Jo van Nelsen - Grammophonlesung for the 100th Birthday and Anniversary of Friedrich Hollaender's Death

In his Grammophonlesung, Jo van Nelsen explores the life of Friedrich Hollaender - composer for theatre, cabaret and film, who usually wrote his own lyrics as well.

Hollaender ran a cabaret, authored several books (including the emigration novel "Menschliches Treibgut") and was a close friend of stars such as Marlene Dietrich, for whom he wrote many of her greatest hits in both Berlin and Hollywood. One of the few German emigres to build a genuine career in Hollywood as a film composer, he even received an Oscar nomination. Yet he never truly felt at home in America; in the mid-1950s he returned to Germany and experienced first-hand the rejection that awaited remigrants.

Marking the 50th anniversary of Hollaender's death in 2026, Jo van Nelsen pays tribute to one of the most inventive figures in German entertainment - through shellac records, photographs and excerpts from his books.