Lilian Harvey

The modest collection on Lilian Harvey tells its own, very different story about the Ufa star. At first glance, it has expected objects in store: more than ten star postcards of Lilian Harvey and Willy Fritsch, which they signed and enhanced with dedications. But who is meant in the dedication “Meiner lieben Gertrud” (To my dear Gertrud) written on one of the star portraits? Gertrud Diedrich (1907–1999), whose daughter Siegried Schaletzke gave the photos and text documents to the Deutsche Kinemathek in 2004, began working for the actress as a domestic servant in 1928. As a housemaid and personal maid, she experienced the film world of the late 1920s and early 1930s in an unusual way. The letter of reference, which is also in the collection, shows that Lilian Harvey was quite satisfied with Gertrud Diedrich’s work. A letter from Hollywood, dated July 1933, written on studio stationary with the Fox Film Corporation letterhead, proves that Harvey maintained contact with her former employee even during her move to California. The few written documents, including Gertrud’s note of thanks for an invitation to Harvey’s wedding in 1953, when she married a Danish theatre agent, tell of a lifelong bond between the actress and her maid ‒ between Lilian and Gertrud. (Text: Annika Haupts)