Margarete Schön

Margarete Schön, born Margarethe Schippang on April 7, 1895, in Magdeburg, German Empire, was a distinguished German stage and film actress whose career spanned nearly five decades of the twentieth century. She received her initial training through private acting lessons with the renowned theatre actor Hans Calm in Dessau, which prepared her for her stage debut in 1912 at Bad Freienwalde. Her early theatrical career included significant engagements at the municipal theater of Bromberg and a formative period with the Deutsches Theater in Hanover from 1915 to 1918, followed by an extensive tenure at the Staatstheater Berlin from 1918 until 1945, establishing her as a prominent figure in German theater. Schön made her transition to cinema in 1919 with the film Du meine Himmelskönigin, directed by Carl Wilhelm, marking the beginning of a prolific screen career that would see her appear in numerous silent films throughout the 1920s under various directors including her future husband.

Her international breakthrough came in 1924 when she portrayed the vengeful Kriemhild in Fritz Lang's epic two-part fantasy serial Die Nibelungen, opposite Paul Richter as Siegfried, a role that cemented her status as a leading actress of the German cinema and brought her recognition worldwide. Schön adapted seamlessly to the advent of sound films and maintained a busy career throughout the 1930s, appearing in various genres while notably avoiding participating in Nazi propaganda productions during the Second World War, with the exception of an uncredited appearance in Veit Harlan's Kolberg in 1945. One of her most beloved performances came as Frau Knauer in the 1944 comedy Die Feuerzangenbowle, which remained a popular work in German film history. Following the war, she continued working as a respected character actress in West German cinema and became a familiar voice in radio broadcasting, demonstrating her versatility across media. She briefly worked for DEFA, the state-owned film studio of East Germany, from 1948 to 1950, before retiring from acting completely in 1960. In 1968, she was honored with the Bundesfilmpreis for her outstanding contributions to German film, and she remained married to Danish director Robert Dinesen until his death in 1972, passing away herself in West Berlin on December 26, 1985, at the age of 90, leaving behind a legacy as one of Germany's most enduring performers.