Uschi Obermaier
Encyclopedia
Uschi Obermaier is a former fashion model
, actress and is associated with the 1968 left-wing movement
in Germany
. In the latter she is considered an iconic sex symbol
of the so-called "1968 generation".
, a suburb of Munich
, Germany. She started an apprenticeship as a photo-restorer but gave it up to become a model. She was discovered by the magazine Twen. After a successful photo-shoot with photographer Guido Mangold in the Cameroon
, she became its top model and internationally famous. She went on to work for other magazines and top photographers such as Helmut Newton
. Slim and petite, but feminine, she represented a new type of model and posed nude from the front for the first time on a magazine cover.
In Munich, Obermaier was briefly involved with Pamir
survivor Othello (a.k.a. Rudolf Liebzeit). She was briefly a member of the Munich-based experimental commune/band Amon Düül
around 1968/69 and lived in their commune
. She met communard Rainer Langhans at a concert at the end of 1968 and she soon moved from Munich to the Berlin
-based Kommune 1
after Langhans became her boyfriend. They talked openly to the media about their relationship, becoming symbols of the sexual revolution
. They became the German version of John Lennon
and Yoko Ono
.
Kommune 1 was the first politically-motivated commune in Germany, and Obermaier's name is most intimately connected with the 1960s student rebellions in the minds of many Germans. However, she later said that she had no particular interest in politics, and that she moved into Kommune 1 simply to be close to Langhans. Photos of her at political demonstrations and with members of the Kommune appeared in all the popular magazines of the time.
After the end of Kommune 1 in 1969, Langhans and Obermaier moved to the Highfisch-Kommune in Munich.
in Rudolf Thome's Detektive (1968). She was the protagonist of Rote Sonne (1969). She also played a small role alongside Rainer Langhans in Haytabo, and portrayed Marlene in the film adaptation
of the novel Blutrausch.
's Reeperbahn
red-light district.
Obermaier went on the Rolling Stones' 1975 tour
and is said to have had affairs with both Keith Richards
and Mick Jagger
, as well as with Jimi Hendrix
– a visitor to Kommune 1 – with whom she can be seen kissing and cuddling farewell outside his West Berlin hotel Kempinski in the movie Last Experience.
Obermaier and Bockhorn traveled the world in a customized bus, first spending three years in Asia
, then going to Mexico
and the U.S.
for another three years.
Obermaier said in an interview (Galore, Issue 25) that reports that she and Bockhorn had a traditional wedding in every country they traveled in were untrue. They married only once, in India
. Their relationship ended abruptly after ten years when Dieter Bockhorn died in a motorcycle accident in Mexico on New Year's Eve, 1983.
The authorized biography of Obermaier's life, High Times, was written by Obermaier and Olaf Kraemer. The book reached third place on the best seller list and stayed there for five months. This biography was adapted into a film biopic, Eight Miles High
(original German title: Das Wilde Leben), screenplay adapted by Kraemer from his book. The controversial movie was directed by Achim Bornhak and released in February 2007. The movie was reclassified by distributors from PG 16 to PG 12 and reached number ten at the box office. The aggregate film review website Metacritic
awarded it a score of 32, based on 10 reviews.
Uschi Obermaier was granted American citizenship. Today, she lives in Topanga Canyon near Los Angeles
, and works as a jewellery designer.
Model (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
, actress and is associated with the 1968 left-wing movement
German student movement
The German student movement was a protest movement that took place during the late 1960s in West Germany. It was largely a reaction against the perceived authoritarianism and hypocrisy of the German government and other Western governments, and the poor living conditions of students...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. In the latter she is considered an iconic sex symbol
Sex symbol
A sex symbol is a celebrity of either gender, typically an actor, musician, supermodel, teen idol, or sports star, noted for their sex appeal. The term was first used in the mid 1950s in relation to the popularity of certain Hollywood stars, especially Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte...
of the so-called "1968 generation".
Obermaier and the Kommune 1
Uschi Obermaier was born in SendlingSendling
Sendling is a borough of Munich. It is located south-west of the city centre and spans of the city boroughs Sendling and Sendling-Westpark. Sendling is sub-divided into Obersendling, Mittersendling and Untersendling...
, a suburb of Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Germany. She started an apprenticeship as a photo-restorer but gave it up to become a model. She was discovered by the magazine Twen. After a successful photo-shoot with photographer Guido Mangold in the Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
, she became its top model and internationally famous. She went on to work for other magazines and top photographers such as Helmut Newton
Helmut Newton
Helmut Newton, born Helmut Neustädter was a German-Australian photographer. He was a "prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically charged black-and-white photos were a mainstay of Vogue and other publications."-Early life:Newton was born in Berlin, the son of Klara...
. Slim and petite, but feminine, she represented a new type of model and posed nude from the front for the first time on a magazine cover.
In Munich, Obermaier was briefly involved with Pamir
Pamir (ship)
Pamir was one of the famous Flying P-Liner sailing ships of the German shipping company F. Laeisz. She was the last commercial sailing ship to round Cape Horn, in 1949...
survivor Othello (a.k.a. Rudolf Liebzeit). She was briefly a member of the Munich-based experimental commune/band Amon Düül
Amon Düül
-External links:* - Extensive bio @ Perfect Sound Forever* mainly focussed on their collaboration with Robert Calvert of Hawkwind...
around 1968/69 and lived in their commune
Commune
Commune may refer to:In society:* Commune, a human community in which resources are shared* Commune , a township or municipality* One of the Communes of France* An Italian Comune...
. She met communard Rainer Langhans at a concert at the end of 1968 and she soon moved from Munich to the Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
-based Kommune 1
Kommune 1
Kommune 1 or K1 was the first politically-motivated commune in Germany. It was created on January 12, 1967, in West Berlin and finally dissolved in November 1969....
after Langhans became her boyfriend. They talked openly to the media about their relationship, becoming symbols of the sexual revolution
Sexual revolution
The sexual revolution was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the Western world from the 1960s into the 1980s...
. They became the German version of John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
and Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
.
Kommune 1 was the first politically-motivated commune in Germany, and Obermaier's name is most intimately connected with the 1960s student rebellions in the minds of many Germans. However, she later said that she had no particular interest in politics, and that she moved into Kommune 1 simply to be close to Langhans. Photos of her at political demonstrations and with members of the Kommune appeared in all the popular magazines of the time.
After the end of Kommune 1 in 1969, Langhans and Obermaier moved to the Highfisch-Kommune in Munich.
Films
Obermaier played alongside Iris BerbenIris Berben
Iris Berben is a German actress. She grew up in Hamburg, where her parents ran a restaurant....
in Rudolf Thome's Detektive (1968). She was the protagonist of Rote Sonne (1969). She also played a small role alongside Rainer Langhans in Haytabo, and portrayed Marlene in the film adaptation
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
of the novel Blutrausch.
Music
- Obermaier’s photo is featured on the cover of the 12-inch single12-inch singleThe 12-inch single is a type of gramophone record that has wider groove spacing compared to other types of records. This allows for louder levels to be cut on the disc by the cutting engineer, which in turn gives a wider dynamic range, and thus better sound quality...
"These Days" by Xu Xu Fang (released in 2007 by Vacancy Records). - She played maracas in the band Amon DüülAmon Düül-External links:* - Extensive bio @ Perfect Sound Forever* mainly focussed on their collaboration with Robert Calvert of Hawkwind...
, aka Amon Düül I, on two albums: Collapsing (1970, released by Metronome) and Disaster (1972, released by BASFBASFBASF SE is the largest chemical company in the world and is headquartered in Germany. BASF originally stood for Badische Anilin- und Soda-Fabrik . Today, the four letters are a registered trademark and the company is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, and Zurich Stock...
).
Life after the Kommune 1
In 1973, Uschi Obermaier fell in love with Dieter Bockhorn, the wealthy owner of a club in HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
's Reeperbahn
Reeperbahn
The Reeperbahn is a street in Hamburg's St. Pauli district, one of the two centres of Hamburg's nightlife and also the city's red-light district...
red-light district.
Obermaier went on the Rolling Stones' 1975 tour
Rolling Stones Tour of the Americas '75
The Rolling Stones' Tour of the Americas '75 was a 1975 concert tour originally intended to reach both North and South America. The plans for concerts in Central and South American never solidifed, however, and the tour covered only the United States and Canada.-History:This was the Stones first...
and is said to have had affairs with both Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
and Mick Jagger
Mick Jagger
Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
, as well as with Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
– a visitor to Kommune 1 – with whom she can be seen kissing and cuddling farewell outside his West Berlin hotel Kempinski in the movie Last Experience.
Obermaier and Bockhorn traveled the world in a customized bus, first spending three years in Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, then going to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for another three years.
Obermaier said in an interview (Galore, Issue 25) that reports that she and Bockhorn had a traditional wedding in every country they traveled in were untrue. They married only once, in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Their relationship ended abruptly after ten years when Dieter Bockhorn died in a motorcycle accident in Mexico on New Year's Eve, 1983.
The authorized biography of Obermaier's life, High Times, was written by Obermaier and Olaf Kraemer. The book reached third place on the best seller list and stayed there for five months. This biography was adapted into a film biopic, Eight Miles High
Das Wilde Leben
Das Wilde Leben is a German biographical motion picture, set in the 1960s and depicting the "wild life" of Uschi Obermaier, a German groupie.- Synopsis :...
(original German title: Das Wilde Leben), screenplay adapted by Kraemer from his book. The controversial movie was directed by Achim Bornhak and released in February 2007. The movie was reclassified by distributors from PG 16 to PG 12 and reached number ten at the box office. The aggregate film review website Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
awarded it a score of 32, based on 10 reviews.
Uschi Obermaier was granted American citizenship. Today, she lives in Topanga Canyon near Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, and works as a jewellery designer.
Literature
- Uschi Obermaier: Das wilde Leben, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 1994, ISBN 3-455-08603-9
- Olaf Kraemer, Uschi Obermaier: High Times – Mein wildes Leben (Biography), Heyne Verlag, München 2007, ISBN 978-3-453-13010-4