Known from “Monaco Franze” and the “Traumschiff”: Ruth Maria Kubitschek is dead

She has left her mark on German-speaking television for many years. She was on board the ZDF “Traumschiff”, acted in the ARD “Tatort” and in the series “Das Erbe der Guldenburgs”. She achieved cult status alongside Helmut Fischer as Annette von Soettingen alias “Spatzl” in the TV series “Monaco Franze – Der ewige Stenz”.

Ruth Maria Kubitschek, who had lived in Switzerland for more than 25 years, was born in 1931 in Komotau (now in the Czech Republic) on the edge of the Ore Mountains. Towards the end of the Second World War, the family fled to Saxony-Anhalt. Ruth Maria’s desire to be on stage was pursued against her parents’ wishes. After attending drama schools in Halle and Weimar, she made her debut as Fina in Brecht’s “Mr. Puntila and his servant Matti” in Halle. Within a few years, she became a star of GDR television and DEFA films.

But the young woman wanted more. “I went to all the cultural authorities and explained that I wanted to play different roles than were possible in this country,” she reported in an interview with “Welt”. She was repeatedly denied this. In 1959 she went to the West with her son. Her husband, the opera and theater director Götz Friedrich, stayed in the GDR, but was also allowed to direct in the West.

Career began in the castle theater

Kubitschek’s West German career began at the Schlosstheater in Celle. She was supported by the great Austrian theater man Fritz Kortner. Roles in television productions soon followed – appearances in “Lysistrata” (1961), “Die Powenzbande” (1973) and the title role in “Melissa” (1966). Her role as “Spatzl” in the ARD cult series “Monaco Franze – Der ewige Stenz” directed by Helmut Dietl will remain unforgettable. The way she generously forgave her busy TV husband Franz Münchinger (played by Helmut Fischer) every escapade is one of the most amusing chapters in German TV history.

In 1985, she also filmed the cult series “Kir Royal” with Dietl, in which Munich’s elite were deliciously poked fun at. Until she retired in 2014, Kubitschek was a regular guest on television – ratings hits such as “Friends for Life”, “Katrin is the Best”, “Devilishly Strong Women” and “The Inheritance of the Guldenburgs” underpinned her popularity. In 2013, she finally played her last role in the film “Frau Ella”.

The passionate gardener and painter, who was also a talented novelist and non-fiction author (“In the Flow of Life” and “Graceful Ageing”), found happiness in Switzerland. She was naturalized in 2013.