A famous Berliner Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992) [1]
Translated by xia23
Marlen Dietrich was born in Berlin-Schöneber on December 27, 1901. When she was 18 years old, she trained as a violinist and studied in the Berlin University of Music. At the age of 23 she obtained her first theater role and soon she began her film career. Through her role in Josef von Sternberg’s Film “The Blue Angel” [2] Marlene Dietrich became famous. In the film she plays the cabaret-singer Lola-Lola, with whom a respected professor falls in love. Then she made six more films with Sternberg and later worked with Billy Wilder, Alfred Hitchcock and Orson Welles. She became a Hollywood-Star through her films with Paramount Pictures and lived in America. During the third Reich the national-socialist [3] film maker tried to call her back to Germany, to make films with her. Goebbels [4] himself was a great fun of Marlen Dietrich and people from Germany made many lucrative offers to her. But she refused to appear in films for fascist regime. She wanted to show the world that there is another Germany. She wanted people in Germany and in the world to understand, that there is also an antifascist Germany, and that many artists like her live in exit, because they reject the Nazi ideology. She became an American in 1939. During the World War Two she performed for American troops in France, Italy and North Africa and received later the American Medal of Freedom. In France she was honored with the Knight of the Legion of Honor [5]. She returned back to Germany only in the sixties. Since 1976 she lived in Paris. In 1983 she published her memoir “I am, thank God, a Berliner”. She died in 1992 and buried in Berlin.
On the occasion of 10th anniversary of her death on May 16, 2002, Marlene Dietrich was honored with the honorary citizen of Berlin. Dietrich defined the city of Berlin as: “Berlin: an island within Germany, known for its humor: a sharp, dry, self-explanatory joke, mixed with gallows humor and self-irony; an often tragic humor, which is without any respect and without any self-pity. The Berlin dialect belongs to one of the most unvarnished, the most picturesque and the most impertinent of the world. (from: The ABC of my life, Munich: German Pocketbook Publisher).
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[1]. Eine berühmte Berlinerin Marlene Dietrich (1901-1992). p. 6. Stationen, Ein Kursbuch für die Mittelstufe, 3rd Edition, Prisca Augustyn & Nikolaus Euba, Cengage Learning, USA, 2015
Berliner: a native of citizen of Berlin, Germany.
[2]. The Blue Angel. A 1930 German film.
About the film in wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blue_Angel
The film in wikipedia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpmenozoyYI
[3]. National-socialist. Nazionalsozialistisch in German.
[4]. Goebbels,
Paul Joseph Goebbels
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Goebbels
[5]. The Knight of Legion of Honor. Chevalier de La Légion d’Honneur
From: Harrap's French and English College Dictionary:
The French Légion d'Honneur is the highest decoration in France. It is awarded to people who have made outstanding contributions to France or to humanity.
There are 5 levels:
chevalier,
cfficier,
commandeur,
grand officier,
grand croix.
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Berlin:
Population: 3.5 million
Area: 892 km2
Students in Winter semester, 2013: 160,100
from the book in [1].
CD of Marlene Dietrich:
Lili Marlen by Marlene Dietrich in youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7heXZPl2hik
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My article on Marlene Dietrich's song Lili Marlen：
https://blog.wenxuecity.com/myblog/40376/202310/5634.html
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Berliner Luft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd3oBXirSRA
