Marlene Dietrich, Los Angeles, 1940
Foto: Ray Jones
Marlene Dietrich Collection Berlin
General information
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Contact
Silke Ronneburg
Phone.: +49 30 300903-639
sronneburg@deutsche-kinemathek.dePlease contact us prior to your visit to determine the availability of access to our archives.
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Opening hours
Mon–Fri: by appointment only
Marlene Dietrich’s artistic estate, acquired in 1993, is among the most notable elements of the Deutsche Kinemathek’s Archives. The extensive collection provides nearly gapless documentation of the actress and singer’s life and career. The archive has preserved over 300,000 pages of written material related to her personal and private affairs, including more than 45,000 pages of correspondence, 16,500 photographs and over 3,300 textile objects. These are available for viewing at the Deutsche Kinemathek.
We are now exhibiting a portion of the Marlene Dietrich Collection Berlin online, with photos from Marlene Dietrich’s childhood in Berlin, photographs of her volunteer work during World War II and numerous costumes and costume designs.
The generous support of the Berlin Senate Committee for Culture and Europe and the Förderkreis des Museums für Film und Fernsehen has allowed us to digitize roughly 1,500 objects from the archive in 2017 and 2018. The work was undertaken with the aid of the research and competency center of digitization Berlin (Forschungs- und Kompetenzzentrum Digitalisierung Berlin). The catalog of estate items available online is intended to grow continually, with the bulk of the corpus coming through photos, 3D and textile objects whose legal status for online presentation has been clarified.
If you are interested in other materials or topics, you can contact us here in the Archive about the possibility of viewing the originals. We look forward to your visit.
Gallery
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Marlene Dietrich on a paratrooper practice jump with the 82nd Airborne Division, Soissons in northern France, 13 March 1945
Photo: George Norton
Rights: This image was taken by a soldier or employee of the US army as part of their official duties. As a work of the US government, the image is in the public domain.
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Class photo from the Viktoria Luisen School; Marlene Dietrich with a notably large bow is the second from right in the front row; Berlin-Wilmersdorf, 1918
Photo: Lenning von der Wande
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Josef von Sternberg and Marlene Dietrich visit Charlie Chaplin on the set of ‘City Lights’ (USA, 1931, directed by Charlie Chaplin) in Los Angeles
Photo: Hyman Fink
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Custom sketch for a shoulderless show dress with flowers and cloth swatch
Design: Jean Louis, Los Angeles, 1950s
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Show jacket made of yellow rooster feathers, cross weave with tightly applied feathers (up to 60cm long), worn with a yellow show costume covered in yellow shimmering rhinestones
Design: Jean Louis, Los Angeles, 1959, produced by Elizabeth Courtney
Photo: Michael Lüder -
Photograph from Beate Klarsfeld, with dedication dated 8 August 1985: “For Marlene Dietrich in tremendous admiration of a brave anti-Nazi fighter and magnificent actress”. German/French journalist Beate Klarsfeld was herself known for her dedication to the pursuit and clarification of Nazi crimes. The photo was taken in 1984 as part of a program honoring Beate Klarsfeld by French president François Mitterand as a “Knight of the Legion of Honor”.
Photo: Daniel Franck, © Daniel Franck / Klarsfeld Foundation
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“Washing with snow” in Ardennes, January 1945, with handwritten comment by Marlene Dietrich from the 1980s.
This work is copyrighted. With friendly support from the International Center for Photography, New York.
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Marlene Dietrich during a performance in Pilsen, in liberated Bohemia, where the US troops met the Red Army in May 1945. The performances were open to American and Russian soldiers.
Photo: Mirko Křen
Rights: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 / © Mirko Křen / Jana Křenova -
Portrait photo of Marlene Dietrich with cravat, vintage print, Los Angeles, early 1930s
Photo: Eugene Robert Richee
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Marlene Dietrich visits a restaurant with daughter Maria, Los Angeles, March 1934
Photo: Hyman Fink
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Dietrich family photo, with mother Josefine Wilhelmine Elisabeth, father Louis Erich Otto Dietrich and daughter Marie Magdalene, known as Marlene. Her sister Elisabeth Ottilie Josefine Dietrich, two years older, was originally seen to the left of the mother but was cropped out, Berlin, 1906
Photo: Erich Sellin
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Jean Gabin and Marlene Dietrich, New York, 1944
Photo: Hyman Fink
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Sandalwood bracelet with gold disc, produced by jeweler René Boivin, Paris, 1933. The bracelet was a gift from Paris Prefect of Police Jean Chiappe for Marlene Dietrich and bears the inscription: “Á Marlene Dietrich la Police de Paris reconnaissante, le Préfeto Jean Chiappe, 13 / 6 / 33”
Photo: Michael Lüder
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Kimono from Lola Fröhlich from ‘Der blaue Engel’ (Germany, 1930, directed by Josef von Sternberg)
Costume design: Tihamér Varady, produced by Theaterkunst GmbH, Berlin, 1929
Photo: Michael Lüder -
Promotional photo, created during film production for ‘The Lady is Willing’ (USA, 1941, Director: Mitchell Leisen). Marlene Dietrich’s handwritten comments on the photo editing date from the 1980s.
Photo: A. L. Whitey Schafer
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Fan gift to Marlene Dietrich: Badge with a Star of David and the dedication “For Marlene Dietrich – Paris Nov. 1945 – from Georg Zadik”
Photo: Michael Lüder
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Costume design of a black show dress with rhinestones and sequins, including coat and fur trimming, Los Angeles, ca. 1953. The costume, prepared by Elizabeth Courtney, was worn by Marlene Dietrich to her first engagement in Las Vegas, 1953.
Design: Jean Louis
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Marlene Dietrich in a performance costume, on a US army tank in Gillrath bei Geilenkirchen in February 1945. The handwritten comments by Marlene Dietrich are from the 1980s.
Photo: Lin Mayberry
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Photograph from Ernest Hemingway for Marlene Dietrich, with dedication: “For my dearest Kraut with all my love Papa. 1934 – 1959 – always ok EH”, 1959, Ottawa
Photo: Yousuf Karsh
Rights: Camera Press, UK / The Estate of Yousuf Karsh, © Yousuf Karsh/Camera Press -
Marlene Dietrich in a red knit sweater from Knize, Los Angeles, 1940
Photo: Ray Jones
Database search
Inventory
Inventory
Marlene Dietrich’s extensive estate has been housed at the Deutsche Kinemathek since 1993. The entire archive is completely indexed and secured and has been at least partially digitized. New collections are also being acquired on an ongoing basis to expand our holdings. The collection can be viewed upon advance registration with the Deutsche Kinemathek. Certain prominent or highly notable items have been put into the permanent exhibition for viewing. We look forward to your visit.
The Marlene Dietrich Collection Berlin features:
Written documents covering roughly 300,000 sheets of paper
File folders with documents from her private life, including:
– 70 official personal documents such as birth certificate, marriage certificate, ID cards, passports, permits, power of attorney, certificate of naturalization
– 12 school notebooks from 1912–1918;
– 155 file folders with rental documents, bank documents, tax documents, medical documents, travel documents
File folders related to professional life, including:
– 270 contracts and business-related documents on films, show appearances, self-publications and audio recordings;
– roughly 1,200 file folders containing invoices;
– 60 file folders with tax documents;
– 30 file folders on legal disputes;
– 95 film scripts
– 129 file folders with manuscripts and typescripts related to autobiography, publications and more
45,000 sheets of correspondence
– 1,280 file folders with correspondence to Marlene Dietrich, including from David Bowie, Jean Cocteau, Max Frisch, Hildegard Knef, Ernest Hemingway, Karl Lagerfeld, Alfred Polgar, Nancy and Ronald Reagan, Erich Maria Remarque, Josef von Sternberg, Carl Zuckmayer
– 920 file folders with correspondence from Marlene Dietrich (drafts of letters, copies, carbon copies, copies of telegram texts), including to Jean Gabin, Ernst Lubitsch, Meri von Sternberg, Orson Welles, Billy Wilder
– 790 file folders with correspondence between third parties, mostly to family members
Private library with 1,800 titles
including:
– 355 signed copies with dedications, including by Harold Arlen, Max Frisch, Milton H. Greene, Christopher Isherwood, Alexander Liberman, Konstantin Paustowsky, Alfred Polgar, Erich Maria Remarque, Maximilian Schell, Johannes Mario Simmel, Christa Winsloe, Carl Zuckmayer
– Underlining and handwritten notes by Marlene Dietrich, especially in autobiographies from Ingrid Bergman, Max Colpet, Hildegard Knef, and Dietrich biographies from Helga Bemmann, Homer Dickens, René Droz, Charles Higham, Sheridan Morley, Charles Silver, Alexander Walker
16,500 photos, 1904–1992
including:
– 6,500 set photos and production stills from films
– 5,000 photos from show appearances
– 2,000 photos from public appearances
– Private and family photography
– 2,000 original prints from famous photographers such as Martin Badekow, Cecil Beaton, Mario Bucovich, Irving Chidnoff, Don English, Horst P. Horst, George Hurrell, Armstrong Jones, Ray Jones, Eugene Robert Richee, Edward Steichen and William Walling
3,300 textile objects from the 1920s to the 1990s
including:
– 40 Film- und 30 Showkostüme u. a. von Jean Louis, Travis Banton, Edith Head, Eddie Schmidt
– qualitativ hochwertige Privatgarderobe u.a. von von Elizabeth Arden, Balenciaga, Balmain, Chanel, Courrèges, Dior, Givenchy, Guerlain, Irene, Knize, Lee, Levis, Schiaparelli, Ungaro
– Textile Sammlung mit 70 Handtaschen, u.a. von Azka, Koret, Lilly Dache, Etienne Aigner, Edouard; 90 Paar Handschuhe u.a. von Germaine Bouché, John Frederics, Hermès; 400 Hüte u.a. von Agnès, Cavanagh, Dobbs, John Frederics, Yves Saint Laurent; 430 Paar Schuhe u.a. von Aprile, Delman, Edouard, Massaro, Vivier
2,500 audio documents objects from the 1930s to the 1980s
350 posters, drawings and paintings
including:
– 100 costume sketches
– 60 film posters
– 70 graphics
– 120 show posters
Extensive file folders containing 3D objects with high quality jewelry, accessories and luggage, among other items
Biography Marlene Dietrich
December 27, 1901
Birth of Marie Magdalene Dietrich, second daughter of Louis Erich Otto Dietrich and his wife Elisabeth Josefine, née Felsing
1907–1919
Attends school in Berlin and Dessau
1920/21
Boarding school in Weimar; violin lessons from Professor Robert Reitz, court kapellmeister and instructor at the music school there
October 1922
First theater roles in chamber plays and in the Großes Schauspielhaus, Berlin; first film roles in ‘So sind die Männer’ (GER, 1922, Director: Georg Jacoby) and ‘Der Mensch am Wege’ (GER, 1923, Director: Wilhelm Dieterle); during the filming of ‘Tragödie der Liebe’ (GER, 1923, Director: Joe May) introduced to Rudolf Sieber
May 17, 1923
Marriage to Rudolf Sieber; the marriage would last until his death in 1976.
December 13, 1924
Birth of daughter Maria
1927
First lead role alongside Willi Forst in the Austrian film ‘Café Electric’ (German title: ‘Wenn ein Weib den Weg verliert’, Austria, 1927, directed by Gustav Ucicky)
October 1929
Screen test and contract for the film ‘Der blaue Engel’ (GER, 1930, directed by Josef von Sternberg)
April 1, 1930
Premiere of the film ‘Der blaue Engel’ in the Gloria Palast, Berlin
April 2, 1930
Trip on the 'Bremen' to the USA
November 14, 1930
Premiere of her first American film ‘Morocco’ (USA, 1930, Director: Josef von Sternberg)
December 6, 1930–April 17, 1931
Residence in Berlin; returns to Hollywood with daughter Maria
1935
After seven films together, breaks off work with Josef von Sternberg
1937
Applies for US citizenship
June 9, 1939
Marlene Dietrich becomes citizen of the USA
1944/45
Participation in the Camp Shows of the United Service Organization (U.S.O.) in North Africa, Italy, France and Germany
September 1945
Visits mother in Berlin
November 3, 1945
Death of mother in Berlin
November 18, 1947
Marlene Dietrich becomes first woman to be decorated with the Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian commendation, by Major General Maxwell D. Taylor.
November 8, 1950
Marlene Dietrich is decorated by France as a “Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur”; in 1971 President Georges Pompidou raises her to status of “Officier”, and in 1989 President François Mitterand further elevates her to “Commandeur”
1953
First solo appearance in the Sahara Hotel, Las Vegas
1960
Tour through Europe; appearance in the Federal Republic of Germany, including in May in the Titania Palast Berlin
1962
Publication of book: ‘Marlene Dietrich’s ABC’ (New York Doubleday, 1962; Berlin, Blanvalet Verlag, 1963)
1975
Last tour through Belgium, Netherlands, Great Britain, Canada, USA and Australia
1976
Retires to Paris apartment at Avenue Montaigne 12
1978
Last film appearance in ‘Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo’ (FRG, 1978, directed by David Hemmings)
1979
Autobiography: ‘Nehmt nur mein Leben’
1984
Documentary film ‘Marlene’ by Maximilian Schell (FRG, F, CZ, 1984)
May 6, 1992
Marlene Dietrich passes away in her Paris apartment.
May 16, 1992
Burial in Berlin in the Friedhof Friedenau, Stubenrauchstraße 43
Credits
Online presentation of “Impressions from the Marlene Dietrich Collection Berlin”
Project direction: Franziska Latell (2018), Matthias Struch (2017)
Project concept: Franziska Latell, Peter Mänz, Silke Ronneburg
Professional archiving support: Silke Ronneburg, Dr. Barbara Schröter
Indexing: Annette Groschke, Niklas Hütter, Florian Nörenberg, Silke Ronneburg, Dr. Barbara Schröter, Anke Vetter, Markus Alexander Watzl, Katharina Weber
Preparation of thesaurus: Elke Weidlich
Editorial work for archive database: Sandra Schieke
Translation into English: Steven William Sidore
Digitization: Siegmar Brüggenthies
QA for digitization: Marian Stefanowski
Long-term digital archiving: Antje Dittmann
Data modelling, data export: Sandra Schieke
Technical adaptation / Middleware: Johannes Starlinger
Rights research and clarification: Mirjana Lozančić, Matthias Struch
IT and system administration: Christian Hoffmann, Thoralf Schulze, Gergö Ulbrich
Special thanks
Our thanks go out for the generous contributions of the Berlin Senate Committee for Culture and Europe and the Friends of the Deutsche Kinemathek. Their support has allowed us to digitize roughly 2,000 objects from the archive in 2017 and 2018 with the aid of the research and competency center of digitization Berlin (Forschungs- und Kompetenzzentrum Digitalisierung Berlin).
We also owe our thanks to
Jürgen Bosse, Volkmar Ernst, Anja Müller (Forschungs- und Kompetenzzentrum Digitalisierung)
Copyright
All materials published as part of the online presentation of the “Impressions from the Marlene Dietrich Collection Berlin” exhibit are copyright protected and may only be reused by third parties with explicit written permission.