Karlheinz Bohm

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Karlheinz Böhm 2009 at the presentation of the World Awards

Karlheinz Böhm (born March 16, 1928 in Darmstadt ; † May 29, 2014 in Grödig ) was an Austrian actor of German origin and founder of the Menschen für Menschen Foundation (in Germany and Switzerland ) and the association of the same name in Austria. His organization helps people in need in Ethiopia under the motto "Help for self-development" .

Böhm, who appeared in 45 films, became known as an actor primarily for his role in the Sissi trilogy as Emperor Franz Joseph at the side of Romy Schneider .

Life

Karlheinz Böhm, the only child of the Austrian conductor Karl Böhm (1894–1981) and the German soprano Thea Linhard-Böhm (1903–1981), was born in Darmstadt in 1928, where his father was employed as general music director. Böhm was an Austrian citizen , but felt himself to be a citizen of the world . In 2003 he received honorary citizenship in Ethiopia . His father was born in Graz , his mother from Munich . He lived in Grödig near Salzburg . He spent his youth in Darmstadt, Hamburg and Dresden . In Hamburg he attended elementary school and the Kepler high school. From 1940 he was in a boarding school in Kufstein ; In 1942 a falsified medical certificate helped him to leave for Switzerland, where he attended the boarding school Lyceum Alpinum Zuoz . He later lived for years in the Baldham district of Vaterstetten , where his father owned a house and his daughter Katharina Böhm still lives today.

In 1946 he moved with his parents to Graz, where he graduated from the Bundesrealgymnasium Keplerstraße in the same year . He originally wanted to be a pianist . During the audition it was said, according to his biography: "It's a bit poor for the son of Böhm". At the insistence of his father, he studied English and German , then spent a semester of art history in Rome . Böhm broke off his studies to take acting lessons with Helmuth Krauss in Vienna .

From 1948 to 1976 he played as a successful actor in around 45 films and also in the theater. At the side of Romy Schneider , he played the young Emperor Franz Joseph I in the three Sissi films . As an actor, he was therefore committed to a genre from which he was trying to escape. His international acting career was interrupted in 1960 by his portrayal of a serial killer in Michael Powell's eyes of fear , as criticism and audiences rejected the film because of its oppressive content. It wasn't until the early 1980s that the film was re-rated; Today he is considered one of the best in this genre among movie buffs .

Böhm had previously signed a contract with the Hollywood company MGM , but this collaboration did not prove to be very fruitful for his film career either. The roles offered to him there were not satisfactory for him and the five films were mostly not great successes. In the mid-1960s he returned to Europe disappointed . In the 1970s he worked with Rainer Werner Fassbinder . Bohm shone in the psychological thriller Martha , which treats the institution of marriage critically. Influenced by the socio-critical impetus of the director, Böhm began to be more and more interested in global problems.

His first marriage (1954–1957) to the flight attendant Elisabeth Zonewa was his daughter Sissy Böhm (* 1955), whose son Florian Böhm (* 1978) is also an actor. In her autobiography , Sissy Böhm raises the allegation of child abuse by her parents.

The actress Kristina Böhm (* 1959) and two other children (* 1960 and 1961) emerged from Böhm's second marriage (1958–1962) to Gudula Blau . The actress Katharina Böhm (* 1964) comes from his third marriage (1963–1980) to Barbara Lass . From 1991 he was married to the agricultural expert Almaz Böhm from Ethiopia ; this marriage resulted in two children (* 1990 and 1993). Böhm created numerous musical radio plays for children with which he tried to bring them closer to the life stories of great composers and pieces of classical music.

In 2008, on the occasion of Böhm's 80th birthday, the Europagymnasium Salzburg Nonntal was given the suffix “Karlheinz-Böhm-Gymnasium”. In June 2011, Böhm's work was also honored with the “Karl Platz” and a sculpture in the diplomatic quarter of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia . When it was inaugurated, Federal President a. D. Horst Köhler present, who called Böhm a "quiet revolutionary".

Karlheinz Böhm's tombstone in the Salzburg municipal cemetery

He belonged to a Munich Masonic lodge .

On February 19, 2013, Böhm's Alzheimer 's disease became known. Karlheinz Böhm died on May 29, 2014 at the age of 86 in Grödig . The urn was buried in an honorary grave of the city of Salzburg on the municipal cemetery in Erde, Ethiopia . Before that, there was a funeral service in the Salzburg residence with 400 guests.

Help for Africa

In 1976, Böhm was confronted with poverty in Africa for the first time. To cure a bronchial catarrh, the doctors recommended a stay in Kenya . There he had a local hotel employee show him the downside of the luxury facade. Karlheinz Böhm saw the hut of the hotel employee, learned that the locals could only afford the head of a fish, and was shocked. He couldn't come to terms with poverty and decided to help in Africa.

When he returned to Germany, he was featured in Wetten, dass ..? invited. There he made a bet on May 16, 1981 that not even every third viewer would donate one mark, seven shillings or one franc to people in need in the Sahel zone . He promised that if he lost the bet he would go to Africa himself to help. The donation goal was not achieved and Böhm won the bet; at least around 1.2 million DM came together. After the broadcast, he flew the money to Ethiopia for the first time in October 1981 and founded the aid organization Menschen für Menschen on November 13, 1981 .

Böhm saw the social disadvantage of women as one of the causes of poverty in Ethiopia. The social position of women must finally be improved; this includes u. a. the elimination of child marriage and female genital mutilation; and extensive literacy and education . For decades, Karlheinz Böhm spent several months a year in Ethiopia and visited the individual projects. Together with his wife Almaz, he campaigned aggressively for sustainable agriculture from around 2010 as an important component in improving living conditions in the southern hemisphere.

Böhm was also the initiator of the first partnership at local level between a German and an Ethiopian community. This was closed in 1994 between Vaterstetten , where Böhms lived at the time, and Alem Katema .

Awards

Handprint in the Lloyd Passage in Bremen

Filmography (selection)

Radio plays

literature

Web links

Commons : Karlheinz Böhm  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karlheinz Böhm - Biography ( Memento from February 21, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ Karlheinz Böhm press kit: Menschen für Menschen ( Memento from May 31, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Karlheinz Böhm
  4. ↑ FAZ.net May 30, 2014: How the film star became a person for people (obituary)
  5. ↑ Sissy Böhm: In the shadow of light. Confessions of a daughter from a good family
  6. ↑ focus.de of December 28, 2014
  7. ↑ Announcement on the addition of the name "Karlheinz-Böhm-Gymnasium"
  8. ↑ Munich Lodge
  9. ↑ These-men-were-Freemasons.html newspaper: Die Welt (from October 15, 2009)
  10. ↑ BILD-online
  11. ^ Actor Karlheinz Böhm has died. In: Courier of May 30, 2014 (accessed May 30, 2014).
  12. ^ Knerger.de: The grave of Karlheinz Böhm
  13. ↑ focus.de: Burial in Salzburg - Farewell to the “humanitarian hero” Karlheinz Böhm Article from June 13, 2014
  14. ↑ 15 years of friendship: Vaterstetten - Alem Katema ( Memento from May 31, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 2.4 MB) from vaterstetten-alemkatema.de , accessed on July 6, 2013.
  15. ↑ he donated the prize to his organization
  16. ↑ a b List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.9 MB)
  17. ↑ http://hans-rosenthal-stiftung.de/aktion-und-termine/ehrenpreis/
  18. ↑ Awards of the Berlinale 2008 , accessed April 29, 2017
  19. ↑ Press release ( Memento from August 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Böhm, Karlheinz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian actor, founder of the aid organization "Menschen für Menschen"
DATE OF BIRTH March 16, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Darmstadt , Germany
DATE OF DEATH May 29, 2014
Place of death Grödig near Salzburg, Austria