Rosa Albach-Retty (born Rosa Clara Franziska Helene Retty; 26 December 1874 – 26 August 1980) was an Austrian film and stage actress."Rosa Albach-Retty"

Munzinger-Archiv Munzinger-Archiv is a German Publishing, publisher and online encyclopedia based in the Baden-Württemberg city of Ravensburg. The content of the archive includes entries about people in politics, business, culture, sport, music and society, abou ...

Life

Born into a well-known family of actors, she was the daughter of actor and director . Trained by her father, she began her stage career in 1890 at the Deutsches Theater and the Lessing Theater in Berlin, where she performed as Franziska on '' Minna von Barnhelm''.

Hermann Sudermann Hermann Sudermann (30 September 1857 – 21 November 1928) was a German dramatist and novelist. Life Early career Sudermann was born at Matzicken, a village to the east of Heydekrug in the Province of Prussia (now Macikai, in southwestern ...

wrote his play ', which premiered in 1894 at the Lessing Theater, for her. She was also known for breeches roles in ''

Little Lord Fauntleroy ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' is a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was published as a serial in ''St. Nicholas Magazine'' from November 1885 to October 1886, then as a book by Charles Scribner's Sons, Scribner's (the publisher of ...

'' and ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan taken out on behalf of his dear friend, Bassanio, and provided by a ...

'' (1909 at the Burgtheater). In 1895, she went to the Volkstheater in Vienna and in 1903 joined the

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (; literally: "Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater", originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in ...

ensemble, where she received the title of ''Hofschauspielerin'' (Actress of the Court) in 1912. She became an honorary member of the Burgtheater in 1928 and in 1958 she gave her final performance. She was married to the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

officer Karl Albach; she was the mother of Wolf Albach-Retty (1906–1967), an Austrian movie actor who married German movie actress Magda Schneider in 1937. She thereby was the grandmother of actress

Romy Schneider Rosemarie Magdalena Albach (23 September 1938 – 29 May 1982), known professionally as Romy Schneider (), was a German and French actress. She is regarded as one of the greatest screen actresses of all time and became a cult figure due to ...

and great-grandmother of actress Sarah Biasini. Albach-Retty made her first film appearance in 1930, in

Georg Jacoby Georg Jacoby (23 July 1882 – 21 February 1964) was a German film director and screenwriter.Profile
, bfi.org.uk; accessed 1 ...

's ''

Money on the Street ''Money on the Street'' () is a 1930 Austrian-German romantic comedy film directed by Georg Jacoby and starring Lydia Pollman, Georg Alexander, and Franz Schafheitlin. It is notable for the screen debut of Hedy Lamarr, who made a short appea ...

'', and made her last appearance in the 1955 remake '' The Congress Dances'' directed by

Franz Antel Franz Antel (28 June 1913 – 11 August 2007) was a veteran Austrian filmmaker. Born in Vienna, Antel worked mainly as a film producer in the interwar years. After World War II, he began writing and directing films on a large scale. In the ...

. She died in 1980 at the age of 105, not long after she had published her autobiography ''So kurz sind 100 Jahre'' for her hundredth birthday. Her grave of honour and that of her son is located in the

Vienna Central Cemetery The Vienna Central Cemetery () is one of the largest Cemetery, cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its significance as Vienna's big ...

(group 32 C, number 50).

Ties to the Nazis

The proximity of Rosa Albach-Retty to the NS Regime is well documented. The annexation of Austria to

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 ...

in 1938 was celebrated by her in the '' Kleine Volks-Zeitung''. Rosa Albach-Retty's membership in the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...

is not proven, but she and her husband were supporting members of the SS. As a celebrity of the public and a self-confessed admirer of

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

, Rosa Albach-Retty was courted by the Nazi cultural policy and included in the so-called "God-privileged List" of the National Socialists. None of this did anything to diminish the esteem in which Albach-Retty was held after the end of the Nazi regime, as the awards she received after 1945 prove. Even a Viennese municipal building was named after her: the Rosa-Albach-Retty-Hof in the 19th district, built in the 1970s. Albachretty grab

Selected filmography

* ''

'' (1930) * ''

Episode An episode is a narrative unit within a larger dramatic work or documentary production, such as a serial (radio and television), series intended for radio, television or Streaming media, streaming consumption. Etymology The noun ''episode'' is ...

'' (1935) * '' Maria Ilona'' (1939) * ''

Hotel Sacher Hotel Sacher is a five-star luxury hotel in Vienna, Austria, facing the Vienna State Opera in the city's central Innere Stadt district. It is famous for the specialty of the house, the Sachertorte, a chocolate cake with apricot filling. There is ...

'' (1939) * '' Whom the Gods Love'' (1942) * '' Vienna 1910'' (1943) * ''

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

'' (1951) * '' Adventure in Vienna'' (1952) * '' The Spendthrift'' (1953) * '' The Congress Dances'' (1955) *''Klaus Peter Dencker in conversation with Rosa Albach-Retty. A production of Saarländischer Rundfunk / Television (45 minutes)'' (1979)

Decorations and awards

* 1955: Grand Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria * 1958: Josef Kainz Medal * 1960: Medal of Honour of the City of Vienna * 1963:

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian Decoration for Science and Art" was established by the National C ...

* 1977: Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver for Services to the Republic of Austria

Literature

* * Robert Kittler: ''Rosa Albach-Retty. Ein Leben für das Theater.'' Diss. University Vienna, Vienna 1958 * Oliver Rathkolb: ''Führertreu und gottbegnadet. Künstlereliten im Dritten Reich.'' Österreichischer Bundesverlag, Vienna 1991, * Robert Teichl: ''Österreicher der Gegenwart. Lexikon schöpferischer und schaffender Zeitgenossen.'' Verlag der Österreichischen Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1951 * Jürgen Trimborn: ''Romy und ihre Familie''. Droemer, Munich 2008,

References

External links

Rosa Albach-Retty
on filmportal.de
Rosa Albach-Retty
in the Vienna History Wiki
Audio and video archive for Rosa Albach-Retty
Österreichische Mediathek *
"Collection of photos and playbills"

Austrian Theatre Museum The Theatermuseum is a federal museum of national theatre history. Since 1991 it is situated in the Palais Lobkowitz in Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Albach-Retty, Rosa 1874 births 1980 deaths Actresses from Hesse Austrian film actresses Austrian stage actresses Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class Recipients of the Grand Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria 20th-century Austrian actresses Austrian women centenarians Romy Schneider People from Hanau