The provocative and pioneering German film-maker Rosa von Praunheim, whose taboo-breaking work on queer life fundamentally altered the cultural landscape, has died at the age of 83. German media reported he passed away in Berlin in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
A Life Dedicated to Queer Visibility and Political Art
Born Holger Radtke in Riga in 1942, the artist adopted the stage name Rosa von Praunheim. This powerful pseudonym referenced the pink triangles (rosa winkel) that gay and bisexual men were forced to wear in Nazi concentration camps. After escaping East Germany in 1953, he studied fine arts and began making short films in the late 1960s.
His career-defining moment came with his second feature, It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives. Premiering at the Berlin film festival in 1971, this silent cine-essay overlaid with socio-critical commentary has been described as Germany's own "Stonewall moment". It aimed to politicise gay men and criticised those who mimicked heterosexual lifestyles. Its broadcast on German public TV in 1973, though banned in Bavaria, brought its radical message to a national audience.
Scandal, Outing, and a Prolific Career
Von Praunheim's work was never shy of controversy. In a move that shocked the nation, he outed two male celebrities on live TV in December 1991: chat show host Alfred Biolek and comedian Hape Kerkeling. He later described this as a "cry of despair" during the AIDS crisis, following a friend's death. While initially condemned, both men later acknowledged the complex impact of his actions.
Over a vast career, he produced more than 150 films, including documentaries on sexologist Magnus Hirschfeld and director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. His final film, Satanische Sau (Satanic Sow), screened in Berlin this year, was a surreal parody exploring his own life, sex, and death.
A Final Union and an Enduring Legacy
In a poignant final chapter, Von Praunheim married his long-term partner, Oliver Sechting, 50, in Berlin on Friday, just days before his death. They exchanged frog-shaped rings, a symbol of the director's wish to be reborn as a frog in his next life.
Rosa von Praunheim's legacy is that of a fearless provocateur who used cinema as a weapon for LGBTQ+ rights and social change. He dragged queer narratives from the shadows into the mainstream, challenging German society to confront its prejudices and forever altering the course of its cinematic and cultural history.
