Giehse began her career in 1920, working with
Tony Wittels-Stury in "Stage Society for Primitive and Expressionist Art: Acting". In 1925, she began to act in
Gleiwitz (modern-day Poland). (which had been transported from Munich to Zürich in 1933). During her exile, she travelled throughout central Europe with . On 20 May 1936, she married the homosexual English writer
John Hampson to obtain a British passport and avoid capture by Nazis. She returned to Germany after
World War II, and performed in theatres on both sides of the
Iron Curtain, but mostly in her native
Bavaria, until her death on 3 March 1975, three days before her 77th birthday.
With Bertolt Brecht In exile, Giehse played the first
Mother Courage in the world premiere of
Bertolt Brecht's play
Mother Courage and Her Children, in 1941 at the
Schauspielhaus Zürich. After the war, Giehse returned to Munich and to the
Munich Kammerspiele, where, in 1950, she again played the role of Mother Courage, this time directed by Brecht himself. This production became documented as the second "Model production" of Brecht's play (the first "Model production" had been performed by Brecht's wife,
Helene Weigel in 1949 in Berlin). Giehse and Brecht often conversed in their strong Bavarian (southern German) dialect during rehearsals, making Brecht's wife jealous of their kindred spirit. In the 1950s, Giehse played several roles as a member of Brecht's theatre, the
Berliner Ensemble. In the mid-1970s, she returned to the Berliner Ensemble to perform several
Brecht Evenings of the poems, plays, and writings of her lifelong friend and colleague. As a member of the Berliner Ensemble and collaborator with Brecht, she was a much-sought-after interpreter of his work and recordings of her reciting and singing his work appeared on records in both
East and
West Germany.
Other roles Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Giehse continued to perform many lead roles in various theatres in Germany, often using her considerable comic skills to play character roles, as well as great dramatic roles, such as the leads in several landmark productions by
Friedrich Dürrenmatt, the world premiere of
The Visit in 1956, and
The Physicists in 1962. She later worked with
Peter Stein's renowned in Berlin. She also appeared in over 20 films and a number of television productions. In 1988, a commemorative stamp was printed in her honour as part of the
Women in German history series. In the same year a commemorative exhibition took place at the
Deutsches Theatermuseum in Munich ==Partial filmography==