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Marlene Dietrich Collection Berlin
Biography of 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, musical director and teacher at the music school
October 1922
First roles in small studio theaters and at the Großes Schauspielhaus in Berlin; first parts in films, e.g. in SO SIND DIE MÄNNER (D 1922, Director: Georg Jacoby) and DER MENSCH AM WEGE (D 1923, Director:
Wilhelm Dieterle); while shooting TRAGÖDIE DER LIEBE (D 1923, Director: Joe May) she meets Rudolf Sieber
May 17, 1923
Marriage to Rudolf Sieber
December 13, 1924
Birth of her daughter Maria
1927
Co-stars with Willi Forst in her first leading role in the Austrian film CAFÉ ELECTRIC (WENN EIN WEIB DEN WEG VERLIERT, Director: Gustav Ucicky)
October 1929
Screen tests and contract for DER BLAUE ENGEL (THE BLUE ANGEL, directed by Josef von Sternberg)
April 1, 1930
World premiere of DER BLAUE ENGEL at the Gloria Palast in Berlin
April 2, 1930
Departs for America on the SS Bremen
November 14, 1930
Premiere of her first American film, MOROCCO (USA 1930, Director: Josef von Sternberg)
December 6, 1930 - April 17, 1931
Visits Berlin; returns to Hollywood with her daughter Maria
1935
After working on seven films together, Josef von Sternberg and Marlene go separate ways
1937
Applies for US citizenship
June 9, 1939
Acquires US citizenship
1944/45
Performs for soldiers in U.S.O. camp shows in North Africa, Italy, France and Germany
September 1945
Visits her mother in Berlin
November 3, 1945
Death of her mother
November 18, 1947
Marlene Dietrich becomes the first woman to receive the US "Medal of Freedom",
the highest American distinction for civilians, from Major General Maxwell D. Taylor
November 8, 1950
Marlene Dietrich is awarded the "Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur"; in 1971 she is raised to "Officier" by President Georges Pompidou; in 1989, to "Commandeur" by President François Mitterand
1953
First solo shows at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas
1954
Performs at the Café de Paris in London
1960
Tours Europe: performs in the Federal Republic of Germany (e.g. in May, 1960, at the Titania Palast in Berlin)
December 14, 1961
World premiere of JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG (USA 1961, Director: Stanley Kramer) at the Kongreßhalle in Berlin
1962
Publishes her first book: Marlene Dietrich's ABC (New York Doubleday 1962; Berlin, Blanvalet)
1975
Last tour through Belgium, the Netherlands, Great Britain, Canada, USA and Australia
1976
Withdraws to her Parisian apartment, Avenue Montaigne 12, and writes her autobiography. Although avoiding public appearances, she continues to work until her death in 1992.
June 24, 1976
Death of her husband Rudolf Sieber
1978
Last film appearance in SCHÖNER GIGOLO, ARMER GIGOLO (JUST A GIGOLO, D 1979, Director: David Hemmings)
1979
Publishes her autobiography Nehmt nur mein Leben (Berlelsmann, Gütersloh), later published as Marlene in the USA (Grove Press, 1989)
1984
MARLENE – a documentary by Maximilian Schell
May 6, 1992
Marlene Dietrich dies in her apartment in Paris
May 16, 1992
Buried in Berlin at the Friedenau Cemetery, Stubenrauchstraße 43, grave No. 34/16. A line from the poem “Abschied vom Leben” (Farewell from Life) by Theodor Körner is written on her gravestone: “Hier steh' ich an den Marken meiner Tage” (Here I stand at the marks of my days).
October 24, 1993
Maria Riva presents Marlene Dietrich’s estate to Berlin and the Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek
1995
First presentation of her personal estate in the exhibition "Kino-Movie-Cinema" at the Martin Gropius Bau in Berlin
September 26, 2000
With the opening of the Filmmuseum Berlin, a start is made: in the Permanent Exhibition Film, an area of c. 300 m² is devoted entirely to Marlene Dietrich.
