Bruno Balz

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Bruno Balz at the age of 33

Bruno Balz (born October 6, 1902 in Berlin ; † March 14, 1988 in Bad Wiessee ) was one of the most productive German lyricists and hit poets .

Life

In 2008 the Berlin memorial plaque was unveiled on the former Balz house at Fasanenstrasse 60, 10719 Berlin

From 1929, when he wrote the lyrics for the first German sound film ( I loved you ), until the early 1960s, when he retired into private life, Bruno Balz wrote more than 1,000 hits and song texts. No German-speaking interpreter who became popular in these 30 years could get past him. His pen come from, for example, the following pop , evergreens and popular songs :

Bruno Balz formed a congenial duo, especially with the composer Michael Jary, from 1937 to the 1960s. Together they delivered the songs that made Zarah Leander a world star in particular . The longings in Balz's lyrics also helped her to become a gay icon. In 1973 he wrote his last song, Adieu for Zarah Leander. In total, there were over 1,000 lyrics that he wrote. The hit titles are also featured in some modern day films, such as The Tin Drum , The Boot, and Aimée and Jaguar .

Homosexuality and national socialism

Balz was already aware of his homosexuality at the age of 17, filled out a "psychobiological questionnaire" from Magnus Hirschfeld at the Institute for Sexology and referred to himself as gay , which Hirschfeld vehemently rejected as a swear word. Courtship was involved here and there in the homosexual movement. He let Adolf Brand win him over as a nude model and published poems, essays and stories in relevant magazines. "With his love stories of an ideal gay world, he satisfied a crucial need of the readers of these magazines." Balz became a member of the Bund für Menschenrecht (BfM), which Friedrich Radszuweit founded in 1923. In 1924 he released Bubi let's be friends, one of the first gay records, to which Balz contributed the text and Erwin Neuber the music. From 1928 to 1930 he was the editor of the magazine The Girlfriend , which was also published by Radszuweit.

Balz fell victim to anti- gay legislation twice during the Nazi era . He was arrested in 1936 during a raid in the Großer Tiergarten near the Zoo train station and spent several months in prison, but was released subject to conditions. His name should no longer appear in public ( but he is mentioned on shellac records); Photos of him were destroyed and no more were published; and he had to get married. The regime found Selma Pett, a loyal farmer from Pomerania.

In November 1940, the Jary / Balz team achieved an extremely popular success with a subversive undertone with the publication of He is called Waldemar . In this love song, Zarah Leander first introduces the typical, politically propagated appearance of an Aryan man:

My ideal in this world
This is for me the bold hero
The tall blond man.
He comes from a fairytale land
and gives me his strong hand that
can break me.
This is what the man of my dreams looks like
His name is Ralph or Peer

As a Swede, this “Nordic” ideal could not be interpreted as a parody. Subsequently, however, Balz's text contradicts the National Socialist dream:

But the reality is different.
Please, listen here: his
name is Waldemar
and he has black hair,
he is neither proud nor bold,
but I love him.

The obvious allusion to the discrepancy between the blonde hero propagated by politics and the black-haired German politicians is exceeded by the relativization of the Reich capital, if the singer of her Waldemar has to admit the following disadvantage, along with many others:

His home is Berlin,
but I love him.

Balz skilfully leads the text in between on the topic of dance music ("And every band in the dance hall brings me this ovation"), which allowed Michael Jary to play swing for an entire stanza without the song as a whole having to be classified in this forbidden category. The song was published in 1949 with a text translated by Leander into Swedish by Rune Moberg under the title Waldemar . A sequel to the song, published by the same trio in 1959, is never again like Waldemar.

In the summer or November 1941, Bruno Balz was arrested again by the Gestapo after he was caught in a compromising situation with a young man. After days of torture in the Gestapo headquarters on Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse , he was threatened with being sent to the concentration camp . Only after the intervention of Jary, who pretended that the songs demanded by Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels for the film The Great Love as a “contribution to the war effort” without the help of his partner, was Bruno Balz released again within a few hours. While in custody or in the first 24 hours afterwards, he wrote two of his greatest successes, namely that will not end the world and I know that a miracle will one day happen. You could interpret the text however you wanted: either the hail of bombs does not end the world or the evil of the Nazis.

the post war period

Just a few weeks after the end of the war, Balz was indicted by the Allies precisely because of these "sticking out attacks". Balz really didn't want to reveal much about his life, but got into trouble with evidence and had to reveal his homosexuality and the fictitious marriage against his will. On October 26, 1946, he was finally acquitted by the American Allied authorities. Even after the war, Bruno Balz suffered from the consequences of homophobia ; Section 175 of the Criminal Code , which was tightened under the National Socialists , remained in this form until 1969. His wife Selma refused to consent to the divorce as it would have meant a loss of status for her. With § 175 she had an extortionate trump card in her hand. In the 1960s, Balz had a house built for herself in Bad Wiessee, in which she got her own apartment. His name was hardly ever included in the opening or closing credits of the films, even though it would have been technically possible.

In the early 1960s, during the first year he met Jürgen Draeger , he wrote the song We never want to go apart for Zarah Leander . Michael Jary did not have the song interpreted by Zarah Leander as planned, but by Heidi Brühl . This ended the collaboration between the two.

One last great success was his song Mother! / Mama , an Italian composition for which he had already written the German text for an Italian-German film that was ultimately unsuccessful. The song was interpreted by others and, with Heintje, became a German-language hit in 1968. Balz had an SOS Children's Village built from the song's royalties .

The testament

Grave of Bruno Balz in the Wilmersdorf cemetery

In his will, Bruno Balz had decreed that no one could talk about him for the first ten years after his death. His partner and universal heir Jürgen Draeger respected this wish and was therefore only able to start working on the estate and biography of Bruno Balz after 1998 with the aim of "giving him back his past".

His grave is in the Wilmersdorf cemetery in Berlin.

Works (selection)

year Song title composer Main interpreter Film / remark
? Stop they saw my heart Leo Leuz The adventure in love
? Who gives me love Franz Grothe -
1933 One day in spring Franz Doelle Viktor and Viktoria
1934 Little seagull, fly to Heligoland Jim Cowler -
1934 Honey with the blond hair Jim Cowler -
1935 The last roses are blooming on the heather Robert proud Leo Slezak Autumn maneuvers
1935 In a small town Jim Cowler -
1937 The wind told me a song Lothar Bruhne Zarah Leander La Habanera
1938 Can love be a sin? Lothar Bruhne Zarah Leander The blue fox
1938 I want to dream of the Pussta Lothar Bruhne Zarah Leander The blue fox
1938 Do you see the stars Lothar Bruhne Pola Negri The night of the decision
1938 Don't show your heart to the world Lothar Bruhne Pola Negri The night of the decision
1938 Red poppy Michael Jary Rosita Serrano Black trip to happiness
1938 Puppet parade
(today the guard marches)		 Gerhard Winkler Carmen Lahrmann Monika / Your personal hussar
1938 This is Berlin
(with Hans Hannes)		 Leo Leux The stars shine
1938 The stars shine
(with Hans Hannes)		 Leo Leux Rosi Rauch The stars shine
1938 Hands up
(with Hans Hannes)		 Leo Leux Paal Roschberg The stars shine
1938 I break the hearts of the proudest women Lothar Bruhne Heinz Rühmann Five million are looking for an heir
1938 The best thing about love is marriage Michael Jary Baby Gray &
Robert Dorsay 		A little bit of comedy
1938 My old guitar is singing Walter Meissner -
1938 Sweet women from Vienna Hans Carste -
1939 That can't shake a sailor Michael Jary Heinz Rühmann &
Hans Brausewetter &
Josef Sieber 		Bachelor’s Paradise
1939 Fatme, tell me a fairy tale Nico Dostal Zarah Leander The song of the desert
1939 Does a beautiful woman tell you "maybe" Nico Dostal Zarah Leander The song of the desert
1939 I will cry a few tears Nico Dostal Zarah Leander The song of the desert
1939 Tonight I invite love Nico Dostal Zarah Leander The song of the desert
1939 Cairo (you fairytale city on the Nile) Eric Helgar
1939 All beautiful women Michael Jary White lilac
1939 Simsalabim Leo Leux - -
1939 Oui madame Michael Jary Peter Igelhoff -
1939 Yes, Peter Erich Plesow -
1940 Ship ahoy Michael Jary Zarah Leander -
1940 His name is Waldemar Michael Jary Zarah Leander -
1940 You must never give me red roses again Michael Jary Zarah Leander -
1940 And then I'll dance a czardas Michael Jary Zarah Leander -
1940 Young man in spring Will Meisel Gloria Lilienborn and her ladies accordion orchestra
Camilla Horn		 Hen party
1940 Oh, two made love in the rose season Michael Jary Soldiers choir Two worlds
1940 Put on a tango record Michael Jary Two worlds
1940 Who i love Michael Jary Zarah Leander -
1941 It will never be like that again Gerhard Winkler Ilse Werner -
1941 My life - and your life Michael Jary Goodbye, Franziska
1942 I know a miracle will happen one day Michael Jary Zarah Leander The great love
1942 The world will not end because of this Michael Jary Zarah Leander The great love
1942 Blue hussars ( today the blue hussars are coming ) Michael Jary Zarah Leander The great love
1942 My life for love - yes! Michael Jary Zarah Leander The great love
1942 You and me in the moonlight Werner Bochmann Ilse Werner -
1942 It's going to be a never-ending spring Werner Bochmann Ilse Werner -
1942 Dear old lighthouse, shine Herbert Noak -
1943 New happiness every night Lothar Bruhne Zarah Leander Back then
1943 I could love someone like you Lothar Bruhne Zarah Leander Back then
1943 Leave your heart with me Michael Jary A man of principles?
1943 I am free today, my lords Franz Grothe Kirsten Heiberg -
1947 Once upon a time there was love Alfred Jack -
1949 Berlin remains Berlin! Will Meisel -
1951 Why do men need so much love?
(French original: Le soleil et la lune )		 Charles Trenet Zarah Leander -
1951 Only Dolores's legs do that Michael Jary Gerhard Wendland The veiled Maja
1951 Detlev Lais -
1951 Peter Alexander -
1951 This is not for little girls Michael Jary Renée Franke The veiled Maja
1951 Ingrid Lutz &
Rudolf Platte 		-
1952 Rita Paul &
Bully Buhlan
1952 Turn around again Heino Gaze Rudi Schuricke Pension Schöller (1952)
1952 Even if it was a sin Heino Gaze Zarah Leander Cuba Cabana
1952 Never tell me "Je t'aime" again Heino Gaze Zarah Leander Cuba Cabana
1952 You make me so nervous Heino Gaze Zarah Leander Cuba Cabana
1952 A woman in my years Heino Gaze Zarah Leander Cuba Cabana
1952 Shadow of the past Heino Gaze Zarah Leander Cuba Cabana
1952 Bongo boogie Michael Jary Evelyn Künneke Big star parade
1952 I send you roses (Original: Red Roses For A Blue Lady ) Sid Tepper
Roy C. Bennett 		-
1953 Don't wait for great love Franz Grothe Zarah Leander Ave Maria
1953 I know Jimmy from Havana Franz Grothe Zarah Leander Ave Maria
1953 When the wild roses bloom Franz Grothe Zarah Leander Ave Maria
1953 Such a night ... Werner Eisbrenner Greta Keller A heart is wrong
1955 When the father with the son Heino Gaze Heinz Rühmann &
Oliver Grimm 		When the father with the son
1955 You are beautiful like music Heino Gaze Vico Torriani A heart full of music
1958 O Wermeland, you beautiful Traditional Zarah Leander -
1958 In my garden Traditional Zarah Leander -
1958 You don't think so Traditional Zarah Leander -
1958 I can be completely without people Traditional Zarah Leander -
1958 Dance, dance, my dear girls Traditional Zarah Leander -
1958 You say you are the best dancer Traditional Zarah Leander -
1958 Loyal to men Traditional Zarah Leander -
1958 White Christmas
Original: White Christmas 		Irving Berlin Zarah Leander -
1959 Never again like Waldemar Michael Jary Zarah Leander -
1959 Stay here, there is no way back Franz Grothe Zarah Leander -
1960 We never want to part Michael Jary Heidi Brühl -
1960 Vivi Bach We never want to part
1961 Othello
(Original: The Birth of the Blues )		 Ray Henderson Zarah Leander -
1961 Antonius
(Original: Strike up the Band )		 George Gershwin Zarah Leander -
1941 Mother!
(Original: Mamma )		 Cesare Andrea Bixio Herbert Ernst Groh Mother!
1967 mummy Heintje To hell with the penne
1967 I can be completely without people Traditional Zarah Leander -
Recording
1970		 One day there will be peace Michael Jary Zarah Leander (Only published on CD)
Recording
1972		 The most beautiful thing that life gave
(Original: The Best Things in Life Are Free )		 Buddy DeSylva &
Lew Brown &
Ray Henderson		 Zarah Leander (Only published on CD)
1973 Questions
(Original: Indecifrabile )		 Gino Ravallese Zarah Leander -
1973 Adieu
(Original: Farväl )		 Richard Heep Zarah Leander -

literature

  • Kay Less : Between the stage and the barracks. Lexicon of persecuted theater, film and music artists from 1933 to 1945 . With a foreword by Paul Spiegel . Metropol, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-938690-10-9 , p. 381 (short bio)

Web links

Commons : Bruno Balz  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Waltraud Schwab: Legacy of a Stranger . In: taz , October 5, 2002 ( bruno-balz.com )
  2. ↑ Manfred Herzer: Introduction to “Magnus Hirschfeld. Life and work of a Jewish, gay and socialist sexologist ”. In: Andreas Seeck: Through Science to Justice? Text collection on the critical reception of the work of Magnus Hirschfeld. LIT Verlag, Berlin / Hamburg / Münster 2003, ISBN 3-8258-6871-0 , p. 97
  3. ↑ Axel Schock: We never want to part . In: Berliner Zeitung . October 5, 2002
  4. ^ Stefan Micheler: Magazines, associations and bars of same-sex desirous people in the Weimar Republic (PDF; 506 kB). August 1, 2008, p. 31
  5. ↑ Persecuted for life: § 175. (No longer available online.) In: Bruno Balz Archive Berlin. 2012, archived from the original on June 22, 2013 ; accessed on April 6, 2018 . With an excerpt from the interview with Bruno Balz from 1982 in: The great seducers: on the trail of notorious songs. MDR, August 11, 2002, 8:15 p.m.
  6. ↑ Michael Leon: Miracles happened: Bruno Balz - a drama in the artistic elite of the Third Reich. In: profile . December 29, 2011, accessed March 26, 2013 .
  7. ↑ a b Martin Lücke: “I know a miracle will happen one day” - lyricist Bruno Balz . In: Museum Magazine , 4/2007
personal data
SURNAME Courtship, Bruno
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German lyricist and hit poet
DATE OF BIRTH October 6, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH March 14, 1988
Place of death Bad Wiessee