Mathilde Danegger ( Mathilde Deutsch; 2 August 1903 – 27 July 1988) was an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n stage and movie actress. Sources may also identify her by the pseudonym, Mathilde Leusch; Leusch is apparently a variant of her second husband's surname (Lesch).

Life

Mathilde Danegger was born and attended school in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Her father was an

n character actor and stage producer (real name, Joseph Deutsch: 1865–1933) who later took over as director of the City Theatre in Zürich. Her mother, Bertha Danegger (real name Bertha Deutsch; known professionally by her maiden name Bertha Müller, she was an Austrian actress of stage and silent film. Like her elder brothers, (1889–1948) and

Theodor Danegger Theodor Danegger (31 August 1891 – 11 October 1959) was an Austrian film actor. He appeared in more than 70 films between 1932 and 1959. He was born in Lienz, Austria and died in Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital ...

(1891–1959), she decided on a stage career early in life. She started her performing with children's roles, making her debut in 1912 at

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born Theatre director, theatre and film director, theater manager, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his radically innovative and avant-gard ...

's Deutsches Theater in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, with a further youthful appearance there in 1914. She would continue to return to the Berlin stage throughout her career, but by 1919 she was, with her parents, based in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. In 1919–1920 she had engagements at the City Theatre in

. From 1921 to 1924, she was working, primarily, at the Popular Theatre in Vienna, and, between 1924 and 1928, at the

Theater in der Josefstadt The Theater in der Josefstadt is a theater in Vienna in the eighth district of Josefstadt. It was founded in 1788 and is the oldest still performing theater in Vienna. It is often referred to colloquially as simply ''Die Josefstadt''. Following ...

. Danegger's first marriage was to Herbert Waniek (1897–1949) whose theatre career during the 1920s was focused on the same Vienna theatres as those of his wife. Waniek had connections with the "German Theatre" at Brno (in the former Czechoslovakia), where, until 1933, Mathilde Danegger was making regular guest appearances. There were also frequent guest appearances at theatres in Berlin and Vienna. Around this time she married her second husband, Swiss drama producer

Walter Lesch Walter Lesch (4 March 1898 – 27 May 1958) was a Swiss stage and movie producer-director. He was also a writer and, for nearly twenty years after 1933, artistic director of the anti-Nazi Cabaret Cornichon. Life Bernhard Walter Lesch was bo ...

(1898–1958). With the German change in government at the start of 1933, Mathilde, a staunch antifascist, fled to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

where she worked at the National Theatre in Zürich with Wolfgang Langhoff, like her a political exile from

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. She took part in political cabaret, between 1934 and 1938 appearing in the "Cornichon" cabaret established by her husband. In 1939, she met with

Herbert Crüger Herbert Crüger (17 May 1911 – 17 January 2003) was a German political activist and politician (Communist Party of Germany, KPD) who, as a young man during the Nazi Germany, Nazi years, became caught up in espionage activity. During the postw ...

, who subsequently became her third husband. She was a co-founder in Switzerland of the

National Committee for a Free Germany The National Committee for a Free Germany (, or NKFD) was an Anti-fascism, anti-fascist political and military organisation formed in the Soviet Union during World War II, composed mostly of German defectors from the ranks of German prisoners of ...

. Two years after the war ended, in 1947, Mathilde Danegger returned to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Sources differ as to whether she settled in the American occupation zone or in

East Berlin East Berlin (; ) was the partially recognised capital city, capital of East Germany (GDR) from 1949 to 1990. From 1945, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet occupation sector of Berlin. The American, British, and French se ...

, which was in the central part of what had been Germany, and was now administered as part of the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet occupation zone in Germany ( or , ; ) was an area of Germany that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a communist area, established as a result of the Potsdam Agreement on 2 August 1945. On 7 October 1949 the German Democratic Republ ...

. In reality, it was several years before the political division of occupied Germany would be matched by physical barriers. Between 1947 and 1951, she was working at the Hessische National Theatre in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

. In East Berlin, supported by the dramatist's wife and business manager,

Helene Weigel Helene Weigel (; 12 May 19006 May 1971) was an Austrian actress and artistic director. She was the second and last wife of Bertolt Brecht until his death in 1956; together they had two children. Personal life Weigel was born in Vienna, Austria ...

, Danegger was recruited by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

to work at 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 Langh ...

where she was employed between 1951 and 1953. During these years she was active in the peace movement. In December 1948 she joined the

German Communist Party The German Communist Party (, ) is a communist party in Germany. The DKP supports far-left positions and was an observer member of the European Left before leaving in February 2016. History The DKP considered itself a reconstitution of the C ...

. Between 1948 and 1951 she also wrote, as Cultural Editor, for ''Unsere Stimme'', a regional communist news magazine based at

Villingen-Schwenningen Villingen-Schwenningen (; Low Alemannic: ''Villinge-Schwenninge'') is a city in the Schwarzwald-Baar district in southern Baden-Württemberg, in south-western Germany. It had 89,743 inhabitants as of September 2024. History In the Middle Ages, ...

near the border with

. In 1953, four years after the foundation of two separate German states, and with the border between them becoming less permeable, she formally relocated with her husband to the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). There followed a long period as a star of the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. Among others, she took part in productions by Wolfgang Langhoff, Wolfgang Heinz,

Benno Besson Benno Besson was a Swiss Theatre Director. Benno Besson (born René-Benjamin Besson; 4 November 1922 in Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland – 23 February 2006 in Berlin, Germany) was a theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a ...

and . In parallel with her theatre work, from 1960 she built up an extensive repertoire of cinema and television roles in productions by the state-owned film studio,

DEFA DEFA (''Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft'') was the state-owned film studio of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) throughout the country's existence. Since 2019, DEFA's film heritage has been made accessible and licensable on the PR ...

, and

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 ...

, the state television broadcaster. She had already undertaken a significant amount of acting work in front of the camera during her time in Switzerland. Of particular note was her portrayal of Frau Holle in the 1963 film of the eponymous fairy tale by Gottfried Kolditz and her television role in "Mutter Jantschowa" (1968). She remained politically engaged throughout. In 1957 she wrote a letter to the party defending dissident Wolfgang Harich following his arrest.

Marriages

By her second husband she was the mother of the actress Karin Lesch. Her third husband, the university lecturer and author

, became caught up in the political persecution that was a feature of East Germany in the 1950s. In 1956, he was overheard criticising the arrest of Bernhard Steinberger in the aftermath of the remarkable

party conference The terms party conference ( UK English), political convention ( US and Canadian English), and party congress usually refer to a general meeting of a political party. The conference is attended by certain delegates who represent the party memb ...

of the

Soviet Communist Party The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

. In March 1958 Crüger was himself arrested by the Ministry for State Security (Stasi). At a secret trial in December 1958 he was found guilty of "high treason" (''"schweren Staatsverrats"'') and sentenced to an eight-year jail term. In the end he was released in 1961 and rehabilitated by the High Court in May 1990.

Filmography (selection)

Cinema films * 1921: ''Wege des Schreckens'' – producer: Mihály Kertész * 1933: ' – producer:

und

Richard Schweizer Richard Schweizer (23 December 1899 – 30 March 1965) was a Swiss screenwriter who won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1945 for his work in '' Marie-Louise'', as well as the Academy Award for Best Story in 1948 for his work in ...

* 1935: ' – producer: Walter Lesch und

Leopold Lindtberg Leopold Lindtberg (born in Vienna on 1 June 1902; died in Sils im Engadin/Segl on 18 April 1984) was an Austrian Swiss film and theatre director. He fled Austria due to the Machtergreifung in Germany and ultimately settled in Switzerland. Hi ...

* 1940: ' – producer: Leopold Lindtberg * 1942: Der Schuss von der Kanzel * 1944: '' Marie-Louise'' – producer: Leopold Lindtberg * 1947: '' Madness Rules'' – producer: Leopold Lindtberg * 1956: '' Lissy'' – producer:

Konrad Wolf Konrad Wolf (20 October 1925 – 7 March 1982) was an East Germany, East German film director. He was the son of writer, doctor and diplomat Friedrich Wolf (writer), Friedrich Wolf, and the younger brother of Stasi spymaster Markus Wolf. "Koni" ...

* 1959: '' Ehesache Lorenz'' – producer: Joachim Kunert * 1960: ' – producer: Konrad Wolf * 1962: '' Das verhexte Fischerdorf'' * 1962: '' A Lively Christmas Eve'' – producer:

Günter Reisch Günter Reisch (24 November 1927 – 24 February 2014) was a German film director and screenwriter. He served in the German Army during the last stage of World War II. On 20 April 1944 he became a member of the Nazi Party. After his release from a ...

* 1963: ''

Die Glatzkopfbande ''Die Glatzkopfbande'' is an East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 Oc ...

'' – producer:

Richard Groschopp Richard Groschopp (19 February 1906 - 8 July 1996) was a German film director and screenwriter. He directed in more than sixty films from 1932 to 1971. Selected filmography References External links

* 1906 births 1996 deaths Film ...

* 1963:

Frau Holle "Frau Holle" (; ; also known as "Mother Holle", "Mother Hulda" or "Old Mother Frost") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in '' Children's and Household Tales'' in 1812 (KHM 24). It is of Aarne-Thompson type 480. Frau Holle ...

– producer: Gottfried Kolditz * 1964: '' Geliebte weiße Maus'' – producer: Gottfried Kolditz * 1964:

Der fliegende Holländer ' (''The Flying Dutchman''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 63, is a German-language opera, with libretto and music by Richard Wagner. The central theme is redemption through love. Wagner Conducting, conducted the premiere at the Königliches Hofthe ...

– producer:

Joachim Herz Joachim Herz (15 June 1924 – 18 October 2010) was a German opera director and manager. He learned at the Komische Oper Berlin as an assistant to Walter Felsenstein. His major stations were the Leipzig Opera where he opened the new house with Wa ...

* 1965: ''

Solange Leben in mir ist Solange Leben in mir ist (English: As Long As There's Life in Me) is a 1965 German biopic from the East German state-owned DEFA studios and director Günter Reisch following the life of the German communist leader Karl Liebknecht during the first ...

'' * 1965: ' * 1968:

Abschied ''Farewell'' (German: ''Abschied'') is a 1930 German comedy drama film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Brigitte Horney, Aribert Mog and Emilia Unda. It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Berlin. The film's sets were designed by t ...

* 1969: ''Zeit zu leben'' – producer: Horst Seemann * 1969: ''

Seine Hoheit – Genosse Prinz ''Seine Hoheit – Genosse Prinz'' is an East German film. It was released in 1969. Cast * Rolf Ludwig: Kaspar Mai / Eitel Friedrich Prince of Hohenlohe-Liebenstein * Regina Beyer: Angelika Engel * Jutta Wachowiak: Princess Diana * Ilse Voigt: ...

'' – producer:

Werner W. Wallroth Werner W. Wallroth (28 February 1930 – 9 August 2011) was a German film director and screenwriter. He directed sixteen films between 1961 and 1991. His 1983 film '' Zille and Me'' was entered into the 13th Moscow International Film Festiv ...

* 1987: ' – producer: Günter Reisch Television films * 1960: ''Steine im Weg'' – producer: Wilhelm Gröhl * 1967: ''Kleiner Mann – was nun?'' – producer: Hans-Joachim Kasprzik * 1970: ''Anlauf'' – producer:

Egon Günther Egon Günther (30 March 1927 – 31 August 2017)
in: Tagesspiegel, 31 August 2017. ...

* 1977: ' (TV series) * 1978: ' (TV series) * 1979: ' (TV series) – producer: Hans Werner * 1980: '' Archiv des Todes'' – producer: Rudi Kurz Documentary films (Narrator) * 1954–1956: ''Du und mancher Kamerad'' – producer:

Annelie Annelie is a female given name. Notable people with the name include: * Annelie Botes (1957–2024), South African writer * Annelie Ehrhardt (born 1950), German athlete who competed in hurdling * Annelie Enochson (born 1953), Swedish Christian Dem ...

and Andrew Thorndike * 1962: ''Unbändiges Spanien'' – producer: Kurt and Jeanne Stern

Theatre (selection)

* 1952:

Nikolai Pogodin Nikolai Fyodorovich Pogodin () (pseudonym of Nikolai F. Stukalov) ( – 19 September 1962) was a Soviet Union, Soviet playwright. His plays were recognized in Soviet Union theater for their realistic portrayals of common life combined with Socia ...

: ''Das Glockenspiel des Kreml'' (Sabelins Frau) – producer: Ernst Busch (

) * 1953: Heinar Kipphardt: ''Shakespeare dringend gesucht'' (Frau Mellin) – producer: Herwart Grosse (

Deutsches Theater Berlin The Deutsches Theater is a theater in Berlin, Germany. It was built in 1850 as Friedrich-Wilhelm-Städtisches Theater, after Frederick William IV of Prussia. Located on Schumann Street (Schumannstraße), the Deutsches Theater consists of two adj ...

– Kammerspiele) * 1953: Julius Hays: ''Der Putenhirt'' – producer:

Fritz Wendel Friedrich "Fritz" Wendel (21 February 1915 – 9 February 1975) was a German test pilot during the 1930s and 1940s. Achievements On 26 April 1939 Fritz Wendel set the Flight airspeed record, world air speed record of , flying the Messerschmitt Me ...

(Deutsches Theater Berlin – Kammerspiele) * 1953: Friedrich Wolf: ''Thomas Müntzer, der Mann mit der Regenbogenfahne'' (Mutter) – producer: Wolfgang Langhoff (Deutsches Theater Berlin) * 1955:

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

: '' Faust. The Tragedy, Part I'' – producer: Wolfgang Langhoff (Deutsches Theater Berlin) * 1955:

Johann Nestroy Johann Nepomuk Eduard Ambrosius Nestroy (; 7 December 1801 – 25 May 1862) was a singer, actor and playwright in the popular Austrian tradition of the Biedermeier period and its immediate aftermath. He participated in the 1848 revolutions and ...

: '' Theaterg’schichten'' (Katharina) – producer: Emil Stöhr (Deutsches Theater Berlin) * 1955:

Gerhart Hauptmann Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of Naturalism (literature), literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into h ...

: '' Vor Sonnenuntergang'' (Mutter Peters) – producer: Wolfgang Heinz (Deutsches Theater Berlin) * 1956:

Hermann Bahr Hermann Anastas Bahr (; 19 July 1863 – 15 January 1934) was an Austrian writer, playwright, director, and critic. Biography Born and raised in Linz, Bahr studied in Vienna, Graz, Czernowitz and Berlin, devoting special attention to philosophy, ...

: ''Das Konzert'' (Almhütten-Verwalterin) – producer:

Robert Meyn Robert Meyn (16 January 1896 – 2 March 1972) was a German stage, film and television actor.Fehrenbach p.103 Partial filmography * '' The Sinner'' (1951) - Von Hernsdorf - Marinas Stiefvater / Marina's Stepfather * ''Kommen Sie am Ersten'' (195 ...

(Deutsches Theater Berlin – Kammerspiele) * 1957: Mary Chase: '' Mein Freund Harvey'' (Veta) – producer: Wolfgang Thal (Deutsches Theater Berlin – Kammerspiele) * 1958: Anton Tschechow: '' Three sisters'' – producer: Heinz Hilpert (Deutsches Theater Berlin) * 1960:

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 attende ...

: ''Die Holländerbraut'' – producer:

(Deutsches Theater Berlin) * 1961:

Pavel Kohout Pavel Kohout (born 20 July 1928) is a Czech and Austrian novelist, playwright, and poet. He was a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, a Prague Spring participant and dissident in the 1970s until he was not allowed to return from A ...

: ''Die dritte Schwester'' – producer:

Karl Paryla Karl Paryla (1905–1996) was an Austrian theater actor and director, and later a film maker as well. A lifelong, dedicated communist, his career in the Austrian theater was first interrupted by the Second World War, and then strained by Cold War ...

(Deutsches Theater Berlin – Kammerspiele) * 1962: Nikolai Pogodin: ''Der Mann mit dem Gewehr'' (Jelisaweta Nikitischna) – producer: Horst Schönemann (Deutsches Theater Berlin) * 1962:

Peter Hacks Peter Hacks (21 March 1928 – 28 August 2003) was a German playwright, author, and essayist. Hacks was born in Breslau (Wrocław), Lower Silesia. Displaced by World War II, Hacks settled in Munich in 1947, where he made acquaintance with T ...

(after

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

): '' Der Frieden'' (Trygaios Tochter) – producer: Benno Besson (Deutsches Theater Berlin) * 1963:

Sean O'Casey Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Hiberno-English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; angli ...

: ''Rote Rosen für mich'' (Frau Breydon) – producer: Ernst Kahler (Deutsches Theater Berlin) * 1964:

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

: ''

Tartuffe ''Tartuffe, or The Impostor, or The Hypocrite'' (; , ), first performed in 1664, is a theatrical comedy (or more specifically, a farce) by Molière. The characters of Tartuffe, Elmire, and Orgon are considered among the greatest classical theat ...

'' (Madame Pernelle) – producer: Benno Besson (Deutsches Theater Berlin – Kammerspiele) * 1967: Horst Salomon: ''Ein Lorbaß'' – producer: Benno Besson (Deutsches Theater Berlin) * 1968: Hermann Kant: ''Die Aula'' – producer: Uta Birnbaum (Deutsches Theater Berlin) * 1975:

Heinrich von Kleist Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist (; 18 October 177721 November 1811) was a German poet, dramatist, novelist, short story writer and journalist. His best known works are the theatre plays ''The Prince of Homburg'', '' Das Käthchen von Heilbronn'' ...

: '' Der zerbrochne Krug'' (Brigitte) – producer: Adolf Dresen (Deutsches Theater Berlin)

Awards and honours

* 1955:

Clara Zetkin Medal The Clara Zetkin Medal was a national award in the German Democratic Republic. It was created by the country's Council of Ministers on 18 February 1954 in order to honour the life and work of Clara Zetkin, whom the Marxist establishment regarded ...

* 1960:

Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic The Art Prize of the German Democratic Republic (German: ''Kunstpreis der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik'') was an East German state award bestowed on individuals for contributions in various fields of art. History The Art Prize was annually a ...

* 1963:

Patriotic Order of Merit The Patriotic Order of Merit (German: ''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'', or VVO) was a national award granted annually in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was founded in 1954 and was awarded to individuals and institutions for outstanding ...

in Bronze * 1969:

National Prize of the German Democratic Republic The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) () was an award of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, and other meritorious achievement. With scientific achievem ...

2nd Class, for arts and literature * 1978:

in Gold * 1983:

Gold clasp * 1985: Wolfgang Heinz Ring * 1988:

Star of People's Friendship The Star of Peoples' Friendship (), Star of Nations' Friendship, was an order awarded by the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Established 20 August 1959, it was given to individuals of exceptional merit who had contributed to the "understandi ...

in Gold

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Danegger, Mathilde 1903 births 1988 deaths Actresses from Vienna Communist Party of Germany members Socialist Unity Party of Germany members Austrian stage actresses German stage actresses Austrian film actresses German film actresses Emigrants from Nazi Germany to Switzerland Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit (honor clasp) Radio actresses Austrian emigrants to East Germany 20th-century German women