The Curd Jürgens Collection

Curd Jürgens

Curd Jürgens: Theatre, film and television actor, director, author, singer – bonvivant and world star.

He was not like Marlene Dietrich, who meticulously preserved everything of and about herself, as if it were possible to prevent physical transitoriness and survive with things. In contrast to Romy Schneider, Curd Jürgens does not have an active fan community that collects every single piece of memorabilia and keeps it in well-guarded collections. The preserved legacy, which is presented here in a virtual exhibition, is a fund whose composition is rather arbitrary, and that is precisely what makes it so interesting.

The photos, letters and scripts served Curd Jürgens’ own memory of private and professional events. Although the collection contains several thousand newspaper clippings, it does not aim to be complete, nor does it document his life and career in its entirety. What it does document are the things that Curd Jürgens himself considered important – his theater work, his own realized and unrealized projects, and the notes on his position as an artist.