Claire Waldoff - Wer schmeißt denn da mit Lehm

Claire Waldoff, the chanson and cabaret singer with the snappish voice, has been an entertainment star for more than three decades. She never made a secret of her love to Olga von Roeder - they were inseparable for 40 years. Even today, her hits like ”Hermann heeßt er“ (His name is Hermann), “Wer schmeißt denn da mit Lehm?“ (Who’s throwing clay?) or “Hannelore“ are a pleasure to listen to - and worth (re-) discovering.

Being the 11th child out of sixteen made it financially impossible for Claire Waldoff to study medicine, which was her wish. So she decided to go for drama instead. At the age of 19, she got her first role in Bad Pyrmont and Kattowitz. In 1907 she went to Berlin, and focused on cabaret, where she became a star. Claire characterized the last decade of the German Emperor Wilhelm II and the beginning roaring '20s in Berlin. She specialized herself in German "Gassenhauer", "Schlager" and chansons. Her stage performance was characterized by her maverick appearance in wearing a tie, shirt and a rust red bob. She also smoked and cursed on stage. Her most famous songs in the early part of her career were "Morgens willste nicht und abends kannste nicht" [At Morning You Won't, and in the Evening You Can't] (1910), "’ne dufte Stadt ist mein Berlin" [A Groovy City is My Berlin], "Nach meine Beene is ja janz Berlin verrückt" [Entire Berlin Is Crazy 'bout My Legs] (both 1911), "Hermann heeßt er" [He's Called Hermann] (1913) or "Jott, wat sind die Männer dumm" [Gee, How Stupid Men Can Be] (1917). These titles became favorite turns of expression for the following decades. Her height of popularity was in the mid 1920s. She appeared on stage at two of the biggest cabarets in town: Scala and Wintergarten. She toured through Germany and stood on stage with young Marlene Dietrich.

But another fact made her a role model for modern people these times: together with her partner in life she was the epicenter of lesbian Berlin. In political songs she postulated "Raus mir den Männern aus dem Reichstag" [Get Men Out of the Reichstag] (1926) and played a central role in "Zille's Berlin" performing songs like "Das Lied vom Vater Zille (= Sein Milljöh)" [Song of Father Zille (= His Milieu)](1930).

In 1933, the rising National Socialism created hard times for Claire Waldoff. First, she was banned because she performed in front of communists. Parting the "Reichskulturkammer" (an institution founded by Joseph Goebbels to bring German culture into line with national socialistic aspects) ended it. In 1936, the minister of propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, prohibited Waldoff to perform at The Scala. She performed in front of German soldiers but found less and less engagements.

After the war she couldn't continue her career in Germany. The monetary reform of 1948 cost her all her savings and she was impoverished. The magistrate of Berlin granted a pension of honor to Waldoff for her 70th bitrhday. Claire Waldoff died in 1957 due to an apoplexy. It was her last wish to get buried together with her life companion Olga von Roeder. Her wish was fulfilled, and she lies in von Roeder's family grave at Pragfriedhof in Stuttgart.

Claire Waldoff - Wer scmeißt denn da mit Lehm
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