Gertrude Welcker was born in Dresden on 16 July 1896. Her father, who was editor-in-chief and general manager of the Posener Tageblatt, died in 1909. She had a younger brother named Herbert (born 1898). Welcker visited
Max Reinhardt's acting school in
Berlin during the
First World War. From 1915 to 1916 she starred in productions at the Albert Theater in Dresden. From 1916 to 1919 she performed at the
Deutsches Theater, Kammerspiele, and
Volksbühne. There, she was seen as a prostitute in
August Strindberg's '''' in a production of , as Lesbia in
Felix Hollaender's staging of
Friedrich Hebbel's '''', as Recha in
Lessing's
Nathan the Wise, and as sister Martha in
Gerhart Hauptmann's ''''. In addition to these roles, she played under Marion Reinhardt's direction of
Georg Büchner's ''
Danton's Death'', a maid Sophie in
Friedrich Schiller's
Intrigue and Love and Desdemona in
William Shakespeare's
Othello, and Jessica in
The Merchant of Venice. In 1917 Gertrude Welcker began her career as a film actress. Her film debut was in
Eine Nacht in der Stahlkammer (1917), followed by
Rafaela (1917). She next appeared as an angel in the film
Hans Trutz in the Land of Plenty directed by her stage partner
Paul Wegener. Her most famous roles include Gesine von Orlamünde in
Chronicles of the Gray House, and Countess Dusy Told, the wife of a millionaire in
Fritz Lang's
Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922), in which the title character abducts and abuses her. In 1925 Welcker ended her career as a film actress and in 1930 retired from the stage as well. In July 1930 she married Swedish painter
Otto Gustaf Carlsund, whom she had met during a visit to
Paris. They divorced in August 1937. Before the outbreak of
World War II she had a brief career as an editor at the
Universum Film AG. In 1941 she became active for the Red Cross. Shortly before the end of the war, Gertrude Welcker managed to escape to Sweden, where she spent the rest of her life living under the name Gertrud Carlsund. Gertrude Welcker died in Danderyd, Stockholm on 1 August 1988. Her estate was rediscovered in 2005. == Filmography ==