Hans Albers

Hans Philipp August Albers was born on September 22, 1891 in Hamburg St. Georg as the youngest of six children at Lange Reihe 71. He was a German pop singer and actor. His father Philipp Albers had achieved modest prosperity as a master butcher. Hans Albers embodied the lovable sea dog like no other. Songs such as “Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins” and films such as “Große Freiheit Nr. 7” made the Hamburg native immortal. And although Albers never went to sea, he sang many sea shanties throughout his career.

Hans Albers: From school expulsion to stage star

Albers initially attended the Uhlenhorster Oberrealschule, from which he was expelled after a fight with a teacher. He later had a similar experience at St. Georg secondary school. However, he found recognition and enjoyment at the Alster swimming club, where he was an enthusiastic youth athlete. He then began a commercial apprenticeship and worked in a silk factory in Frankfurt am Main.

His stage career at the Neues Theater also began there, albeit initially without much success. Secretly and with financial support from his mother, Albers took private acting lessons without his father knowing about it. In the 1912/13 season, he finally made his debut at the Güstrow Municipal Theater, mostly in the role of a young lover. His salary fluctuated between 60 and 120 marks a month, and he also had to help with stage work.

During the First World War, Albers was drafted into the army in 1915 and fought in the Reserve Infantry Regiment 31 on the Western Front, where he was seriously wounded. His severely injured leg was saved in the military hospital in Wiesbaden after he had – according to his own statement – vehemently resisted amputation. After his recovery, he continued his stage career at the Wiesbaden Residenztheater, where he appeared in farces, comedies and operettas.

Berlin, operetta and revue: the rise of Hans Albers in the 1920s

From 1917, Hans Albers settled in Berlin, where he established himself after the First World War on various stages and at the Komische Oper, mainly in comic roles in operettas and comedies. From the mid-1920s, he appeared as a leading actor in revues, including with Rudolf Nelson, where he was particularly notable for his singing and acrobatics. He celebrated his first major success in spoken theater in 1928 with the role of the waiter Gustav Tunichtgut in Ferdinand Bruckner’s play “Die Verbrecher”. His patron and teacher was the Jewish actor Eugen Burg.

In 1920, Albers met his future partner, the actress Hansi Burg, the daughter of his mentor Eugen Burg. Around 1925, Albers and Hansi initially lived at different addresses in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin before moving in together and renting the Villa Oeding on Wannsee as a shared weekend home.

After playing over a hundred roles in silent films, Albers appeared in one of the first German sound films, Die Nacht gehört uns, in 1929 and shortly afterwards alongside Marlene Dietrich in Der blaue Engel. In this film, he played the role of the artist Mazeppa, which remained his only supporting role in a sound film. However, leading actor Emil Jannings, who later became chairman of the supervisory board of Tobis-Tonbild, ensured that some of Albers’ crucial scenes were cut from the film.

In 1930, Albers made the comedy “Hans in allen Gassen” under the direction of Carl Froelich, who later became president of the Reich Film Chamber. In the final years of the Weimar Republic, he appeared in successful films such as Bombs on Monte Carlo (1931) and F.P.1 antwortet nicht (1932) and also returned to major theater roles, for example alongside Fritz Kortner in Rivalen or in Ferenc Molnár’s Liliom.

The role of Liliom, in particular, became one of his most famous from the premiere on January 7, 1931 at the Berlin Volksbühne, a role he retained until the play was canceled by the National Socialists due to Molnár’s Jewish descent. After the Second World War, he reprised the role and once again sang the famous song “Komm auf die Schaukel, Luise”.

Hans Albers and Hansi Burg: Forbidden love in the shadow of National Socialism

After the National Socialists came to power, Hans Albers was put under massive pressure to separate from his partner Hansi Burg, as she came from a respected Jewish family of artists. Albers finally gave in to the pressure and officially declared their separation in a letter to Joseph Goebbels on October 15, 1935. However, Burg and Albers actually continued to live together in his villa in Garatshausen on Lake Starnberg, which he had acquired in the same year.

Albers successfully continued his film career, but deliberately avoided the theater until 1945 in order to avoid the direct influence of the National Socialists. The situation in Germany became increasingly dangerous for Hansi Burg, she emigrated to England via Switzerland in 1939, but returned to Albers in Garatshausen in 1946.

In 1937, Albers played alongside Heinz Rühmann in the UFA comedy Der Mann, der Sherlock Holmes war. Their song Jawoll, meine Herr’n… was a great success with the public. In 1939, at the beginning of the Second World War, the adventure film Water for Canitoga was released, which landed another hit with the song Goodbye Johnny. In 1943, the lavishly produced color film Münchhausen for the 25th anniversary of the UFA was a great success with audiences.

Although Albers was distanced from the National Socialists, mocked them to colleagues and kept his distance from Nazi officials, he was highly regarded by Goebbels due to his popularity. Albers refused to accept an award from Goebbels and mocked him as “Doctor Göhbels”. Nevertheless, he received high fees due to his appeal and was included in the so-called “Gottbegnadeten” list.

Propaganda films included Flüchtlinge (1933) and Henker, Frauen und Soldaten (1935) as well as the film Carl Peters, which he co-produced and which premiered in March 1941 and glorified the colonial ambitions of the African explorer of the same name. In 1943, Albers filmed with Ilse Werner directed by Helmut Käutner, Albers shot the color film Große Freiheit Nr. 7, which had to be relocated to Prague due to the bombing raids on Potsdam and Berlin. However, due to its gloomy mood, the film was not shown in Germany until after the end of the war; the premiere took place in Berlin in September 1945 and marked the first film premiere after the war.

Shortly before the end of the Second World War, filming began on Shiva and the Gallows Flower, a crime film in color directed by Hans Steinhoff. Filming also took place in Prague, but the approach of the Red Army and the associated unrest led to the project being abandoned and the entire film crew fleeing to the West.

Between the silver screen and private life: Hans Albers and Hansi Burg in the post-war period

After the end of the war, Hansi Burg returned to Albers in the villa in Garatshausen in 1946. Albers then ended his relationship with an interim girlfriend and lived with Burg until his death in 1960. Their relationship was the subject of the 2021 docudrama The Love of Hans Albers.

His first film after the war was … und über uns der Himmel (1947) about the return of a war returnee to Berlin. Albers was able to continue his career successfully after the war and starred with Heinz Rühmann in Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins. He enjoyed great success in the 1950s, including in the film adaptation of Vor Sonnenuntergang (1956) based on Gerhart Hauptmann. Annemarie Düringer and Claus Biederstaedt played alongside him. Other well-known films from this period include Der tolle Bomberg and Das Herz von St. Pauli.

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Albers was also successful with chansons. From 1932, he presented himself as a daredevil(Flieger, grüß mir die Sonne), a sailor(Der Wind und das Meer) and a charmer(Komm auf die Schaukel, Luise). Around 1950, the Swiss composer Artur Beul wrote eight songs for Albers, including Sag wie heißt du, süße Kleine, Kleine Nordseeschwalbe and Nic ist braun wie eine Kaffeebohne. The two had met through Beul’s wife Lale Andersen. In the 1950s, Albers increasingly struggled with his alcohol addiction, which he managed to conceal cleverly.

In 1957, Albers took on the role of old Karl Knie in the musical version of Carl Zuckmayer’s Katharina Knie at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich. He retired from the stage with this role in 1960. In 1958, he still appeared in three films: Der Greifer, Der Mann im Strom (based on Siegfried Lenz) and 13 kleine Esel und der Sonnenhof. His last film Kein Engel ist so rein was released in 1960 and ends with Albers’ farewell words: “This is the end”.

A tragic fall and farewell: Hans Albers’ last days and his funeral in Hamburg

In February 1960, Hans Albers fell on stage during the Vienna performance of the musical Katharina Knie and suffered serious internal injuries. On July 24, 1960, at the age of 68, he died in a sanatorium in the Kempfenhausen district of Berg am Starnberger See – contrary to his earlier wishes in a hospital on Lake Starnberg. “Home is where you die, not where you live. And when my time comes, it will be in Hamburg,” Hans Albers had said. On July 29, he was buried at the Hamburg-Ohlsdorf cemetery amid great sympathy from thousands of mourners.

Silent films with Hans Albers

• 1917 The Daughter of Countess Stachowska
• 1917 The lace shawl of Princess Wolkowska
• 1918 The Thirteen
• 1918 The Song of the Colombine
• 1918 The courage to sin
• 1918 At the crossroads
• 1918 Love and life
• 1918 Shining dots
• 1918 Halka’s vow
• 1918 The curse of Nuri
• 1918 Sadja
• 1919 From a man’s girlhood
• 1920 The Grand Hotel Babylon
• 1920 The 999th night
• 1921 Pickpockets
• 1922 The evil spirit Lumpaci Vagabundus
• 1922 Human sacrifice
• 1922 The false Dimitry
• 1922 Lyda Ssanin
• 1923 Irene d’Or
• 1923 The Tiger of the Farini Circus
• 1923 Miss Raffke
• 1923 Inge Larsen
• 1924 The beautiful adventure
• 1924 Guillotine
• 1924 By order of the Pompadour
• 1925 A Midsummer Night’s Dream
• 1925 Half silk
• 1925 Luxury female
• 1925 Front building and rear building
• 1925 The girl with the protection
• 1925 The Bank Crash on Unter den Linden
• 1926 The Prince and the Dancer
• 1926 The sunken ones
• 1926 Hunting people
• 1926 The man from beyond the grave
• 1926 The three mannequins
• 1926 On the beautiful blue Danube
• 1926 Only one dancer
• 1926 The department store princess
• 1926 The sunken fleet
• 1926 Mermaid
• 1926 The villa in the Tiergarten
• 1927 Rinaldo Rinaldini
• 1927 En perfect gentleman
• 1927 The woman who can’t say no
• 1927 A Dubarry of today
• 1927 The biggest crook of the century
• 1927 Prime love
• 1927 Always practice loyalty and honesty
• 1927 The golden abyss
• 1928 Gynecologist Dr. Schäfer
• 1928 The thorny path of a princess
• 1928 Rasputin’s love adventure
• 1928 Princess Olala
• 1928 Saxophone-Susi
• 1928 Woman in flames
• 1929 The red circle
• 1929 Asphalt
• 1929 Mascot
• 1929 Yes, yes, women are my weak side
• 1929 Inherited shoots
• 1929 Saint or harlot

Sound films with Hans Albers

• 1929 The night belongs to us
• 1930 The blue angel
• 1930 The gripper
• 1930 Jack of all trades
• 1931 Three days of love
• 1931 Bombs on Monte Carlo
• 1931 The daredevil
• 1932 The white demon
• 1932 The winner
• 1932 Quick
• 1932 F.P.1 does not reply
• 1933 Today is the day
• 1933 A certain Mr. Gran
• 1933 Refugees
• 1934 Gold
• 1934 Peer Gynt
• 1935 Executioners, women and soldiers
• 1935 Variety
• 1936 Under a hot sky
• 1936 Savoy Hotel 217
• 1937 The yellow flag
• 1937 The man who was Sherlock Holmes
• 1938 Traveling people
• 1938 Sergeant Berry
• 1939 Water for Canitoga
• 1940 A man on the wrong track
• 1940 Trenck, the Pandur
• 1941 Carl Peters
• 1943 Munchausen
• 1944 Große Freiheit No. 7
• 1945 Shiva and the gallows flower (unfinished)
• 1947 … and above us the sky
• 1950 Hairdryer
• 1950 Hunted by the devil
• 1951 Bluebeard
• 1952 On the streets at night
• 1953 Jonny saves Nebrador
• 1953 Captain Bay-Bay
• 1954 Ten on each finger
• 1954 On the Reeperbahn at half past twelve at night
• 1955 The last man
• 1956 Before sunset
• 1957 The Fiancés of Death (I fidanzati della morte)
• 1957 The great Bomberg
• 1957 The heart of St. Pauli
• 1957 The gripper
• 1958 That only happened once
• 1958 The man in the stream
• 1958 13 little donkeys and the Sonnenhof
• 1960 No angel is so pure

The greatest musical successes of Hans Albers

Most of the pop songs sung by Hans Albers come from the soundtracks of his films, which made him famous as a singer. Above all, the music for Große Freiheit Nr. 7 (1943/1944), Wasser für Canitoga (1939) and F.P.1 antwortet nicht (1932) contributed significantly to his musical success. His greatest success, however, was his interpretation of the South American classic La Paloma with a German text by Helmut Käutner, which he recorded for Große Freiheit Nr. 7. Many of his songs from the early 1950s, particularly from 1950 and 1951, were written by the Swiss composer Artur Beul, who was married to the singer Lale Andersen at the time.

Recordings by Hans Albers

• 1932 Madam, come and play with me (from the movie Quick), August 11
• 1932 Flieger, grüß mir die Sonne (from the movie F.P.1 antwortet nicht), July 7
• 1932 Way back there, where the lighthouse is (from the movie F.P.1 antwortet nicht), July 7
• 1932 I came from Alabama (Oh, Susanna from the movie Rivals), February 13
• 1932 Oops, here I come (hit song from the movie The Winner), February 9
• 1932 Komm’ auf die Schaukel, Luise (from the stage play Liliom), February 9
• 1932 This is the love of sailors (from the film Bombs on Monte Carlo)
• 1932 In Hamburg on the Elbe (sailor’s chorale)
• 1932 Child, you don’t need to cry (from the movie The Daredevil), November 23
• 1932 I want to kiss you if you ask for it
• 1932 Hamburger Kedelklopper (to the tune of Der Stiefelputzer)1933 Hans im Glück (potpourri of the most popular Albers film and stage hits), March 4
• 1933 My gorilla has a villa in the zoo (from the movie Heut kommt’s darauf an), February 13
• 1933 Immer, wenn ich glücklich bin (from the movie Heut kommt’s darauf an), February 13
• 1933 Ich bin der Hans im Glück (from the movie Heut kommt’s drauf an), February 9
• 1933 In 24 hours (from the movie Heut kommt’s darauf an), February 9
• 1934 Nun muß ich fort, ade, mein Kind (from the film Peer Gynt), December 13
• 1934 Ace’s death (from the movie Peer Gynt), December 13
• 1936 Under a hot sky (from the movie of the same name), December 15
• 1936 On the Reeperbahn at half past twelve at night, April 1
• 1936 In my heart, darling, there is room for many (from the movie Savoy-Hotel 217), April 1
• 1936 And above us the sky (from the film of the same name), April 1 (The 1936 film of the same name was not produced until 1947)
• 1937 Jawohl, meine Herr’n (from the movie The Man Who Was Sherlock Holmes), July 2
• 1937 I have a little philosophy, July 2
• 1939 Good Bye, Jonny (from the movie Water for Canitoga)
• 1944 La Paloma (from the movie Große Freiheit No. 7), December 19
• 1944 Beim ersten Mal, da tut’s noch weh (from the movie Große Freiheit Nr. 7), December 19
• 1944 Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins (from the movie Große Freiheit Nr. 7)
• 1947 Sehnsuchtsmusik (Song of longing), December 4
• 1947 Song of the refugees, May 28
• 1947 Goodbye Johnny (from the movie Water for Canitoga), May 28
• 1947 Hein Mück (from Bremerhaven), April 23
• 1947 Between Hamburg and Haiti (from the film of the same name), April 23
• 1947 And above us the sky (from the movie of the same name)
• 1950 Bohemien (slow waltz), December
• 1950 Föhn (song from the movie of the same name), December
• 1950 Fairground (waltz song), October
• 1950 Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins (Waltz song, rare version), June
• 1950 La Paloma (rare version), June
• 1950 That only happens in Texas (Deep in the Heart of Texas with Evelyn Künneke)
• 1950 In Arizona and Arkansas (Foxtrot and duet with Evelyn Künneke)
• 1950 Say, what’s your name (sea shanty and slowfox)
• 1950 I came from Alabama (Oh, Susanna from the movie Rivals)
• 1950 The wind and the sea
• 1950 Harbor song (Beguine)
• 1950 If you were my darling (from the operetta 3× Georges)
• 1950 Ich frag’ nicht, ob du Geld hast (from the operetta Hopsa)
• 1950 The Song of Nigger Jim (from the operetta Hopsa)
• 1950 The Song of Columbus (from the operetta Hopsa)
• 1950 Nic is as brown as a coffee bean (Marschfox with the Burgstaller siblings)
• 1950 Five Little Monkeys (with the Fitzett Trio)
• 1950 My uncle has plantations
• 1951 Little North Sea Tern (with the Burgstaller siblings)
• 1951 Coconuts and bananas (Foxlied)
• 1951 Captain was called Jack (Marschfox)
• 1952 In every harbor there’s the Blue Peter (Tango), June 11
• 1952 In Hamburg on the Elbe (sailor’s chorale, song and march), June 11
• 1952 Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins (from the movie of the same name)
• 1952 O Signorina-rina-rina (from the movie Captain Bay-Bay)
• 1952 Little White Seagull (from the movie Captain Bay-Bay)
• 1952 Komm’ auf die Schaukel, Luise (from the movie Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins)
• 1952 Kleine Möve, flieg nach Helgoland (from the movie Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins)
• 1952 Take me with you, Captain, on a voyage (Lyrics: Fritz Graßhoff, from the movie Captain Bay-Bay)
• 1953 La Paloma
• 1953 Captain Bay-Bay from Shanghai (from the movie Captain Bay-Bay)
• 1954 In einer Sternennacht am Hafen (from the movie Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins)
• 1954 Einmal noch nach Bombay (from the movie Auf der Reeperbahn nachts um halb eins)
• 1956 Between Hamburg and Haiti
• 1957 Man must have a home (from the musical stage play Katharina Knie)
• 1957 The Heart of St. Pauli (from the movie of the same name)
• 1957 The Last Shirt (from the movie The Heart of St. Pauli)
• 1957 Don’t cry (from the movie Das Herz von St. Pauli)
• 1958 Yes, life (from the movie Das Herz von St. Pauli)
• 1959 It doesn’t matter
• 1959 Trippel, trippel, trapp (from the musical stage play Katharina Knie)
• 1959 My boy, keep your feet still (from the movie 13 little donkeys and the sun farm)