Paulsen, Max

ACTOR, DIRECTOR (GERMANY)
BORN 18 Nov 1876, Hamburg - DIED 11 Mar 1956, Wien
BIRTH NAME Paulsen, Max Johann Heinrich
GRAVE LOCATION Wien: Friedhof Pötzleinsdorf, 18., Starkfriedgasse 67 (Gruppe F, Nummer 88/89)

Max Paulsen attended the Realgymnasium in Hamburg before he took acting lessons with Paul Schumann. In 1894 he debuted in Rastatt and he held engagements in Konstanz, Bern, Weimar and Berlin. In 1898 he moved to Vienna where he joined the ensemble of the Burgtheater. There he married the actress Hedwig Bleibtreu, who was eight years his senior.

He worked for 25 years for the Burgtheater and in the 1922-1923 season he was also its director. In 1923 he was appointed Hofrat and left the theatre. Under the name of Peter Petersen he appeared in several movies, among them "Die Kreutzersonate" (1937), "Der Herscherr" (1937, directed by Veit Harlan), "Heimkehr" (1941, with Paula Wessely) and "Germanin" (1943).

In 1945 he returned to the stage at the Wiener Volkstheater and from 1947 until his death in 1956 he worked again for the Burgtheater both as actor and as director. He was also professor at the Academy in Vienna.

Family
• Wife: Bleibtreu, Hedwig (-1956)

Events
10/10/1941The propaganda movie "Heimkehr" is released in Austria. The premiere in Berlin followed on 23 October 1941. It was an anti-Polish propaganda movie written by Gerhard Menzel based on a novel by Karl Hans and directed by Gustav Ucicky. The cast included Paula Wessely, Attilla Hörbiger, Peter Petersen (whose real name was Max Paulsen), Ruth Hellberg, Carl Raddatz, Otto Wernicke, Eduard Köck, Franz Pfaudler, Elsa Wagner, Hermann Erhardt, Werner Fuetterer and Berta Drews. Igo Sys casted the minor parts played by Jewish and Polish actors. He was shot in his appartment during the filming by members of the Polish resistance. [Hellberg, Ruth][Hörbiger, Attila][Raddatz, Carl][Ucicky, Gustav][Wagner, Elsa][Wessely, Paula]

Images

The grave of Hedwig Bleibtreu at the Friedhof Pötzleinsdorf, Vienna.
Picture by Androom (17 Aug 2007)

 

Sources
• Pleyel, Peter, Friedhöfe in Wien, Vom Mittelalter bis Heute, Pichler Edition, Wien, 1999
• Max Paulsen - Wikipedia (DE)
• Paulsen, Max Pseudonym: Peter Petersen
• Homecoming (1941 film) - Wikipedia (EN)


Paulus, Heinrich

Published: 17 Jul 2011
Last update: 26 Sep 2026