Heinz Erhardt’s archive heads to Bonn’s House of History

Forty-seven years after Heinz Erhardt’s death, the comedian’s personal archive is moving to the House of History in Bonn. The collection includes 19 diaries, letters to his wife, photographs and Erhardt’s typewriter.

The objects had been stored in a basement in Hamburg. They will now be digitized and catalogued, with a public presentation potentially taking place in 2029. That year would mark both the 50th anniversary of Erhardt’s death and the 120th anniversary of his birth.

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He had a panic-stricken fear of being forgotten after his death. He worked against that fear without regard for his health.

The transfer became possible after Erhardt’s heirs settled a dispute that had lasted for years. His granddaughter Nicola Tyzskiewicz described him as a workaholic and said he had been deeply afraid of being forgotten after his death. “He worked against that fear without regard for his health,” she told Der Spiegel, adding that she now sees preserving his legacy as her responsibility.

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Like few other humorists, he represents an overarching period in German history.

Manfred Wichmann, the House of History’s collections director, said the museum normally does not accept personal estates. Erhardt, he told Der Spiegel, stood “like few other humorists for an overarching period in German history.” His films closely observed the social customs of their time and could help audiences understand that era, while he was also “genuinely funny.”

Born in Riga in 1909, Erhardt worked as a comedian, musician, composer, actor and poet. He moved to Hamburg in 1945 and began working for NWDR, later becoming increasingly successful in film from the mid-1950s. A stroke in December 1971 left him partially paralyzed and damaged his speech center. He did not speak another word before his death in Hamburg in 1979.

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Genuinely funny.