary Invalid' by Molière. She took private acting lessons with Sonja Karzau, who was engaged by Otto Falckenberg at the Munich Kammerspiele in 1938.
Bruni Löbel was determined to follow her, but her parents forbade the 17-year-old to move to the big city and locked her in her room on the mezzanine floor. But the daughter would not be stopped. She climbed out of the window, lowered her packed suitcase with a bungee cord, travelled to Munich and never returned. She initially worked as a secretary. But two years later, when Bruni Löbel was just 19 years old, she received an offer from Ufa for a role alongside Hansi Knoteck and Wolf Albach-Retty in the Operetta film Heimatland/Homeland (Ernst Martin, 1939).
From this point on, she played both film and theatre roles, for example at the Marburg Festival with the still-unknown Gert Fröbe in 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Bruni Löbel signed her first contract with Ufa on 1 January 1940. After a short time in the Reich Labour Service, she returned to Berlin and played her second film role in the youth Propaganda film Jungens/Boys (Robert Adolf Stemmle, 1941) with Albert Hehn. After outdoor filming on the Curonian Spit and studio filming in Berlin, she then appeared in 'Hänsel und Gretel' in Potsdam.
Horst van Diemen accepted her into the Ufa troupe that was first in East Prussia and then in Italy for four weeks as part of the Wehrmacht support programme. After a short stay in Berlin, she visited the Ufa troupe in Romania, which gave performances in German Wehrmacht camps and barracks for over three weeks. With Paul Klinger and Paul Wegener at her side, Bruni Löbel made her breakthrough in the film drama Wenn die Sonne wieder scheint/When the Sun Shines Again (Boleslaw Barlog, 1943), an adaptation of the Belgian novel 'De Vlaschaard' by Stijn Streuvels. In 1944, she was on the 'Gottbegnadeten-Liste' (List of Godsent) by the Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda.
German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3711/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Baumann /Terra. Bruni Löbel in Wenn die Sonne wieder scheint / De Vlaschaard (Boleslaw Barlog, 1943).
German postcard by Film-Foto-Verlag, no. A 3853/1, 1941-1944. Photo: Baumann /Terra.
German postcard by F.B.Z., no. 256. Photo: Real-Film / Lilo.
An almost ideal portrayer of the resolutely amiable type of woman
After the war, Bruni Löbel went on tour with Margot Hielscher and Heinz Rühmann through several German cities and theatres and made 600 theatrical appearances. When the film industry recovered from the effects of the war, Löbel also got offers for film roles again. From the 1950s onwards, Bruni Löbel appeared in more than 40 film roles. She again played alongside Paul Klinger, this time in the film comedy Die Nacht ohne Sünde/The Night Without Sin (Karl Georg Külb, 1950), in which she played the female lead.
She made three loosely connected films under the direction of Ákos Ráthonyi, which were released in Germany under the titles Paulchen und die Mädchenschule/Absender unbekannt/Unknown Sender (1950), Paulchen setzt sich durch/Mädchen mit Beziehungen/Girls with relationships (1950) and Paulchen und die Millionenerbschaft/Engel im Abendkleid/Angel in Evening Dress (1951). In these films, Bruni Löbel played the schoolgirl Magda Lehmann alias Paulchen opposite Henny Porten, Cornell Borchers, Rudolf Prack and Willy Fritsch.
She acted in three American films, the semi-documentary film drama The Big Lift (George Seaton, 1950) with Montgomery Clift, Special Delivery (John Brahm, 1955) with Joseph Cotten and Eva Bartok, and the Walt Disney production comedy drama Almost Angels (Steve Previn, 1962) about a group of boys in the Vienna Boys' Choir. In 1958, she stayed in Munich and performed mainly at the Kleine Komödie, the Munich Kammerspiele and the Residenztheater. She also appeared on stage in Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Vienna. Löbel became increasingly in demand as a television actress and was given leading roles in television plays and series. She was regarded as an almost ideal portrayer of the resolutely amiable type of woman. Löbel was first given mother and later grandmother roles.
From 1977 to 1988, she played ‘mum’ Elisabeth Schöninger alongside Walter Sedlmayr and Elmar Wepper in the popular TV series Polizeiinspektion 1/Police Station 1 and gained further popularity in the role of the prickly housekeeper Frau Rabe in the series Ich heirate eine Familie/I am marrying a family (Peter Weck, 1983-1986). Children and young people also know her in the role of her sister Agatha in the TV film adaptation of James Krüss' young people's book 'Timm Thaler' (1962), Timm Thaler/The Legend of Tim Tyler (Sigi Rothemund, 1979). She took on guest roles in other television series, such as Um Himmels Willen/For Heaven's Sake (2002-2004) with Fritz Wepper. From 1989, Löbel played the role of grandmother Herta in the family series Forsthaus Falkenau/Ranger Station Falkenau (1989-2006) with Christian Wolff and Hardy Krüger Jr. Both the role and series were a great success and she played this character regularly until the year of her death.
Bruni Löbel also remained loyal to the theatre stage. In 2003, she played Aunt Abby in 'Arsen und Spitzenhäubchen' (Arsenic and Old Lace) at the Komödie im Bayrischen Hof in Munich. She played her last role in the ARD telenovela Sturm der Liebe/Storm of Love (2006) as Almuth Freifrau von Thalheim. Löbel was married twice. Her son Felix Bronner from her first marriage to the cabaret artist Gerhard Bronner, with whom she was married from 1955 until their divorce in 1959, was a freelance pianist and piano teacher. She was also married to the actor and dubbing artist Holger Hagen from 1971 until he died in 1996 and appeared with him in several television programmes, including Traumschiff. Bruni Löbel died in Mühldorf am Inn, Germany, in 2005. She was 85. Löbel is buried in Rattenkirchen, in the district of Ramering in the Mühldorf am Inn district, in an urn grave next to Holger Hagen's farm.
West German postcard by Kunst und Bild, Berlin, no. A 887. Photo: Helios - Wien / Deutsche Commerz Film (DCF). Bruni Löbel in Irene in Nöten / Irene in Distress (E.W. Emo, 1953).
West German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, no. 834. Photo: Neue Wiener Filmproduktion / Lux Film / Herzog Film / Lothar Sandmann. Bruni Löbel in Drei, von denen man spricht / Three To Talk About (Axel von Ambesser, 1953).
German postcard by Rüdel-Verlag, Hamburg-Bergedorf, no. 1250. Photo: NDF / Deutsche London (DLF) / Brünjes. Bruni Löbel in Geliebte Feindin / Beloved Enemy (Rolf Hansen, 1955).
Sources: Wikipedia (English and German) and IMDb.
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