• March 29, 2024

Idols: From Audrey Hepburn to the Dalai Lama

Every society, every generation, every group has their own idols and yet there are people who become symbols of contemporary history. Who that is, you can still see until 17 January 2010 in the Historical Museum of the Palatinate in Speyer - in the photo exhibition "Idols". Your opinion is also there asked: On the website of the museum you are allowed to choose your personal idol.

For all those who can not even drive to Speyer, we show some of the most beautiful pictures from the exhibition. Whether politics, entertainment or sport - these personalities have entered our collective memory.

To the slideshow

Audrey Hepburn



© picture alliance / Rice field

From "Breakfast at Tiffany's" to "My Fair Lady" - her films are classics. Graceful and elegant like no other actress Audrey Hepburn often the fragile yet naughty girl and was copied by women worldwide. Early in her career, in 1953, she received the Oscar for her role in "One Heart and One Crown." In the last years of her life, she became a special ambassador for UNICEF for starving children. In January 1993, the actress died near Lausanne in Switzerland.

Romy Schneider



© Reimer

The movie about her life with Yvonne Catterfeld in the lead role has burst, leaving only the second Romy project, a TV movie starring Jessica Schwarz. Whether it's a movie about the legendary Romy Schneider need is another question. The fact is that their lives and activities provide plenty of material. In the picture you can see the German actress - in a rare moment of lightheartedness - with her son David Christopher. Romy Schneider was just 43 years old when she died in 1982. In the year zvor her son was fatally injured at the age of 14 years.

Marlon Brando in the film "Endstation Sehnsucht" from 1951

© picture alliance

Due to his role in the film adaptation of the play "Endstation Sehnsucht" was Marlon Brando to the new symbol for American masculinity. His image as a rebel, he remained faithful in films such as "The Wild" (1953) or "The fist in the neck", for which he received his first Oscar in 1954. He rejected the Oscar for "The Godfather" in order to draw attention to the suppression of the Indians. Brando died in 2004 in Los Angeles.



© picture alliance

They are considered Hollywood's dream couple. Although separation rumors are always around the two actors, but the smile "Brangelina", as the Yellow Press titled the two, just on the red carpet away. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt live the ideal of the large and patchwork family including social commitment. With their joint "Jolie Pitt Foundation" they support humanitarian projects such as the reconstruction in New Orleans. Angelina Jolie is also special envoy of the UN Commission on Refugees. The couple has six children, three adopted and three own.

Jaqueline and John F. Kennedy with daughter Caroline



© picure alliance, Dalmas

There is a curse on the Kennedy clan, it is said again and again. John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was the victim of an assassination in Dallas on November 22, 1963. His wife Jaqueline Kennedy later married the Greek shipowner Aristotle Onassis, which earned her the nickname Jackie O. in the media. daughter Caroline Bouvier Kennedy is the only surviving child of John and Jackie Kennedy. Son John F. Jr. died in 1999 in a plane crash.

Michelle and Barack Obama



© picure-alliance, Mills

He is the first African American President of the United States of America, she is the much admired First Lady. Michelle Obama has worked in a law firm after graduating from Harvard Law School. There she also has her later husband Barack met, who was under her then. Michelle gave up her legal career last year for her husband.

© picture alliance, Nick Ut

His death did not only shock the diehard fans. Disbelief and sadness prevailed at the end of June when the news of the death of the King of Pop went around the world. Michael Jackson was only 51 years old and leaves three children, who are now to grow up in the care of his mother Katherine Jackson. The circumstances surrounding his death seem unclear even more than a month later. Jackson's albums are number one in many charts, and his music makes him immortal.



Elvis Presley (1935 - 1977)

© picture alliance, Bohnacker

When the King of Rock'n'Roll began his military service in Germany in 1958, the women in this country simply went crazy. Elvis's hip swing fainted in rows.This mass hysteria and euphoria could later only top the Beatles. Elvis Presley set new accents in music: white music with black elements. The Birth of Rock'n'Roll.



The Beatles on November 20, 1963 in Munich

© picture alliance, smoking

At least one album of the "Fab Four" belongs in each record collection. The Beatles conquered the world from Liverpool via Hamburg, found themselves in India and separated in 1970. The blame for this is blamed on John Lennon's wife Yoko Ono. Their breakthrough mushroom heads in 1962 with "Love Me Do", a composition by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The Beatles are by far the most successful band of all time, even though they only recorded albums for about eight years.



The dream couple of tennis, oh what, international sports are Steffi Graf and André Agassi, However, the center court is only for charitable purposes. Steffi Graf was elected athlete of the year in 1999. 377 weeks she was at the top of the world rankings in tennis, one hundred titles with 22 victories in all four Grand Slam tournaments could record the native of Mannheim for themselves. She has two children, Jaden Gil and Jaz Elle, with her husband.

Katharina Witt 1993 in London

© picture alliance

Ice Princess Katarina WittNo one else stands for discipline, grace and fighting spirit on the ice. The Chemnitz winner twice during her career oylmpisches gold in figure skating and several World and European Championships. After completing her professional career, she worked as a producer of her own figure skating show and last year also made celebrities dance on the ice. With her "Kati Witt Foundation" she supports physically handicapped children.



Heinz Ehrhardt

© picture alliance

Films like "widower with five daughters" or "What's up with Willi?" live from the awkward comedy and wit of the Riga-born actor and writer Heinz Erhardt, The comedian managed, like Loriot, to pull the absurdity of everyday life through the cocoa. From him, one or other of our today's comedians could learn something else.

Albert Einstein

© picture alliance

In the village of Caputh near Potsdam had the physicist Albert Einstein and his second wife Elsa from 1929 a house on the lake. It was the starting point for many sailing trips with Einstein's dinghy, which bore the name Tümmler. It was a gift from friends and was confiscated by the Nazis in 1933 with the remaining possessions of the Jewish scientist. In the same year Einstein and his wife emigrated to the USA, where he died in 1955.

Dalai Lama 2008 in Paris

© picure-alliance, Petit Tesson

Since 1959 the 14th spiritual leader of the Tibetans lives in exile. Tenzin Gyatso, as his monastic name, was barely two years as a reincarnation of the deceased in 1933 Dalai Lama recognized. His enthronement took place in 1940 in the Potala Palace in Lhasa. At the age of fifteen, he also took over secular rule over Tibet.

JAYNE MANSFIELD INTERVIEW (1960) (March 2024).



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