Liesl Karlstadt
Hard Years
1935 - 1945

Liesl Karlstadt (1892-1960) and Karl Valentin were a legendary comedy stage duo, as successful as they were famous. But the public knew nothing of the difficulties Karlstadt endured and the existential crises she suffered. This book uses a wealth of photos, original documentation and unpublished letters to shine a light on the dark period between 1935 and 1945.
For years before she attempted to take her own life in April 1935, Liesl Karlstadt struggled with her sense of personal and professional stagnation. After her failed suicide she was hospitalized and sent for convalescence, but nothing really helped her.
Hitherto unpublished letters from this period echo with her despair. She cannot bear the presence of Valentin, but she is equally unable to break with him entirely. Only after a further breakdown does she begin to sever these ties and move on. Recuperation in the mountains is followed by the end of the war and all its horrors in Munich.
Pictures and correspondence shine a light on these dark days in the life and work of Liesl Karlstadt and allow a very personal glimpse of this remarkable woman as she finally emerges from the shadow cast by Karl Valentin – if, indeed, she ever really was overshadowed.