Beyer:Die Geliebte

The love affair between Joseph Goebbels and the Czech actress Lída Baarová lasted two years, from the Olympic summer of 1936 to the autumn of 1938, before Hitler put an end to the liaison. So far, so well known and described in numerous Goebbels biographies. The book documents the scandalous love affair of the Nazi propaganda minister based on the fully analysed statements of the two main participants, unpublished historical sources and Lída Baarová's films, some of which seem like involuntary commentaries on the events. A relationship that began as a private affair, which grew into a state affair and made waves at home and abroad. Embedded in the political and social context of the late 1930s, 'Die Geliebte' provides a vivid insight into the film industry of the time and its protagonists, but also opens up a panorama of the cultural and moral history of Germany and its capital Berlin on the eve of the Second World War. 'Friedemann Beyer has resisted the temptation to turn the Baarová case into a novel. No, he doesn't fantasise, he doesn't imagine what moved the two lovers in their hearts. Beyer does not speculate, he quotes. He traces the story on the basis of documents found in archives. And lo and behold, the resulting narrative is full of drama and more exciting than any colportage novel. ' (Michael Töteberg) Friedemann Beyer - film historian and curator, board member of the F. W. Murnau Foundation from 2001-2007. In addition to film history radio and TV programmes, author of actor biographies on Peter Lorre, Karlheinz Böhm and Sybille Schmitz, among others. Other publications: "Der NS-Film" (2018), "Die Ufa - Ein Filmuniversum" (2017), "Frauen für Deutschland - Filmidole im Dritten Reich" (2012), "Der Fall Selpin - Chronik einer Denunziation" (2011), "Ufa in Farbe" (2010).