Helena Klostermann

Helene Pauline Klostermann (born 5 February 1918 in Frankfurt am Main; died 5 April 2003 in Bad Homburg), née Gries, was a German actress, author and publisher. She published and worked mostly under the name “Helena Klostermann”.

Life

Klostermann grew up in Frankfurt am Main and attended the Elisabethenschule there. After obtaining her intermediate school certificate (mittlere Reife) in 1934, she continued her education at the higher commercial school (höhere Handelsschule). In 1935 she moved to the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst (Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts) in Frankfurt am Main, at that time still called the Hochschule für Theater und Musik, where she completed her acting training two years later.

In the same year Klostermann married the publisher Vittorio Klostermann.¹ The marriage produced three children: Michael (b. 1939, d. 1992) and the twins Petra Angiolina (b. 1950, d. 1978) and Vittorio Eckard (b. 1950).

Publisher

Helena Klostermann in 1942, aged 24, during her time in Überlingen on Lake Constance.
Foto: Karin Kraus

Shortly after the outbreak of the war and after the birth of her first son, Klostermann stayed for a few months in Überlingen on Lake Constance with the art historian Theodor Hetzer, a friend of the family and an author of her husband’s publishing house.² There she met Friedrich Georg Jünger and introduced him to her husband.³ Through this introduction, Jünger became not only an author of the Vittorio Klostermann publishing house but also the publisher’s closest lifelong friend.⁴ The publishing house’s connection with Otto Julius Hartmann and Rudolf Hauschka was likewise established by Klostermann. Ernst Jünger’s authorship with Klostermann during the 1950s also goes back to her initiative.⁵⁶

During the war years, the Klostermann Verlag had a branch office in Freiburg im Breisgau, which Klostermann managed.⁷ After the war she worked at the publishing house in Frankfurt am Main, mainly handling press relations and maintaining contacts with the book trade.⁸

Actress

At the age of 14, Klostermann already had her first walk-on roles at the Römerberg-Festspiele (Römerberg Festival). After completing her acting training in 1937, smaller engagements at theatres followed. One of Klostermann’s first engagements was at the Rhein-Mainisches Künstlertheater, today’s Theater am Turm. On what was then a touring stage, she played “Kreusa” in Franz Grillparzer’s drama Medea.⁹

Cologne

Klostermann’s breakthrough came in 1947 in the role of “Donna Proëza” in the German premiere of Paul Claudel’s Der seidene Schuh (The Satin Slipper) at the Kölner Schauspielhaus. Among others, she shared the stage with Werner Hessenland, Wilhelm Pilgram, Friedl Münzer and Hans Müller-Westernhagen.¹⁰ Her acting performance was acclaimed in the press beyond the region. After the premiere on 20 October, the Kölnische Rundschau wrote:

“It is above all thanks to the ecstatic acting of Helena Klostermann. She brings all the prerequisites for the role of Proeza: the inner rapture, the infinitely delicate liveliness of expression, attuned to the faintest nuances and yet also capable of the strongest intensification. She unfolds this potential almost perfectly in every scene, in ever new transformation.”¹¹

The Volksstimme explained: “Helena Klostermann portrayed Proeza with generous passion and emotion.”¹² And DIE ZEIT, too, saw “a series of great artistic moments”¹³ between Klostermann and Hessenland. As thanks for her performance, Klostermann received after the premiere not flowers but briquettes, which were so important in the post-war period.¹⁴

In 1947 Klostermann took part in a new production of Schiller’s Don Karlos in Cologne.¹⁵ Under the direction of Herbert Maisch, she played “Lyra Schoppke” in Carl Zuckmayer’s Des Teufels General (The Devil’s General) in 1948.¹⁶ During the Domfestspiele (Cathedral Festival) in the same year, Klostermann performed Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s Das Salzburger große Welttheater (The Salzburg Great Theatre of the World) together with Richard Aßmann, Rolf Henninger and Heinz Schacht.¹⁷¹⁸ In 1949, following Don Karlos, Herbert Maisch also staged a new production of the Schiller classic Die Räuber (The Robbers). In it Klostermann played “Amalia”, the bride of the count’s son Karl Moor.¹⁹

Snapshot of Helena Klostermann in 1950, leaning against a tree in the garden at Schillerstraße 13 in Bad Homburg
Foto: Vittorio Julius Klostermann – Familienbesitz der Familie Klostermann

Frankfurt

In the same year Klostermann moved to the Schauspielhaus Frankfurt. There, together with Max Noack and Otto Rouvel, she appeared on stage in Max Kommerell’s drama Die Gefangenen (The Prisoners).²⁰²¹

After the birth of the twins Petra Angiolina and Vittorio Eckard in 1950, Klostermann initially withdrew from theatre life. Ten years later she made a guest appearance as “Heidi Dudenrod” in an episode of Hessischer Rundfunk’s successful family series Die Firma Hesselbach.²²²³

Heidelberg

From 1972 to 1976 she played various roles at the Heidelberger Zimmertheater. During this time she was, among other roles, the “Mistress” in Edward Albee’s play Alles vorbei (All Over)²⁴ and, in 1976, “Alan’s mother” in Peter Shaffer’s Equus, which was very well received by the critics.²⁵ During her Heidelberg period Klostermann also gave guest performances at Die Tonne, the theatre in Reutlingen. There, in 1973, she performed together with Peter Seum as well as Raimund and Michael Krone in Edward Bond’s Gerettet (Saved).

In 1976 Klostermann finally withdrew from the theatre world.

Author

In 1965 Klostermann published two essays, in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung²⁶ and in Die Welt.²⁷ Under her maiden name Helene Gries, she wrote about the unexpected birth and the upbringing of twins as well as about her experiences as a volunteer helper in a hospital.

In 1984 her book Alter als Herausforderung. Frauen über sechzig erzählen (Old Age as a Challenge: Women over Sixty Tell Their Stories) was published. In it, Klostermann portrays twenty women between the ages of 60 and 90 on the basis of interviews. Topics such as autonomy in old age play just as much of a role as longings and wishes for the future.²⁸ Klostermann’s non-fiction book met with a positive response in the media, e.g. in the Tagesspiegel,²⁹ the Deutsches Allgemeines Sonntagsblatt³⁰ or EMMA.³¹ The Frankfurter Rundschau published an advance excerpt.³² In addition, Klostermann’s work was included in The Feminist Encyclopedia of German Literature in 1997.³³

Theatre (selection)

1937: as Elisabeth von Valois in Don Karlos
1937: as Kreusa in Medea
1947: as Donna Proëza in Der seidene Schuh
1947: as Sophie in Ein Spiel von Tod und Liebe
1947: as Elisabeth von Valois in Don Karlos
1948: as Lyra Schoppke in Des Teufels General
1948: as Frau Welt (Lady World) in Das Salzburger große Welttheater
1949: as Amalia von Edelreich in Die Räuber
1949: as Helene in Die Gefangenen
1972: as the Mistress in Alles vorbei
1973: as Mary in Gerettet
1974: Dachlawine
1976: as Alan’s mother in Equus

Filmography

1962: as Heidi Dudenrod in Die Firma Hesselbach (episode 63)

Publications

Klostermann, Helena (1984): Alter als Herausforderung. Frauen über sechzig erzählen. Frankfurt/M.: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, ISBN 978-3-596-23751-7.

External links

Literature by and about Helena Klostermann in the catalogue of the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (German National Library)
Helena Klostermann in the Internet Movie Database

Machine translation: This article was translated automatically from the German original.

1
Auffermann, Verena (1980): Wie sich aus Zufall Schicksal ergibt. In: Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, article of 30/10. ↩︎
2
Auffermann, Verena (1980): Wie sich aus Zufall Schicksal ergibt. In: Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, article of 30/10. ↩︎
3
Auffermann, Verena (1980): Wie sich aus Zufall Schicksal ergibt. In: Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, article of 30/10. ↩︎
4
Auffermann, Verena (1980): Wie sich aus Zufall Schicksal ergibt. In: Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, article of 30/10. ↩︎
5
Auffermann, Verena (1980): Wie sich aus Zufall Schicksal ergibt. In: Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, article of 30/10. ↩︎
6
Fröschle, Ulrich/Neumann, Michael (2003): Ernst Jünger & Gerhard Nebel. Briefwechsel 1938–1974. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta, ISBN 978-3-608-93626-1, p. 246. ↩︎
7
Blasche, Siegfried (n. d.): Einstellung der Verlagsarbeit. In: Verlagsgeschichte Vittorio Klostermann Verlag. Website of the Vittorio Klostermann Verlag. Online at: https://www.klostermann.de/epages/63574303.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/63574303/Categories/Ueber_Uns/Verlagsgeschichte/Philosophie/Einstellung_der_Verlagsarbeit (accessed 13/09/2021). ↩︎
8
Auffermann, Verena (1980): Wie sich aus Zufall Schicksal ergibt. In: Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, article of 30/10. ↩︎
9
Melchinger, Siegfried (1937): Fünf Theater in drei Stunden. In: Frankfurter Generalanzeiger, article of 13/06. ↩︎
10
Braunfels, Wolfgang (1946): „Der Seidene Schuh“ von Paul Claudel. In: Gesellschaft für Christliche Kultur. ↩︎
11
n. a. (1946): Paul Claudel. Der Seidene Schuh. Deutsche Erstaufführung in Köln. In: Kölnische Rundschau, article of 22/10. ↩︎
12
n. a. (1946): Kölner Kulturtage. In: Volksstimme, article of 24/10. ↩︎
13
Fellmann, Hans Georg (1946): Der seidene Schuh. In: Die Zeit, article of 08/11. Online at: https://www.zeit.de/1946/38/der-seidene-schuh (accessed 13/09/2021). ↩︎
14
Auffermann, Verena (1980): Wie sich aus Zufall Schicksal ergibt. In: Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, article of 30/10. ↩︎
15
Jardon (1947): Neuinszenierung des Don Carlos. In: Rheinische Zeitung, article of 20/09. ↩︎
16
Weniger, Heinz (1948): Des Teufels General. Fast eine Tragödie. In: Rheinische Zeitung, article of 14/01. ↩︎
17
Schmidt, Hannes (1948): Geistliches Theater. Kölner Bühnen eröffnen die Domfestspiele. In: Die Welt, article of 10/08. ↩︎
18
Jacobi, Johannes (1946): Kölner Dom-Festspiele 1948. In: Die Zeit, article of 02/09. Online at: https://www.zeit.de/1948/36/koelner-dom-festspiele-1948 (accessed 13/09/2021). ↩︎
19
n. a. (1949): Schillers „Räuber“ in der Sicht unserer Zeit. Eine packende Neuinszenierung Herbert Maischs. In: Kölnische Rundschau, article of 03/05. ↩︎
20
Thiem, Willy H. (1949): Kommerells „Die Gefangenen“ in Frankfurt. In: Abendpost, article of 12/10. ↩︎
21
Minssen, Friedrich (1949): Max Kommerells Elegie vom Untergang. In: Frankfurter Rundschau, article of 12/10. ↩︎
22
n. a. (1963): Fernsehen, nah besehen. In: Abendpost, article of 15/03. ↩︎
23
Person entry in the Internet Movie Database. Online at: https://web.archive.org/web/20250222054225/https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2439584/?ref_=fn_al_nm_2 (accessed 13/09/2021). ↩︎
24
Golitschek, Josef von (1972): Verzehrendes Warten am Sterbebett. In: Mannheimer Morgen und Heidelberger Tagblatt, article of 22/09. ↩︎
25
Kuntz, Edwin (1976): Künstlerische Sensation im Zimmertheater. In: Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung. ↩︎
26
Gries, Helene (1965): Versuch zur Nächstenliebe. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, article of 23/01. ↩︎
27
Gries, Helene (1965): Müssen Zwillinge immer Rivalen sein? In: Die Welt, article of 19/06. ↩︎
28
Willgruber-Spitz, Elisabeth (1985): Aus dem Leben von Frauen über 60. In: Neue Zeit, article of 02/02. ↩︎
29
Bässler, Annette (1984): Den Kopf noch voller Pläne. In: Der Tagesspiegel, article of 16/09. ↩︎
30
Damkowski, Christa (1985): Im Unruhestand. In: Deutsches Allgemeines Sonntagsblatt, article of 20/01. ↩︎
31
n. a. (1984): Bücher. In: EMMA, No. 9, p. 31. Online at: https://www.emma.de/lesesaal/45224#pages/33 (accessed 13/09/2021). ↩︎
32
Klostermann, Helena (1984): Wer nicht alt werden will, der muß sich jung aufhängen. Alter als Herausforderung. Auszug. In: Frankfurter Rundschau, pre-print of 01/09. ↩︎
33
Eigler, Friedrike/Kord, Susanne (1997): The Feminist Encyclopedia of German Literature. Westport, Connecticut/London: Greenwood Publishing Group 1997, ISBN 978-0-313-29313-9, p. 20. ↩︎

Actor, Author, Culture, Publisher, Publishing house, Theatre

Empfohlene Zitierweise

Miriam Stadler
: Helena Klostermann. In: Equalpedia.

Online unter:

https://www.equalpedia.org/en/helena-klostermann-2/

(Zugriff am 26. September 2026).

Erstellt am: 23. September 2026
Verfasser*in: Miriam Stadler
Zuletzt bearbeitet am: 24. September 2026
Acting, Biographies, Culture, Literature, Publishing house, Theatre
Actor, Author, Culture, Publisher, Publishing house, Theatre