An evening against forgetting
On Monday evening, 8 April 2025, Ute Lemper and FAZ journalist Reiner Burger presented the illustrated book Marlene Dietrich an der Front at the Greven-Haus in Cologne. The event was an impressive tribute to an artist who courageously opposed National Socialism. Lemper, who played Dietrich in her stage programme, described the work as a “long overdue testimony to the most intense phase in Marlene Dietrich’s life”. In it, Burger uses previously unpublished footage to trace Dietrich’s involvement in the war alongside American troops – from Italy to Germany – as an act of moral support and political stance.
In addition to the historical appreciation, a look was also taken at the present
was also cast. Lemper recalled a moving telephone conversation with the
aged Dietrich in Paris in 1987: “They don’t want me back”, she said at the time – a sentence that still resonates today. Burger warned with regard to current developments: “Democracy is always always at risk”. Lemper spoke openly about authoritarian tendencies in the USA and emphasised the need to take a stand. The book presentation became a passionate plea for civil courage, culture of remembrance and political vigilance – very much in the spirit of Marlene Dietrich.
Literature tip
The detailed book recommendation on Marlene Dietrich at the front can also be found on HYPERMADE.
