The German actress and singer Eva-Maria Hagen, figure of the former GDR whom she had ended up leaving for political reasons, died Tuesday at the age of 87, announced Friday a spokesperson for the family. “Our beloved Eva-Maria Hagen left the earthly world to join her eternal homeland on August 16, 2022,” her daughter’s agent, German punk icon Nina Hagen, told AFP.
Born in Kolczyn, Poland on October 19, 1934, Eva-Maria Hagen made her debut in 1953 in the play cat ditch, written and directed by playwright Bertolt Brecht at the prestigious Berliner Ensemble, later adapted for the cinema. She becomes one of the most popular actresses in East Germany, especially following the success of the romantic comedy Don’t forget my Traudel (Don’t forget my little Traudel), produced in 1957 by the state company DEFA, regarding a young war orphan who falls in love with a policeman. In addition to the theater, the one often nicknamed “Brigitte Bardot of the GDR”, has distinguished herself in more than 50 films.
Disgrace in RDA
Married for five years to the author Hans Olivia-Hagen, she has a daughter, Nina, born in 1955 before her divorce, and subsequently binds to the composer critical of the eastern regime Wolf Biermann. When the GDR authorities stripped him of his East German nationality, Eva-Maria Hagen and her daughter also fell into disgrace and were banned from practicing their profession. The family left the GDR in 1977 to settle in West Berlin.
Eva-Maria Hagen then embarked on a second career, mixing theater and now also singing, which she pursued until following the fall of the Wall in reunited Germany in the early 1990s. extravagant and provocative stage sets, has become one of the great figures of the German punk scene. His career mixes scandals, militancy, spirituality and esotericism. Nina Hagen’s daughter, Cosma Shiva Hagen, often appeared in public alongside her mother and grandmother, has also embarked on an acting career.
