Ossi Oswalda

Ossi Oswalda (1895-1947) was one of the most popular comediennes of German silent cinema. Ernst Lubitsch became her Pygmalion, who let her play in numerous comedies between 1916 and 1920. Her popularity at the time earned her the nickname 'The German Mary Pickford'.


French postcard in the Europe series, no. 590. Photo: Agence Européenne Cinematographique. Ossi Oswalda in Das Mädel auf der Schaukel / The Girl on the Swing (Felix Basch, 1926).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 529/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Ossi Oswalda-Film.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 611/4. Photo: Union / Ufa. Ossi Oswalda in Die Austernprinzessin / The Oyster Princess (Ernst Lubitsch, 1919).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 635/6. Photo: Union. Ossi Oswalda in Die Puppe / The Doll (Ernst Lubitsch, 1919).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1050/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa. Ossi Oswalda in Blitzzug der Liebe / The Cupid Express (Johannes Guter, 1925).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1597/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa.

Ernst Lubitsch

Ossi Oswalda (1895-1947) was born in Niederschönhausen, Imperial Germany (now part of Berlin), but she was of Prague origin. Her real name was Oswalda Stäglich. Oswalda trained as a ballerina and became a dancer for a theatre in Berlin.

She made her film debut in Nächte des Grauens / Night of Horrors (Richard Oswald, Arthur Robison, 1916) before being discovered by the actor and screenwriter Hanns Kräly.

He recommended her to director Ernst Lubitsch, who cast her in their comedy Schuhpalast Pinkus / Shoe Salon Pinkus (1916). Lubitsch became her Pygmalion, who let her play in numerous comedies between 1916 and 1920, which joked with the provincial and stiff petty-bourgeois mentality of Wilhelminian Germany.

Examples are Ossis Tagebuch/Ossi's Diary (1917), Ich möchte kein Mann sein / I Don't Want to Be a Man (1918), Meine Frau, die Filmschauspielerin / My Wife the Movie Star (1919), and Die Puppe / The Doll (1919).

The best of these was Die Austernprinzessin / The Oyster Princess (1919), in which Ossi is a spoiled daughter of a wealthy American, who is supposed to wed an impoverished German prince (but is marrying his stupid servant instead). The whole film exaggerated all the clichés about Americans who like everything big and make modern, absurdistic music, and about Germans who are only interested in food & drinks, but Lubitsch did so in a very witty way.


German postcard by Rotophot in the Film-Sterne series, no. 183/2. Photo: Nicola Perscheid.


With Ernst Lubitsch. German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 337/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Zander & Labisch.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 474/3, 1919-1924. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 641/7. Photo: Union. Ossi Oswalda in Kakadu und Kieblitz / Kakadu and Kiebitz (Erich Schönfelder, 1920).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1377. Photo: Alex Binder.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1929.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 1997. Photo: Union Film. Ossi Oswalda in Ossi's Tagebuch / Ossi's Diary (Ernst Lubitsch, 1917).


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2359. Photo: Union Film. Ossi Oswalda in (probably) Das Mädel vom Ballett / The Ballet Girl (Ernst Lubitsch, 1918). The actress in the back is Margarethe Kupfer.

Unrestrained, wild and witty Girl

When Ernst Lubitsch departed for America, he left Ossi Oswalda in the hands of Victor Janson.

Victor Janson had been her co-star in Die Wohnungsnot / The Housing Shortage (Ernst Lubitsch, 1920) and Kakadu und Kiebitz / Kakadu and Kiebitz (Erich Schönfelder, 1920).

Janson was not unworthy for his task, but he repeated Oswalda's typology of the unrestrained, wild and witty girl, without adding the spice Lubitsch always had added.

In 1921, Oswalda started her own film production company with her husband at the time, Baron Gustav von Koczian.

However, during the next four years, they only produced four films, including Amor am Steuer / Love at the Wheel (Victor Janson, 1921) and Das Mädel mit der Maske / The Girl With the Mask (Victor Janson, 1922) with Hermann Thimig.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 895/2, 1925-1926. Photo: Ossi Oswalda-Film-Prod. Ossi Oswalda in Colibri (Viktor Janson, 1924).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 30/2. Photo: Ufa. Ossi Oswalda and Ernst Hofmann in Blitzzug der Liebe / The Cupid Express (Johannes Guter, 1925).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 474/2. Photo: Becker & Maass, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 685/4, 1919-1924. Photo: publicity still for Niniche (Victor Janson, 1925).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 1347/2, 1927-1928. Photo: Manassé, Wien.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 753/2, 1925-1926.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 761/2, 1925-1926. Photo: Ernst Schneider, Berlin.

Crown Prince

From 1925 on, Ossi Oswalda was contracted to Ufa. She starred in comedies like Blitzzug der Liebe / Love Express Train (Johannes Guter, 1925) and Herrn Filip Collins Abenteuer / Mr. Filip Collins Adventure (Johannes Guter, 1926) with Georg Alexander.

When Oswalda's name was romantically linked to that of former Crown Prince Wilhelm, while that of Lily Damita with the prince's son Ludwig Ferdinand, insulting caricatures spread, and the Hohenzollern family stopped both affairs short.

The affair also influenced Oswalda, who continued to make films, but she would never reach the top again. Her star dwindled down, and her parts became smaller and smaller.

She appeared in only two sound films, making her final film appearance in Der Stern von Valencia/The Star of Valencia (Alfred Zeisler, 1933). Later on, she became a stage actor, and in 1943, she wrote the story for the Czechoslovakian film Ctrnáctý u stolu (Oldrich Nový, Antonín Zelenka, 1943).

For a short while, Ossi Oswalda was the talk of the town again, after she had died in the most miserable condition in Prague in 1947.



German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 2186. Photo: Mac Walten, Berlin.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 3310. Photo: Karl Schenker, Berlin.


German postcard by Photochemie, Berlin, no. K. 3334. Photo: Rembrandt.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1453/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Angelo Photos.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 1480/1, 1927-1928. Photo: Ufa.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 3871/1, 1928-1929. Photo: Atelier Ernst Schneider, Berlin / FPS.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 2045/1. Portrait of Ossi Oswalda, sketched by the Italian caricaturist Cesare Musacchio (1882-1956).


German postcard by Westi, Berlin. Photo: Westi Film. Ossi Oswalda and Livio Pavanelli in Niniche (Victor Janson, 1925). The postcard was sent by mail in 1925.


Croatian (former Kingdom of Yugoslavia) postcard. Mosinger-Film, Zagreb. Jos Caklovic, Zagreb, No. 43. Ossi Oswalda in Niniche (Victor Janson, 1925).


German postcard by H.C. Stöckel, Hannover-Linden, for Bemberg Strümpfen. Caption: I only dance through life with Bemberg stockings. Ossi Oswalda.


German postcard in the Moderne Künstler series by MMB, no. 462. Photo: F.J. Wesselsky.

Source: Vittorio Martinelli (Le dive del silenzio - Italian), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 24 August 2025.

Die Puppe (1919)

Ernst Lubitsch's Die Puppe / The Doll (1919) is a romantic fantasy starring Ossi Oswalda. This charming film is loosely based on the short story by E.T.A. Hoffmann, which also inspired the ballet 'Coppélia'. The great charm of Die Puppe is its mood of fairy-tale unreality.


German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 117, group 39. Photo: Union. Publicity still for Die Puppe / The Doll (Ernst Lubitsch, 1919). Caption: With Die Puppe / The Doll, Lubitsch created a completely new type of comedy for the screen.


German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden Deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, no. 164, Group 40. Photo: Ufa. Publicity still for Die Puppe / The Doll (Ernst Lubitsch, 1919). Caption: From the film Die Puppe. Trick shot. Ossi Oswalda appears in Hermann Thimig's dream.


Ernst Lubitsch and Ossi Oswalda. German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 337/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Zander & Labisch.

A special service for bachelors, widowers and misogynists

In the opening shot of Die Puppe / The Doll, Ernst Lubitsch sets up a doll's house against a stylised backdrop. A close-up of this model then dissolves into a full-sized version of the same stylised setting, from which emerge actors dressed as dolls. From this point onward, the entire film is staged on highly stylised sets.

The old Baron von Chanterelle (Max Kronert) has no family except for his gormless nephew Lancelot (Hermann Thimig). He wants to preserve his family line, so he forces Lancelot to choose one of the village maidens to wed. Lancelot flees to a monastery to escape the forty eager maidens. The Baron offers his nephew a dowry of 300,000 francs to get married. But Lancelot is afraid of women.

The prior (Jacob Tiedtke) shows him an advertisement from the doll-maker Hilarius (Victor Janson), who offers a special service 'for bachelors, widowers and misogynists': a life-size clockwork girl! Lancelot decides to marry the mechanical bride, collect the dowry, then stash the doll in the attic.

Hilarius has just finished making a replica of his pretty daughter Ossi (Ossi Oswalda). The clockwork girl has a control panel on her back and a crank to wind her up. The doll-maker's young apprentice (Gerhard Ritterband) accidentally breaks the arm of the doll and convinces the real Ossi to mimic the doll. Lancelot buys her, thinking she is a doll, and takes her back to the monastery, where they are wed.

Ernst Lubitsch once wrote to his biographer Herman G. Weinberg that he considered Die Puppe and Die Austernprinzessin / The Oyster Princess (1919) as his most outstanding comedies produced in Germany before he departed for Hollywood to make Rosita (1923). The great charm of Die Puppe is its mood of fairy-tale unreality. The coachman's horses are played by men in pantomime-horse costumes. A cat and a rooster are played by cut-out figures. The moon has a human face.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 635/3 1919-1924. Photo: Union. Publicity still for Die Puppe / The Doll (Ernst Lubitsch, 1919) with Ossi Oswalda


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 635/4 1919-1924. Photo: Union. Publicity still for Die Puppe / The Doll (Ernst Lubitsch, 1919) with Ossi Oswalda and Hermann Thimig.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 635/5 1919-1924. Photo: Union. Publicity still for Die Puppe / The Doll (Ernst Lubitsch, 1919) with Ossi Oswalda and Hermann Thimig.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 635/6. Photo: Union. Ossi Oswalda in Die Puppe / The Doll (Ernst Lubitsch, 1919).

Sources: Will Gilbert (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 24 August 2025.

Die Austernprinzessin (1919)

In his early European films, director Ernst Lubitsch alternated between escapist comedies and large-scale historical dramas, enjoying great international success with both. A triumph was Die Austernprinzessin / The Oyster Princess (1919), featuring Ossi Oswalda. It is a sparkling satire caricaturing American manners.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 611/1. Photo: Union / Ufa. Ossi Oswalda and Harry Liedtke in Die Austernprinzessin / The Oyster Princess (Ernst Lubitsch, 1919).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 611/2. Photo: Union / Ufa. Victor Janson in Die Austernprinzessin / The Oyster Princess (Ernst Lubitsch, 1919).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 611/3. Photo: Union / Ufa. Victor Janson, Ossi Oswalda and Harry Liedtke in Die Austernprinzessin / The Oyster Princess (Ernst Lubitsch, 1919).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 611/4. Photo: Union / Ufa. Ossi Oswalda in Die Austernprinzessin / The Oyster Princess (Ernst Lubitsch, 1919).

A miracle of screen acting and directing

Ossi Oswalda plays a spoilt American heiress, the daughter of Mister Quaker (Victor Janson), the oyster-king of America. Quaker cannot be impressed anymore. He is so rich that he even has a special butler holding his cigar while he is smoking.

Ossi throws a jealous fit because the daughter of the 'Shoe-cream king' has married a count. Quaker promises his daughter he will find her a real prince. He makes an offer to the impoverished prince Nucki (Harry Liedtke), who lives in a one-room apartment.

Nucki sends his friend Josef (Julius Falkenstein) to get a clear idea of the woman. Josef introduces himself under the guise of the prince's name! Mistaken identity in place, the film's madcap humour takes off from there.

Ernst Lubitsch made this wonderful, a bit surrealistic comedy when he was only 27. His co-writer is Hanns Kräly, who became an Oscar winner later on for his writing on Lubitsch's films. Highlights here include a meticulously choreographed 'foxtrot epidemic' and a mass boxing match among a group of billionaire's daughters.

Gerard Lenz at IMDb: "Ossi Oswalda (...) somehow manages to be tempestuous, spiteful, spoiled, endearing, lovable, and sexy at the same time. A miracle of screen acting and directing. Stemming from 1919, the film reflects the coming of a new age of relative sexual freedom, female self-determination, and the resignation of the aristocracy as the determining force of Central European society after the defeat of World War I."


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 611/5. Photo: Union / Ufa. Julius Falkenstein and Ossi Oswalda in Die Austernprinzessin / The Oyster Princess (Ernst Lubitsch, 1919).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 611/6. Photo: Union / Ufa. Victor Janson in Die Austernprinzessin / The Oyster Princess (Ernst Lubitsch, 1919).


Ossi Oswalda. German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 529/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Ossi Oswalda-Film.


Ernst Lubitsch and Ossi Oswalda. German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 337/1, 1919-1924. Photo: Zander & Labisch.

Sources: Gerard Lenz (IMDb), Wikipedia, and IMDb.

This post was last updated on 24 August 2025.