Hertha Thiele (May 8, 1908 – August 5, 1984) was a prominent German actress whose career was defined by her success during the Weimar Republic and her later resurgence in East Germany (GDR). She is most famous for her roles in socially conscious and controversial films of the early 1930s.
Thiele began her acting career on stage around age 20 at the Schauspielhaus in Leipzig. She gained international fame in 1931 for her lead role as Manuela von Meinhardis in the groundbreaking film Mädchen in Uniform (“Girls in Uniform”), directed by Leontine Sagan. The film featured an all-female cast and explored themes of lesbian affection in a Prussian boarding school; it became a major success and earned her comparisons to Greta Garbo. She received thousands of fan letters, many from women.
She starred in influential film Kuhle Wampe (1932) co-written by Bertolt Brecht, which focused on the hardships of the working class during the Great Depression. Anna und Elisabeth (1933) was her second film exploring lesbian themes, reuniting her with co-star Dorothea Wieck. Thiele considered this the most important work of her career, though it was quickly banned by the Nazi regime.
Thiele resisted pressure to participate in Nazi propaganda films. She reportedly told Joseph Goebbels that she did not “blow with the wind,” leading to her exclusion from the Reich Chamber of Culture. In 1937, she emigrated to Switzerland, where she faced limited acting opportunities and worked as a prompter and later as a psychiatric nursing assistant.
After World War II, she returned to East Germany (GDR), initially struggling to restart her theater career. She worked in Switzerland for much of the 1950s–1960s before settling in the GDR around 1965–1966. There, she appeared in theater productions (e.g., in Magdeburg and Leipzig) and became well-known for roles in East German television series and films, such as Polizeiruf 110, The Legend of Paul and Paula (1973), and others through the 1970s. She received East German awards, including the Art Prize and National Prize.
She was married at least once (to actor Heinz Klingenberg) and possibly more times. Toward the end of her life, she gained renewed attention from Western feminists interested in Mädchen in Uniform. She died in East Berlin in 1984.
Thiele is remembered for her androgynous appeal and roles that challenged social norms, particularly around gender and sexuality in Weimar-era cinema. Her image and performances have been analyzed in the context of homoerotic themes in early German film.
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