Hedwig Wangel

Hedwig Wangel (1875–1961) was a German stage and film actress.

Life and career Born as Amalie Pauline Hedwig Simon on September 23, 1875, in Berlin in the German Empire, Hedwig Wangel was the daughter of a music publisher. After studying acting with Max Grube, she made her theatrical debut in 1893 in Urania. Following performances for the remainder of the decade in theaters across Germany, during which she was a member of Max Reinhardt's Deutsches Theater, she then toured England during 1901 and 1902 and the Netherlands during 1902 and 1903, when she retired suddenly, began to provide care for homeless men and women, and assisted the Salvation Army and the Berliner Prisoner Association. Launching her own production company in 1925, she returned to films with the studio UFA the following year. That same year, she also founded the Gate of Hope, an asylum for women who had recently been freed from prison. Ultimately establishing a charitable foundation which bore her name, she recruited fellow artists and leaders in the scientific community to assist with her work and join her organization's leadership board. Among those who volunteered their services were Albert Einstein, Käthe Kollwitz, and the poet Else Lasker-Schüler.

Selected filmography The Woman's Crusade (1926) as the woman's porter State Attorney Jordan (1926) as Mrs. Hecker The Priest from Kirchfeld (1926) Superfluous People (1926) as Duboff's wife The Last Horse Carriage in Berlin (1926) as Auguste Lüdecke A Modern Dubarry (1927) as Rosalie The Sporck Battalion (1927) as Witwe Retelsdorf The Convicted (1927) Give Me Life (1928) Queen Louise (1927) as Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt Rasputin (1928) as Princess Vorontsov Flachsmann the Educator (1930) as Madame von Jan Flemming A Thousand Words of German (1930) as Harfenjule Pension Schöller (1930) as Mrs. Krüger Who Takes Love Seriously? (1931) as the landlady The Office Manager (1931) as a member of the cycling club Gloria (1931) as Frieda The Testament of Cornelius Gulden (1932) as Mrs. Winter Spell of the Looking Glass (1932) as Witwe Schramm Frederica (1932) Three from the Unemployment Office (1932) as the welfare lady The Escape to Nice (1932) as Ramona's mother Under False Flag (1932) as Frl. Schmidt, Garderobiere Travelling People (1938) as Yvonne the circus housekeeper Liberated Hands (1939) as Mrs. Steinmann Enemies (1940) as Liska Uncle Kruger (1941) as Queen Victoria Comrades (1941) The Way to Freedom (1941) as Barbaccia What Does Brigitte Want? (1941) as Klara Lehmann Beloved World (1942) as Mrs. Pilz Violanta (1942) as Mrs. Zureiss The Endless Road (1943) as Susan Harper The Master of the Estate (1943) as Malena, Wirtschafterin Die Feuerzangenbowle (1944) as Crey's housekeeper Journey to Happiness (1948) as Großmutter Loevengaard Amico (1949) as Mrs. Fiebig Love '47 (1949) as Madame Beckmann Doctor Praetorius (1950) Royal Children (1950) as Mrs. von Bockh Mathilde Möhring (1950) The Secret of a Marriage (1951) as Haushälterin Hanna Amon (1951) as Mrs. Zorneder Roses Bloom on the Moorland (1952)as Kräuterjule Everything for Father (1953) as Klara Ave Maria (1953) as the matron The Village Under the Sky (1953) as Luccia Roses in Autumn (1955) as Konsulin Rhode Without You All Is Darkness (1956) as Julchen The Cheese Factory in the Hamlet (1958)