Eva-Maria Hagen (; ; 19 October 1934 – 16 August 2022) was a German actress and singer. She was known as the "

Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a former French actress, singer and model. Famous for portraying sexually emancipated characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she was one of the ...

of the GDR" but was banned from performance for political reasons.

Life

Hagen was born Eva-Maria Buchholz in Költschen (present-day Poland) on 19 October 1934, the daughter of farm workers from

East Brandenburg The Neumark (), also known as the New March ( pl, Nowa Marchia) or as East Brandenburg (), was a region of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and its successors located east of the Oder River in territory which became part of Poland in 1945. Call ...

. In 1945, Költschen was occupied by the Soviet army and the family was expelled. They moved to

Perleberg Perleberg (; North Margravian: ''Perlberg'') is the capital of the district of Prignitz, located in the northwest of the German state of Brandenburg. The town received city rights in 1239 and today has about 12,000 inhabitants. Located in a mostly ...

, which became part of the GDR in 1949. In 1952, after completing an apprenticeship as a machinist, she was trained at the

Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts The Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts (German: ''Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch'', ''HFS''), based in the Niederschöneweide district of Berlin, Germany, was founded in 1951 as the National Theatre School in Berlin with the stat ...

in Berlin. She joined the

Berliner Ensemble The Berliner Ensemble () is a German theatre company established by actress Helene Weigel and her husband, playwright Bertolt Brecht, in January 1949 in East Berlin. In the time after Brecht's exile, the company first worked at Wolfgang Langho ...

in 1953. Hagen made her theater debut in 1953 in

Erwin Strittmatter Erwin Strittmatter (14 August 1912 – 31 January 1994) was a German writer. Strittmatter was one of the most famous writers in the GDR. Biography Strittmatter was born the son of a baker and foods wholesaler. Between 1924 and 1930 he attended ...

's play ''Katzgraben'' directed by Bertolt Brecht at the Berliner Ensemble. In 1957, she made her film debut in

Kurt Maetzig Kurt Maetzig (25 January 1911 – 8 August 2012) was a German film director who had a significant effect on the film industry in East Germany. He was one of the most respected filmmakers of the GDR. After his retirement he lived in Wildkuh ...

's comedy ''

Don't Forget My Little Traudel ''Don't Forget My Little Traudel'' (german: Vergeßt mir meine Traudel nicht) is an East German comedy film, directed by Kurt Maetzig. It was released in 1957. Plot Traudel is a war orphan, whose mother had died in the Ravensbrück concentratio ...

''. Her film career led to her being called the "

of the GDR". From 1958, she acted at the

Maxim Gorki Theater The Maxim Gorki Theatre (german: Maxim Gorki Theater) is a theatre in Berlin-Mitte named after the Soviet writer, Maxim Gorky. In 2012, the Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit named Şermin Langhoff as the artist director of the theatre. History It ...

in Berlin. At the Landestheater Dessau, she had continued success as the flower girl Eliza in the musical ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...

''. In 1965, she met

Wolf Biermann Karl Wolf Biermann (; born 15 November 1936) is a German singer-songwriter, poet, and former East German dissident. He is perhaps best known for the 1968 song "Ermutigung" and his expatriation from East Germany in 1976. Early life Biermann was b ...

. Despite becoming a successful film actress she was sidelined because of her relationship with Biermann. He was a singer-songwriter whose politics kept him unemployed. In 1972, Biermann and Hagen separated. In 1976, she publicly protested against Biermann's expatriation. She was dismissed without notice from the German television broadcaster

Deutscher Fernsehfunk Deutscher Fernsehfunk (DFF; German for "German Television Broadcasting") was the state television broadcaster in the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) from 1952 to 1991. DFF produced free-to-air terrestrial television programmin ...

(DFF) in the GDR and banned from working. In 1977, Hagen's citizenship in the GDR was revoked, and she moved to West Germany the same year. She built up a second career as a chanson singer in addition to film and theater. After the

fall of the Berlin Wall The fall of the Berlin Wall (german: Mauerfall) on 9 November 1989, during the Peaceful Revolution, was a pivotal event in world history which marked the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the figurative Iron Curtain and one of the series of eve ...

, Hagen made films in

Babelsberg Babelsberg () is the largest quarter ('' Stadtteil'') of Potsdam, the capital city of the German state of Brandenburg. The affluent neighbourhood named after a small hill on the Havel river is famous for Babelsberg Palace and Park, part of the Pala ...

again, appeared on stage as ''

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...

'' or ''

Mother Courage Mother Courage (German ''Mutter Courage'') is a character from a Grimmelshausen novel ''Lebensbeschreibung der Ertzbetrügerin und Landstörtzerin Courasche'' (''The Runagate Courage'') dating from around 1670. The character had played a cameo r ...

'' or sang Brecht songs. She painted in oil and went on reading tours with her own books.

Personal

In 1954 she married Hans Oliva-Hagen and they had a child named Catherine, singer and actress

Nina Hagen Catharina "Nina" Hagen (; born 11 March 1955) is a German singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her theatrical vocals and rose to prominence during the punk and new wave movements in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She is known as ...

. She divorced him in 1959 over psychological issues. Hagen lived in Hamburg, Berlin and the

Uckermark The Uckermark () is a historical region in northeastern Germany, straddles the Uckermark District of Brandenburg and the Vorpommern-Greifswald District of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Its traditional capital is Prenzlau. Geography The region is nam ...

. She is the grandmother of

Cosma Shiva Hagen Cosma Shiva Hagen () is a German-American actress and voice actress. Although she speaks English, her acting roles have been largely confined to German-language films and television productions. She also starred in an Irish film called ''Shor ...

. Hagen died on 16 August 2022 in Hamburg, at the age of 87.

Awards

* 1999

Carl Zuckmayer Medal The Carl Zuckmayer Medal (german: Carl-Zuckmayer-Medaille) is a literary prize given by the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in memory of Carl Zuckmayer. The medal itself was fashioned by state artist Otto Kallenbach. The prize is also given with a ...

for her autobiographical book ''Eva and the Wolf''

Selected filmography

Sources: * ''

'' (1957) as Traudel * '' Spur in die Nacht'' (1957) as Sabine * '' Goods for Catalonia'' (1959) as Marion Stöckel * ''

The Dress The dress was a viral phenomenon on the Internet in 2015. Viewers of the image disagreed on whether the dress depicted in a photograph was coloured black and blue, or white and gold. The phenomenon revealed differences in human colour percept ...

'' (1961) as Katrin * '' Reise ins Ehebett'' (1966) as Mary Lou * ''

Meine Freundin Sybille ''Meine Freundin Sybille'' is an East German film. It was released in 1967. Cast * Rolf Herricht: Hurtig * Hanns-Michael Schmidt: Ronny * Evelyn Opoczynski: Sybille * Eva-Maria Hagen: Helena * Helga Göring: Mrs. Mücke * Arthur Jopp: Sybill ...

'' (1967) as Helena * ''

The Banner of Krivoi Rog ''The Banner of Krivoi Rog'' (german: Die Fahne von Kriwoj Rog) is an East German film, directed by Kurt Maetzig. It was released in 1967. Plot Communist miner Otto Brosowski writes to the Krivoi Rog's miners telling them of the harsh conditions ...

'' (1967) as Elfriede * ''

The Legend of Paul and Paula ''Die Legende von Paul und Paula'' (; English: ''The Legend of Paul and Paula'') is a 1973 tragicomic East German film directed by Heiner Carow. A novel by Ulrich Plenzdorf named ''Die Legende vom Glück ohne Ende'' was based on this film. The ...

'' (1973) * ' (1980) as Gibbi's Mother * ''

Herzlich willkommen ''Herzlich willkommen'' (English titles: ''Crossing Borders'' or ''Welcome Indeed!'') is a 1990 West German drama film directed by Hark Bohm. It was entered into the 40th Berlin International Film Festival. Cast * Uwe Bohm as Friedrich Dombr ...

'' (1990) as Secretary * ' (2009) as Lena Braake

Books

* * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hagen, Eva-Maria 1934 births 2022 deaths 20th-century German actresses 21st-century German actresses German film actresses German women singers German television actresses Hagen family People from Sulęcin County People from the Province of Brandenburg