Brigitte Horney
Brigitte Horney (29 March 1911 – 27 July 1988) was a German theatre and film actress. Best remembered was her role as Empress Katherine the Great in the film Münchhausen, directed by Josef von Báky, with Hans Albers in the title role.
Brigitte Horney
Helmuth Ellgaard, upploader Holger.Ellgaard · Ellgaards Familienarchiv · CC BY 3.0
- Name
- Brigitte Horney
- Born
- 29 March 1911
- Birthplace
- Dahlem, Province of Brandenburg, Prussia, German Empire
- Died
- 27 July 1988
- Place of death
- Hamburg, West Germany
- Occupation
- Actress
- Nationality
- Germany · United States
- Honours
- German Film Honorary Award
- Languages
- German
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Brigitte Horney (29 March 1911 – 27 July 1988) was a German theatre and film actress. Best remembered was her role as Empress Katherine the Great in the film Münchhausen, directed by Josef von Báky, with Hans Albers in the title role.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q68898 · wikipedia · Brigitte Horney
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Brigitte Horney • Born — 29 March 1911 • Birthplace — Dahlem, Province of Brandenburg, Prussia, German Empire • Died — 27 July 1988 • Place of death — Hamburg, West Germany • Occupation — Actress • Years Active — 1930–1983
Early life
Early life
Brigitte Horney was born and grew up in Dahlem, Berlin, the daughter of noted psychoanalyst Karen Horney.
Career
Career
She was, for more than a decade, engaged with Berlin's Volksbühne. When she accepted the starring role in the highly popular film Love, Death and the Devil (1934), a new star was born with the Leitmotif song "So oder so ist das Leben". Two years later she would play the love interest of famous actor Hans Albers’s character in the film Savoy Hotel 217. Horney was a good friend of the actor Joachim Gottschalk and appeared in four films with him. Although Gottschalk had fallen from favor with Nazi officials, Horney attended Gottschalk's funeral (Germany, 1941), regardless of the political and career implications of doing so.
Personal life
Personal life
After the Second World War she became an American citizen, but continued to visit Germany frequently, where she had a house in Bavaria. She married the eminent Jewish art historian Hanns Swarzenski, a leading authority on German Romanesque manuscripts.
Death
Death
She continued to work in films and television (i.e. Oliver Twist) until her death. She died in Hamburg, June 27, 1988.
Television
Television
• Derrick - Season 4, Episode 3: "Eine Nacht im Oktober" (1977) - Mrs. Lechner • Heidi (1978 TV series) (1978, TV series) - Grandmother • Derrick - Season 7, Episode 6: "Die Entscheidung" (1980) - Ina Hauff • Huckleberry Finn and His Friends (1980, TV miniseries) - Aunt Polly • Jakob und Adele (1982–1989, TV series) - Adele Schliemann • Teufels Großmutter (1986, TV series) - Dorothea Teufel • Das Erbe der Guldenburgs (1987–1989, TV series) - Hertha von Guldenburg (final appearance)
Identity
Identity
Brigitte Horney is recorded as having received German Film Honorary Award.
Brigitte Horney (1911-1988), German actress
Anonymous photographer, not identified anywhere · Collectable album photo from the "Lieblinge des Films" series published by Austria Tabakwerke, 1935
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1911
Brigitte Horney born at Berlin.
1988
Brigitte Horney died at Hamburg.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Landhaus Gugenheim
Residences
Berlin.
Birth place
Hamburg.
Death place
Film
• Farewell (1930) - Hella, retailer • Fra Diavolo (1931) - Anita • Rasputin, Demon with Women (1932) • The Country Schoolmaster (1933) - Martha Detlefsen • A Man Wants to Get to Germany (1934) - Manuela Ortiguez • The Eternal Dream (1934) - Maria • Love, Death and the Devil (1934) - Ruby • Blood Brothers (1935) - Mara, die Magd • The Eternal Dream (1935) - Marie • The Green Domino (1935) - Ellen Fehling / Marianne Fehling • Savoy Hotel 217 (1936) - Nastasja Andrejevna Daschenko • City of Anatol (1936) - Franziska Maniu • The House of the Spaniard (1936) - Margarita de Guzman • Secret Lives (1937) - Lena Schmidt • Der Katzensteg (1937) - Dienstmagd Regine Hackelberg - Tochter • Faded Melody (1938) - Barbara Lorenz • Revolutionary Wedding (1938) - Aline • Anna Favetti (1938) - Anna Favetti • You and I (1938) - Anna Uhlig • Uproar in Damascus (1939) - Vera Niemayer • Target in the Clouds (1939) - Margot Boje • The Governor (1939) - Maria • A Woman Like You (1939) - Dr. Maria Pretorius • Liberated Hands (1939) - Dürthen, Schafhirtin • Enemies (1940) - Anna • The Girl from Fano (1941) - Patricia • Illusion (1941 film) (1941) - Maria Roth • Beloved World (1942) - Karin Ranke • Baron Munchhausen (1943) - Tsarin Catherine II • Am Ende der Welt (1947) - Roberta Bell • Die Frau am Weg (1948) - Christine • Verspieltes Leben (1949) - Ulyssa von Siebenmühlen • Melody of Fate (1950) • As Long as You're Near Me (1953) - Mona Arendt • Prisoners of Love (1954) - Dr. Hildegard Thomas • The Last Summer (1954) - Tatjana Tolemainen • The Glass Tower (1957) - Dr. Bruning • Darkness Fell on Gotenhafen (1960) - Generalin von Reuss • The Inheritance of Bjorndal (1960) - Tante Eleonore • The Cry of the Wild Geese (1961) - Mrs. Sandbo • Miracle of the White Stallions (1963) - Countess Arco-Valley • Neues vom Hexer (1965) - Lady Aston • I Am Looking for a Man (1966) - Helene Schmidt • The Trygon Factor (1966) - Sister General • Old Mamsell's Secret (1972 film) (1972, TV film) - Cordula Hellwig • Haus der Frauen (1977, TV film) - Julia • Charlotte (1981) - Grandma • Bella Donna (1983) - Jutta
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q68898: Brigitte Horney
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Brigitte Horney”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority file
Citations
References
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authority file
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Film memorabilia
37,408 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Brigitte BermanPerson
- Brigitte BurdinePerson
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- Brigitte KolerusPerson
- Brigitte LahaiePerson
- Brigitte MiraPerson
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