Gerda Krum

Gerda Krum (1878-1953) was a popular Danish operetta star in the 1900s. She also acted in six films in the early 1910s. Her life was full of tragedies.


Danish postcard by Alex Vincents Kunstforlag, Stockholm, no. 1351. Gerda Krum, aka Gerda Krum-Nathansen in 'Den glade Enke', the Danish version of Franz Léhar's operetta 'The Merry Widow / Die lustige Witwe'. This postcard was mailed in 1907. In 1906, Gerda Krum-Nathansen performed opposite Holger Reenberg at the Casino in Copenhagen in the operetta.


Danish postcard by Alex Vincents Kunstforlag, Stockholm, no. 843. Gerda Krum in 'Røverne' (Les brigands, 1869), an operetta by Jacques Offenbach, with a libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy.


Danish postcard by Alex Vincents Kunstforlag, Stockholm, no. 927. Photo: H. Paetz. In 1910, Gerda Krum, then called Gerda Krum-Juncker, performed opposite Henry Seemann at the Casino in Copenhagen in the operetta 'Greven af Luxemburg' (Der Graf von Luxemburg, 1909) by Franz Léhar.


Danish postcard by Alex Vincents Kunstforlag, Stockholm, no. 695. In 1908, Gerda Krum performed opposite Holger Reenberg at the Casino in Copenhagen in the operetta 'Manden med de tre Koner' (Der Mann mit den drei Frauen, 1908) by Franz Léhar.

Definitely best in singing roles

Gerda Krum was born in 1878. She was the daughter of actress Johanne Krum-Hunderup and solo dancer and ballet master Daniel Krum, who died by his own hand when Gerda was 9 years old.

She made her debut in 1897 at the Folketeatret, where she remained until 1900. She was then engaged at the Aarhus Theatre from 1901/02 to 1904/05, where she was definitely best in singing roles.

Her stage roles included Fiorella in 'Røverne' (Les Brigands), Adéle in 'Batermusen' (Die Fledermaus), Serpolette in 'Cornevilles Klokker' (Les cloches de Corneville), Bettina Hønsepige in 'Lykkebarnet' (La mascotte), Eurydice in 'Orfeus i Underverdenen' (Orphée dans l'Enfer) and the title role in 'Den skønse Helene' (La belle Hélène).

Gerda Krum later came to the Casino in Copenhagen, where in 1906 she played 'Den glade enke' (The Merry Widow) with great success and in December 1907, she guest-starred at the National Theatre in Norway in the role of Hanna Glawari in 'The Merry Widow'. Later in April 1913, she was a guest at the Central Theatre in Norway in the operetta 'Eva'.

In 1906, she married the actor Ludvig Nathansen, who was 20 years her senior. In 1907, he became fiercely jealous over his young wife's great success in the lead role in 'Den glade Enke'. He himself played a minor role in the performance at Aalborg Theatre, and he apparently found the waltz of the two leading actors, Holger Reenberg and his wife Gerda Krum-Nathansen, too convincing. He asked her to drop the role, which she refused. In their hotel room, he drew a gun to his wife's back. He missed her twice but then turned the gun on himself and died mortally wounded.


Danish postcard by Alex Vincents Kunstforlag, Stockholm, no. 1351. In 1906, Gerda Krum-Nathansen performed opposite Holger Reenberg at the Casino in Copenhagen in the operetta 'Den glade Enke' (Die lustige Witwe / The Merry Widow) by Franz Léhar.


Danish postcard by Alex Vincents Kunstforlag, Stockholm, no. 1352. Gerda Krum-Nathansen in the operetta 'Den glade Enke' (Die lustige Witwe / The Merry Widow) by Franz Léhar.


Danish postcard by Alex Vincents Kunstforlag, Stockholm, no. 1355. Gerda Krum aka Gerda Krum-Nathansen in 'Den glade Enke', the Danish version of Franz Léhar's operetta 'The Merry Widow / Die lustige Witwe'. This postcard was mailed in 1907. In 1906, Gerda Krum-Nathansen performed opposite Holger Reenberg at the Casino in Copenhagen in the operetta.

Danish postcard by Alex Vincents Kunstforlag, Stockholm, no. 1451. In 1906, Gerda Krum performed at the Casino, Copenhagen, in 'Yduns Æbler' (1906), a burlesque operetta by Danish composer August Enna.

Tragic events completely overshadowed her promising career

Gerda Krum made her debut at Nordisk Film in 1911, where she probably made her film debut opposite Philip Bech in the silent film Dommeren / The Judge (dir. unknown, 1911).

At Nordisk, she played opposite the star Valdemar Psilander in two films: Livets Løgn / A Fatal Lie (August Blom, 1911), about a wife who takes revenge when her husband's friend rejects her attentions, and Scenen og Livet / All the World's a Stage / Stage and Life (Robert Dinesen, 1913), also with Clara Wieth and Henry Seemann.

Until 1914, she managed to appear in about six films, also including Dramaet i den gamle Mølle / The Last of the Old Mill (Robert Dinesen, 1913) and Gidslet / Hostage (Martinius Nielsen, 1914).

In 1910, Gerda Krum married the chief prosecutor Hjalmar Juncker, and after that, she withdrew more and more from the stage, partly because she became a mother. She enjoyed a few happy years. When they lost their 15-year-old daughter in a motorcycle accident, her husband got so depressed that he tried to shoot himself. He failed, but lost his eyesight. Gerda Krum retired and cared for her husband till he died in 1949.

Gerda Krum died in 1953 and was buried at Holmens Kirkegård in Østerbro. She was 74.


Danish postcard by Alex Vincents Kunstforlag, Copenhagen, no. 687. In 1907, Henry Seemann and Gerda Krum co-starred in the Franz Lehar operetta 'Manden med de tre koner' (Der Mann mit den drei Frauen).


Danish postcard by Paul Heckscher, unnumbered. Sent by mail in 1907. Holger Reenberg in the Franz Léhar operetta 'Den glade Enke' (The Merry Widow), performed with Gerda Krum at the Casino theatre in Copenhagen in 1906.


Danish postcard by Alex. Vincents Kunstforlag, no. 309. Gerda Krum as Eurydice in the operetta 'Orfeus i Underverdenen' (Orphée dans l'Enfer/ Orpheus in the Underworld) by Jacques Offenbach. The headgear reminds one of the statue of the Lady of Elche, now at the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid.

For the film Livets Løgn / A Fatal Lie (August Blom, 1911), see Stumfilm.dk (Dutch intertitles, Danish subtitles, plot description in English).

Sources: Filmdatabasen, Danskefilm (Danish), Aarhus Wiki (Danish) and IMDb.