Gerda Maurus

Austrian actress Gerda Maurus (1903-1968) was a star of the silent screen. She starred in such classics of the Weimar cinema as Spione / Spies (1928) and Frau im Mond / Woman in the Moon (1929). With her protruded cheek bones and her forceful look she bewitched many men, including her director Fritz Lang and Nazi Minister Joseph Goebbels.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Bewrlin, no. 3569/2, 1928-1929. Photo: Fritz Lang Film. Gerda Maurus in Spione / Spies (Fritz Lang, 1928).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 113/15. Photo: Fritz Lang-Film der Ufa. Gerda Maurus and Gustl Stark-Gstettenbauer in Frau im Mond / The Woman in the Moon (Fritz Lang, 1929).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4254/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Ufa.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 4874/1, 1929-1930. Photo: Fritz Lang Film.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 727. Photo: Atelier Binder, Berlin. Gerda Maurus in Die Fremde / The Stranger (Fred Sauer, 1931).

Fritz Lang

Gerda Maurus was born as Gertrud Maria Pfiel in Breitenfurt, Austria, in 1903. She grew up in Wien (Vienna).

In 1918, the 15-year-old Gerda had her first engagement at one of the theatres of Vienna. As a stage actress, she worked at the Volkstheater in München (Munich), in Nürnberg (Nuremberg) and from 1926 on at the Deutschen Theater in Berlin.

There she was discovered by director Fritz Lang, who chose her for the female leading role of a Russian spy in his next thriller, Spione / Spies (1928).

Spione was Lang’s first independent production. The years-ahead-of-its-time plotline involves Russian espionage activity in London. The mastermind is Haghi (Rudolph Klein-Rogge), a supposedly respectable carnival sideshow entertainer. Heading the good guys is Agent 326 (Willy Fritsch), with the help of defecting Russian spy Sonya, played by Gerda Maurus.

The film moves swiftly to several potential climaxes, each one more exciting than its predecessor. According to Hal Erickson at AllMovie, “Haghi's ultimate demise is a superbly staged Pirandellian vignette. Anticipating Citizen Kane by a dozen years, director Lang dispenses with all transitional dissolves and fade-outs, flat-cutting territory from one scene to another”. Gerda Maurus fascinated Fritz Lang thus that he finished his relationship with his partner and wife, Thea von Harbou, who had co-scripted Spione with him.


Austrian postcard by Iris-Verlag, no. 5718. Photo: Förster / E. Schneider.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 113/13. Photo: Fritz Lang-Film der Ufa. Gerda Maurus and Willy Fritsch in Frau im Mond / Woman in the Moon (Fritz Lang, 1929).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 4377/1, 1929-1930. Photo: E.O. Hoppé, London. In 1927-28, Emil Otto Hoppé, a British photographer of German origin, did a whole series of photo portraits in Berlin as well as photographs at the UFA studios. This card must be from the time when Maurus was acting in Fritz Lang's Frau im Mond (released in 1929).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 5463/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Atelier Jacobi, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 6063/1, 1931-1932. Photo: Atelier Yva, Berlin. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 613/3, 1932-1933. Photo: Ufa. Hans Albers and Gerda Maurus in Der weiße Dämon / Dope (Kurt Gerron, 1932).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 7345/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Atelier Yva, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 7942/1, 1932-1933. Photo: Otto Kurt Vogelsang, Berlin.

Countdown before blast-off

For Gerda Maurus, her film debut was also her breakthrough. Her next film was the Science-Fiction film Frau im Mond / Woman in the Moon (1929), again with Willy Fritsch and again directed by Fritz Lang. Frau im Mond is one of the first major films to dwell upon the possibility of space travel. Hal Erickson writes that it is, “like many of its modern-day counterparts, more successful on a special-effects level than it is in terms of character development”.

Among the many prescient aspects of the film is its use of a countdown before blast-off and its depiction of the effects of centrifugal force upon the lunar passengers. Willy Ley, later a leading light of the U.S. space program, served as technical adviser. Reportedly, Adolf Hitler was so overwhelmed by Frau im Mond that he used the rocket depicted in the film as the prototype for the dreaded V1 and V2 assault missiles. In Frau im Mond, Maurus joined the extra-terrestrial expedition in search of gold on the moon. And again, she was a huge success.

The arrival of sound did certainly not finish Maurus’ film career. She starred as a film diva in the intricate murder mystery Der Schuß im Tonfilmatelier / The Shot in The Talker Studio (Alfred Zeisler, 1930) set in the Ufa film studio in Babelsberg. In Der Weisse Dämon / White Demon (Kurt Gerron, 1932) she featured as a drug-addicted opera star, opposite Hans Albers and Peter Lorre.

During the Nazi period, the actress had a close contact with Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels. After Fritz Lang had emigrated in 1933, she reportedly often visited his salon. Her charms not only turned Goebbels on but also the communist dramatist Friedrich Wolf. In 1937, she married Robert A. Stemmle, who directed her in the film Daphne und der Diplomat / Daphne and the Diplomat (1937). They would have a daughter, Philine, born in 1943. Maurus appeared in more popular films like Der Dschungel ruft / The Call of the Jungle (Harry Piel, 1936), Grenzfeuer / Boundary Fire (Alois Johannes Lippl, 1939) and Die gute Sieben / The Lucky Seven (Wolfgang Liebeneiner, 1940), but none of these films came near the great successes of her first films with Fritz Lang.

She concentrated on stage work and performed in Berlin, Wien, München and Düsseldorf. After 1945 Maurus played in only two more German pictures: the comedies Die Freunde meiner Frau / My Wife’s Friends (Hans Deppe, 1949) and Die kleine Stadt will schlafen gehen/The Little Town Wants To Sleep (Hans H. König, 1953). Later she appeared in the TV-plays Wir sind noch einmal davongekommen / The Skin of our Teeth (Karl-Heinz Stroux, 1951) and one year later in Vor Sonnenuntergang / Before Sunrise (Karl-Heinz Stroux, 1962). Her last TV appearance was in a supporting part in Das Käthchen von Heilbronn / Cathy of Heibronn (1968), an adaptation of the classic play by Heinrich von Kleist. Gerda Maurus died in 1968 in Düsseldorf, Germany.


German postcard by Das Programm von Heute für Film und Theater / Ross Verlag, Berlin. Photo: Böhm-Willott, Berlin. Collection: Miss Mertens.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 5881/1, 1930-1931. Photo: Hegewald Film.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 8061/1, 1933-1934. Photo: Atelier Binder, Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 8250/1, 1933-1934. Photo: Pan Film.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 8250/2, 1933-1934. Photo: Pan Film.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 8667/1, 1933-1934. Photo: Cserepy-Normation-Film / NDLS.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 612. Photo: Atelier Balázs, Berlin.

Sources: Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Hal Erickson (AllMovie - Page now defunct), Stephanie D'heil (Steffi-Line - German), Wikipedia (German), and IMDb.

Frau im Mond (1929)

Fritz Lang's last silent film Frau im Mond/Woman in the Moon (1929) was one of the first Science Fiction films to dwell upon the possibility of space travel. It followed in the footsteps of his silent German masterpieces Die Nibelungen (1924) and Metropolis (1926). Frau im Mond, starring Gerda Maurus and Willy Fritsch, tells the story of a half-mad greedy scientist obsessed with the idea of getting gold from the moon. A moon expedition follows and the look of the film is quite impressive, considering that it was made in 1929. The Nazis later banned the film, because the spaceship featured in the film was nearly identical to the V-2s that were constructed in secrecy by the Third Reich at the time. Frau im Mond is now a Sci-Fi classic.


German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden Deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, picture no. 138, group 40. Photo: Ufa. Willy Fritsch, Gerda Maurus and Gustl Stark-Gstettenbauer in Frau im Mond/Woman in the Moon (Fritz Lang, 1929).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 113/2. Photo: Fritz Lang-Film der Ufa. Gerda Maurus and Gustav von Wangenheim in Frau im Mond (Fritz Lang, 1929).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 113/3. Photo: Fritz Lang-Film der Ufa. Fritz Rasp and Willy Fritsch in Frau im Mond (Fritz Lang, 1929).

Valuable information from the dark side of the Moon

Frau im Mond/Woman in the Moon (1929) was based on a novel by Fritz Lang's wife, Thea von Harbau, who had also written the script of Metropolis (Fritz Lang, 1926). The film was shot between October 1928 and June 1929 at the UFA studios in Neubabelsberg near Berlin. Similar to Metropolis, Frau im Mond is very long, running over two and a half hours. It is roughly divided into two parts, the first of which is more in the spy genre, while the second is about the launch of the moon rocket, the flight to the moon and the stay on the satellite.

At a scientific conference, Prof. Manfeldt (Klaus Pohl) presents his theory on the existence of gold on the Moon. It is greeted with laughter by the assembled academics. Thirty years later, Herr Helius (Willy Fritsch) recognises the value of Mannfeldt's work. The engineer and aeroplane hangar owner Helius has ambitious plans to build a spaceship and take it to the Moon. He and Windegger (Gustav von Wangenheim), his chief engineer, will be going, and so will Prof. Manfeldt, now living in complete poverty in the cramped attic of a house.

A gang of evil businessmen have taken an interest in Mannfeldt's theories, and they send a spy (Fritz Rasp) who identifies himself as "Walter Turner". The financiers insist that their man Turner will accompany the flight. The unmanned Rocket H 32 brings back valuable information from the dark side of the Moon. Meanwhile, Windegger has announced his engagement to Helius's other assistant, the pretty Friede (Gerda Maurus). Helius, who secretly loves Friede, avoids their engagement party.

And the financiers have a secret agenda: to control the world's gold supply... Finally, the Spaceship "Friede" is ready as it rolls out on its gantry for takeoff. The staged rocket works as planned, but the acceleration is fierce. As they approach the Moon, they discover a stowaway on board, Gustav (Gustl Stark-Gstettenbaur), a young boy. Gustav, the son of Helius' driver, had befriended Helius and has stowed away, along with his collection of science fiction pulp magazines. During the journey, Windegger emerges as a coward, and Helius's feelings for Friede begin to become known to her, creating a romantic triangle.

They reach the far side of the Moon and find it has a breathable atmosphere, per the theories of Peter Andreas Hansen, who is mentioned near the beginning of the film. Mannfeldt discovers gold, proving his theory. When confronted by Turner, Mannfeldt falls to his death in a crevasse. Turner attempts to hijack the rocket, and in the struggle, he is shot and killed. Gunfire damages the oxygen tanks, and they come to the grim realisation that there is not enough oxygen for all to make the return trip. One person must remain on the Moon.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 113/4. Photo: Fritz Lang-Film der Ufa. Mahmud Terja Bey and Borwin Walth in Frau im Mond/The Girl in the Moon (Fritz Lang, 1929).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 113/8. Photo: Fritz Lang-Film der UFA. Photo: Ufa. Klaus Pohl in Frau im Mond/Woman in the Moon (Fritz Lang, 1929).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, no. 113/9. Photo: Ufa. Gerda Maurus and Gustav von Wangenheim in Frau im Mond/Woman in the Moon (Fritz Lang, 1929).


German postcard. Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 113/11. Photo: Fritz Lang-Film der Ufa. Willy Fritsch, Klaus Pohl, and Gustav von Wangenheim in Frau im Mond/Woman in the Moon (Fritz Lang, 1929).

One of the last great German silent films

Within the framework of the state of knowledge at the time, Fritz Lang attached great importance to a scientifically sound presentation of the technical details of launch, flight and landing as well as the lunar landscape in Frau im Mond/Woman in the Moon (1929). Lang hired German physicist Hermann Oberth as a technical advisor for the film. Noted post-war science writer Willy Ley also served as a consultant on the film. Another rocket pioneer, Rudolf Nebel, was hired by Oberth as a technical assistant, and together they constructed a two-metre-long rocket that was to be launched into the sky for promotional purposes at the premiere at the suggestion of Willy Ley, but unfortunately did not work.

When the Nazis began working on war rockets, they hired Oberth and Nebel to work on the V-2 rocket program, the later "wonder weapon" of the Second World War. Oberth also became the mentor of Wernher von Braun. The Nazis decided the rocket in Frau im Mond was too close to the truth. To preserve secrecy, they had the models destroyed and the film withdrawn from release. After World War II, Hermann Oberth followed Wernher von Braun to the United States where he participated in rocket experiments for many years. Braun later hired Oberth as technical consultant for NASA's Atlas rocket.

The first half of Frau im Mond/Woman in the Moon (1929); the set-up of the flight, the introduction to the main characters, a love triangle, and an international conspiracy is the least interesting part of the film. Once the flight begins, action tenses up and things get interesting. The best scenes of the film were created from the technical elements in combination with a good trick technique. True to the theory of astronomer Peter Andreas Hansen and scientific assumptions that were still widespread at the time, oxygen, water and gold do indeed occur on the far side of the moon in this story. Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "like many of its modern-day counterparts, more successful on a special-effects level than it is in terms of character development."

Several prescient technical and operational features are presented during the film's launch sequence, which subsequently came into common operational use during America's postwar space race. Wikipedia mentions: "The rocket ship Friede is fully built in a tall building and moved to the launch area. As launch approaches, intertitles count down the seconds from six to "now" ("now" was used for zero), and Woman in the Moon is often cited as the first occurrence of the "countdown to zero" before a rocket launch. The rocket ship blasts off submerged in a pool of water; water is commonly used today on launch pads to absorb and dissipate the extreme heat and to dampen the noise generated by the rocket exhaust. In space, the rocket ejects its first stage and fires its second stage rocket, predicting the development of modern multistage orbital rockets. The crew reclined on horizontal beds to cope with the G-forces experienced during lift-off and pre-orbital acceleration. Floor foot straps are used to restrain the crew during zero gravity."

A lunar landscape and an imposing black and white moon rocket were built in the film studio. In order to depict the lunar landscape as realistically as possible, a goods train load of 40 wagons of Baltic Sea sand was brought to the film studio for the filming. Commercially, Frau im Mond/Woman in the Moon (1929) was rather disappointing, but went down in German film history as one of the last great silent films. Several elements of the film inspired Irving Pichel's film Destination Moon (Irving Pichel, 1950), which in turn inspired the Tintin albums 'Objectif Lune'(Destination Moon, 1953) and 'On a marché sur la Lune' (Explorers on the Moon, 1943) by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. Frau im Mond/Woman in the Moon (1929) was the last blockbuster of the UFA (Universum Film AG) studio before the crash of 1929. In the 1960s, Fritz Lang was repeatedly invited as a guest of honour and speaker in the US spaceflight environment because of his innovative merits with Frau im Mond/Woman in the Moon (1929). The film was restored in 2000 by the Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau Foundation from negatives belonging to the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv in Berlin.


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 113/13. Photo: Fritz Lang-Film der Ufa. Gerda Maurus and Willy Fritsch in Frau im Mond/Woman in the Moon (Fritz Lang, 1929).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 113/15. Photo: Fritz Lang-Film der Ufa. Gerda Maurus and Gustl Stark-Gstettenbauer in Frau im Mond/The Girl in the Moon (Fritz Lang, 1929).


German postcard by Ross Verlag, Berlin, no. 113/16. Photo: Fritz Lang-Film der UFA. Photo: Ufa. Willy Fritsch and Gustav von Wangenheim in Frau im Mond/Woman in the Moon (Fritz Lang, 1929).


German collectors card by Ross Verlag in the series Vom Werden Deutscher Filmkunst - Der Stumme Film, no. 169, Group 43. Photo: Ufa. Fritz Lang and Fritz Rasp at the set of Frau im Mond/Woman in the Moon (Fritz Lang, 1929).

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie), Wikipedia (French, German and English), and IMDb.