Biography:

Erwin Geschonneck was born in Bartenstein (now Bartoszyce, Poland) on December 27, 1906. In 1908, his family moved to Berlin, where they remained until Hitler took power in 1933. Geschonneck, who had joined the communist party, left for political exile in the Soviet Union via Poland. In 1939, after he had relocated to Czechoslovakia due to problems with the Soviet secret police, he was arrested in Prague and turned over to the Gestapo. He described his experiences as a political prisoner in the Sachsenhausen, Dachau, and Neuengamme concentration camps in his autobiography, Meine unruhigen Jahre (1984).

Geschonneck is known to be one of (East) Germany’s greatest actors. His career spanned nearly the entire history of German cinema. In his early years, he performed in lay acting groups, became involved in Agitprop productions, and joined Erwin Piscator’s famous Volksbühne ensemble in Berlin. In 1946, Geschonneck began working at the theater Kammerspiele in Hamburg. Three years later, Bertolt Brecht asked him to join his Berliner Ensemble, where Geschonneck played many leading roles, including parts in Puntila, Mother Courage, and The Broken Jug.

In 1932, Geschonneck made his first film appearance as one of 4,000 athletes in Bertolt Brecht and Slatan Dudow’s Weimar-era film, Kuhle Wampe. He wouldn’t appear before the camera again until after WWII. After a couple of minor roles in the late 1940s, the East German DEFA Studio for Feature Films offered him his first leading part in 1950 as the dark spirit, Holländer-Michel, in the fairy tale film Das kalte Herz. Geschonneck’s lead performances furnished some of DEFA’s most important contributions to German film history, such as Frank Beyer’s Nackt unter Wölfen, Karbid und Sauerampfer, Jakob der Lügner (the only East German film to be nominated for an Oscar), Falk Harnack’s Das Beil von Wandsbek, and Gerhard Klein’s banned film Berlin um die Ecke. By the end of his career, Geschonneck had played in over 100 cinema and television productions. His energetic acting, whimsical expressions, and charming smile are unforgettable and made him a beloved film star. Geschonneck played his very last film role in the tour de force comedy Matulla und Busch (script by Ulrich Plenzdorf and Klaus Schlesinger), directed by his son Matti Geschonneck. Critics praised the film as a special homage to the great actor. He shared the screen with a top cast that included Fred Delmare, Otto Sander and Rolf Hoppe.

Geschonneck won numerous national and international awards, including two notable post-Wende prizes: the 1993 Deutscher Filmpreis for his outstanding contributions to German film, and in 2004, he posthumously became an honorary member of the Deutsche Filmakademie.

Erwin Geschonneck died at the age of 101 in Berlin on March 12, 2008. Geschonneck’s estate is housed at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin.

Festivals & Awards:

Bibliography & More:

Geschonneck, Erwin. Meine unruhigen Jahre: Lebenserinnerungen. Berlin: Das Neue Berlin. 1995/2009.