Great sadness for Hardy Krüger: acting legend is dead

Created: 2022-01-21Updated: 2022-01-21 13:21

By: Zoran Gojic

Hardy Krüger, one of the few real world stars that Germany has ever had.

© Marcus sleep

Hardy Krüger is dead. The actor and writer was one of the few real world stars that Germany ever had.

He has now died at the age of 93 in his adopted home of Palm Springs, California.

Read our obituary here:

The list of achievements and awards is almost endless: Federal Film Prize, star in Oscar films, officer in the French Legion of Honor, best-selling author, winner of the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit.

Hardy Krüger's greatest achievement is, of course, something he manages to do at a very young age: he conquers the hate and stupidity that was drummed into him in the "Third Reich".

Hardy Krüger was supposed to be a parade Nazi - and became a fervent anti-fascist

As a teenager, Krüger, the son of fanatical admirers of Adolf Hitler, was sent to an elite boarding school run by the National Socialists.

The blond, blue-eyed Eberhard, as his real name is, is to become a parade Nazi.

During the shooting of his first film in 1944, Krüger worked with the actor Hans Söhnker, who cautiously confronted the young firebrand Krüger with reality.

Krüger will be grateful to Söhnker for his entire life, he expressly dedicated his last biography to his esteemed colleague in 2018.

Through Söhnker and through traumatic experiences in the last days of the war, Krüger became a fervent anti-fascist who passionately denounced right-wing activities throughout his life.

Hardy Krüger becomes the poster boy of post-war cinema

Despite this, he will – of course – play Nazis again and again throughout his long career, but for Krüger it is part of revenge against the fascists who have plunged his country into misery.

After the Second World War, Krüger quickly made a career as a poster boy in German post-war cinema, and of course there were also immensely successful Schmonzetten like “Die Christel von der Post” .

Success alone is not enough for Krüger, Germany becomes too small for him, the films are too harmless for him.

He was also deeply shocked when more and more swastika daubs appeared in Germany in 1957.

Just that year, Krüger caused a sensation with the British war drama "One came through" as a fighter pilot on the run.

Krüger can now shoot prestige projects with the big names in Germany and at the same time begins a sensational international career.

"Potato Fritz" is Hardy Krüger's only real failure

Hardy Krüger even manages to bring some substance to the cynical action thriller "The Wild Geese Come" (1978). Only in the unfortunate German western "Potato Fritz" (1976) does he himself find himself lost. It's his only real letdown. Krüger's French films in particular are definitely worth a look, but the fame and money bring the glossy films from Hollywood. Krüger is well received by the Americans because he is a disciplined professional and at the same time open to the point of brutality. When Krüger was asked whether he was a Nazi, alluding to his time in the Nazi boarding school, he replies "Yes" with a firm gaze. The journalist then apologizes for the stupid question, and a reasonable interview is conducted. Krüger isn't someone who makes it too easy for you.He likes to be particularly strict with his compatriots. Anyone in Germany who says something like "We're who again" or "You can still say that ..." will experience a man who blows the gun very clearly and very emphatically.

Hardy Krüger became a "globetrotter"

The triumphs at the box office, the sweet life as an internationally respected star never lull Krüger.

The events of his youth preoccupy him throughout his life and, even at an advanced age, allow him to trek through German school classes, where he openly explains what he thinks of racism, anti-Semitism and war romanticism.

He can be pushy and merciless, but Krüger doesn't see a millimeter of room for negotiation on these issues and says so unequivocally.

Krüger remains a wide awake free spirit

He slowly withdrew from the film business at the end of the 1980s.

Before turning junk, he prefers to leave it alone.

To this end, in the very personal documentary series "Weltenbummler" he kidnapped the television viewers to (then) distant worlds and began to write books, of course with great success.

To the end, he remains a wide-awake, critical free spirit who never loses sight of his home country despite the beautiful life in the sunny adopted home of California.

With him is one of the very few real world stars that Germany has ever had, and a great man who has gone through life upright.

His son Hardy Krueger Jr.

has now expressed his sadness at the death of his father in moving words