Zarah Leander was a Swedish singer and actress whose greatest success was in Germany between 1936 and 1943, when she was contracted to work for the state-owned Universum Film AG (UFA). Although no exact record sales numbers exist, she was probably among Europe's best-selling recording artists in the years prior to 1945. Her involvement with UFA caused her films and lyrics to be identified as Nazi propaganda. Though she had taken no public political position and was dubbed an "Enemy of Germany" by Joseph Goebbels, she remained a controversial figure for the rest of her life. As a singer, Leander was known for her confident style and her deep contralto voice, and was also known as a "female baritone".
Germany was the host nation and top medal recipient at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. 433 competitors, 389 men and 44 women, took part in 143 events in 22 sports.
Willy Birgel, born Wilhelm Maria Birgel, was a German theatre and film actor.
The Rudolf-Diesel-Medaille is an award by the German Institute for Inventions in memory of Rudolf Diesel for inventions and the entrepreneurial and economical implications accounting to the laureate. Since 1953 the award has been presented yearly until 1969 and then irregularly every two or three years.
The term state actor has had different meanings in recent German history. In Nazi Germany, it was the highest title that could be awarded to a stage actor. Since 1945, the meaning has changed. In Baden-Württemberg, it is no longer simply a title of honor, but an official position.
Faded Melody is a 1938 German drama film directed by Viktor Tourjansky and starring Brigitte Horney, Willy Birgel and Carl Raddatz. The film was made by Germany's largest studio of the era UFA. It was shot at the Babelsberg Studios in Potsdam and on location in French Algeria, New York City and Berlin. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Hermann Asmus and Max Mellin. It premiered at Berlin's Gloria-Palast.
Melody of a Great City is a 1943 musical drama film directed by Wolfgang Liebeneiner and starring Hilde Krahl, Werner Hinz and Karl John. A young woman moves to Berlin to work as a press photographer.
Robert Koch is a 1939 Nazi propaganda film directed by Hans Steinhoff and starring Emil Jannings, Werner Krauss and Viktoria von Ballasko. The film was a biopic of the German pioneering microbiologist Robert Koch (1843–1910). It was shot at the Johannisthal Studios in Berlin and premiered at the city's Ufa-Palast am Zoo. The film was made by the Tobis Film company, and was also distributed in the United States by the largest German studio UFA.
Secret Code LB 17 is a 1938 German thriller film directed by Victor Tourjansky and starring Willy Birgel, Hilde Weissner and Bernhard Minetti. It was made at the Babelsberg Studios outside Berlin. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Karl Böhm and Erich Czerwonski.
The Noltenius Brothers is a 1945 German drama film directed by Gerhard Lamprecht and starring Willy Birgel, Karl Mathias and Hilde Weissner. Released in Berlin on 7 April, it was, by most accounts, the last of the twelve films released in Nazi Germany in 1945, before capitulation on 7 May.
Bekenntnis der Professoren an den Universitäten und Hochschulen zu Adolf Hitler und dem nationalsozialistischen Staat officially translated into English as the Vow of allegiance of the Professors of the German Universities and High-Schools to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialistic State was a document presented on 11 November 1933 at the Albert Hall in Leipzig. It had statements in German, English, Italian, and Spanish by selected German academics and included an appendix of signatories. The purge to remove academics and civil servants with Jewish ancestry began with a law being passed on 7 April 1933. This document was signed by those that remained in support of Nazi Germany.
Ball at the Metropol is a 1937 German drama film directed by Frank Wisbar and starring Heinrich George, Heinz von Cleve and Hilde Weissner. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Fritz Maurischat and Anton Weber. It was based on the 1888 novel Irrungen, Wirrungen by Theodor Fontane. It premiered at the Gloria-Palast in Berlin.
