One might wonder whether the writer Erich Maria Remarque had any idea that his novels would not be the only works he would leave to posterity… Indeed, one might even think that his love letters to Marlene Dietrich are a kind of “raw form” of his novels: but how can a love affair between two people culminate in the writing of a novel?
Remarque felt little connection to the typical world of writers that existed at the time. Joyning other representatives of his profession in spending the day in so-called literary cafés like other writers? That was out of the question for Remarque.
He preferred to retire to Porto Ronco in Switzerland – not least due to political circumstances – and live off the material wealth that the success of “All Quiet on the Western Front” had brought him. But sometimes the writer was drawn away from his home…
The termination of peace
In the 1930s, the actress Marlene Dietrich, who had risen to international fame after her initial success in “The Blue Angel”, had moved the center of her life to Hollywood, but her roots were still in Europe: although she avoided her native Germany for good reasons, nothing stopped her from spending extended summer vacations in Antibes on the French Riviera until the end of the 1930s.
After all, the time for peace had come: “This is not a peace treaty, it is an armistice for 20 years,” said General Foch, commander-in-chief of the Allied troops in the First World War, about the Treaty of Versailles.
One did not have to be a clairvoyant to recognize by the end of the 1930s at the latest that General Foch’s “ termination of peace” would become reality precisely in the predicted year…
All that remained for posterity were Remarque’s letters to his “Puma”, as he used to caress Dietrich.
Jealousy
After her husband’s death in 1970, Remarque’s last wife Paulette Goddard destroyed all the love letters that Marlene Dietrich had written to Goddard’s late husband. Did she have any idea what a piece of contemporary history she was destroying? Hardly. Rather, Goddard was driven by jealousy – even though her husband was deceased and Remarque’s love affair with Dietrich was several decades in the past.
All that remained for posterity were Remarque’s letters to his “Puma”, as he used to caress Dietrich. One can only imagine what Dietrich’s replies must have looked like: Perhaps Dietrich’s declarations of love for Remarque could hardly be surpassed in their detail, or perhaps the diva knew how to make herself scarce and thus draw the urbane charmer further and further under her spell?
Exceptional phenomena
One thing is certain: while Remarque was writing love letter after love letter to Marlene Dietrich at his estate in Switzerland, the diva was plagued by completely different worries in Hollywood. While Dietrich was holding Remarque’s latest letter in her hands, the actress was worrying about a contract she had just terminated in Hollywood or about tax debts.
When the two were not in the same place, the relationship cooled significantly. But Remarque made every effort to play an important role in the diva’s life.
At the time, Marlene Dietrich and Erich Maria Remarque were among the people who could afford such a love affair to a certain extent: Remarque’s domicile in exclusive Switzerland did not come from just anywhere. Many other German creative artists who were on the run due to the political situation were not granted the opportunity to settle down in a lavish estate in Switzerland. Nor was it usual for Marlene Dietrich, a German actress who had made the leap to Hollywood, not have any material worries. Both Remarque and Dietrich were exceptional figures who, in view of the turmoil in their lives, had one goal above all else – one that they saw as almost unattainable: they wanted to live their lives.
Books on fire
But as the saying goes: fame and material wealth come at a price. Especially back then. Remarque’s books were publicly burned in Germany in the 1930s and, at the same time, Marlene Dietrich’s pre-war Hollywood fame had passed its zenith by the mid-1930s: The signs of the times do not spare their most famous representatives. After all, then as now, the representatives of the respective world powers tried to exploit these well-known personalities in one way or another to their own advantage in a conflict. The good reputation that Remarque had earned as the author of the war-critical work “All Quiet on the Western Front” was initially seized upon in his old homeland and used for propaganda purposes, until Remarque turned away from the new rulers of his homeland and his books consequently ended up in the flames.
The character of Joan Madou not only bore positive traits.
Arc de Triomphe: Remarque immortalizes his lover
It was no different with Marlene Dietrich, except that Dietrich played a far more brilliant game. She knew how not to completely rule out the possibility that she would end up serving the new rulers of her homeland. After all, part of her family remained in her native Berlin, which she had turned her back on, for quite some time. It would be some time before Marlene Dietrich actually stood in front of US soldiers and entertained them in the service of the troops.
When Erich Maria Remarque decided to immortalize his lover in the novel “Arc de Triomphe” in the character of Joan Madou, this can be seen as the culmination of the love affair: The character of Joan Madou not only bore positive traits, she made herself scarce, taking what she wanted from other people. Perhaps these were character traits that Remarque also found in Dietrich?
The love of two exiles
Marlene was not overly enthusiastic when she read the long-awaited novel “Arc de Triomphe” for the first time: Was it the character traits of Joan Madou, which undoubtedly caricatured her own, that led her to this lack of enthusiasm? Or was it simply the fact that her love affair with Remarque was now public property? Perhaps it was a mixture of both…
With the advent of the Second World War, their relationship continued to cool down: Remarque had now emigrated to the United States, but the physical proximity to his beloved could not stop the deterioration of their love affair.
Nevertheless, the romance between Marlene Dietrich and Erich Maria Remarque is remembered as one of the most legendary and magical romances of the time – not only does their relationship tell the story of a generation of creative artists, it also tells the story of two individuals who did not fit the mold of their time and were forever cast out of their homeland for it.
Main source: Hüetlin, Thomas: Man lebt sein Leben nur einmal [One only lives once] – Marlene Dietrich and Erich Maria Remarque, 2024 Kiepenheuer & Witsch
Cover picture assembled from:
1) Left picture: Marlene Dietrich in 1962 at airport Amsterdam Schiphol, Fotograaf Nijs, Jac. de / Anefo, Nationaal Archief, CC0
2) Right picture: Erich Maria Remarque between 1950 an 1960 in his mansion in Porto Ronco near Ascona, Comet Photo AG, CC BY-SA 4.0, ETH Zürich Bildarchiv
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