History of Europe

Oswalt Kolle:The enlightener of the nation

Since the 1960s, Oswalt Kolle has made a significant contribution to sexual education among Germans. In his books and films he promoted "a new culture of tenderness". He died on September 24, 2010 at the age of 81.

by Janine Kuehl

140 million viewers worldwide - that sounds like a blockbuster. It was not Hollywood, but the German journalist Oswalt Kolle who lured so many people to the cinemas in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Before that, after days of discussions, his films had to be approved by the censors of the Voluntary Self-Regulation of the Film Industry (FSK). Because it's about sexual education - a sensitive topic at the time.

Oswalt Kolle's path from farmer to gossip reporter

Kolle's educational films became big hits in Germany, but the author and journalist felt more at home in his study here in Italy and later in the Netherlands.

It was not foreseeable that Oswalt Kolle would one day become the "enlightener of the nation". Against the will of his father, the renowned psychiatrist Kurt Kolle, Oswalt, who was born in Kiel on October 2, 1928, initially completed an agricultural apprenticeship. He was then drawn to journalism in the early 1950s. In the early years, Kolle developed a reputation as a film connoisseur. As an editor at the newly founded "BILD" newspaper, he switched to gossip stories. In 1957 Kolle became deputy editor-in-chief of "Star Revue".

1960:"Your child, the unknown being"

"There is no taboo on nudity in our family. We don't believe that morality depends on a piece of cloth," says Kolle about his film and his family's involvement.

From 1960 onwards, he increasingly devoted himself to the subject that would determine the rest of his life:sexual education. The impetus comes from his boss's pregnant wife, who complains about the poor quality of the existing books on pregnancy and child development. Kolle reacted to this with the series "Your child, the unknown being", which appeared in the magazine "Quick" - and was also made into a film in 1970. Kolle, his wife and daughters take part in it.

Reconnaissance series in "Quick" and "Neue Revue"

But first there will be further educational series in the "Quick" and in the "Neue Revue". For example, Kolle asks people around the world about their moral standards for the series "All the love in the world". In the prudish times with various anti-sex laws, that's already a scandal. It is Kolle's wish "to liberate people from their stuck sexuality with my texts". A little knowledge of sexuality helps Kolle on his mission:at the age of 20, he translates parts of the Kinsey Report on the intimate life of Americans for his father. In 1948 and 1953, the sexologist Charles Alfred Kinsey published widely acclaimed studies on the sex life of men and women. Kolle can now access this information.

Enlightenment light:"Helga" films with Ruth Gassmann

Two pioneers of sexual education:Oswalt Kolle and Ruth Gassmann, who starred in the "Helga" sex education films - here on the beach in Cannes.

As early as 1967, an educational film made it into the cinemas:"Helga - From the Development of Human Life" by Erich F. Bender goes back to the initiative of the then Health Minister Käthe Strobel and earned her the reputation of the "sex minister". The film accompanies the character Helga, played by Ruth Gassmann, from marriage through pregnancy to birth. The enlightenment consists essentially in the explanations of Helga's gynecologist, who uses many foreign words and omits the sexual needs and ideas of women and men. Nevertheless, the film - like two sequels - attracts millions of viewers to the cinemas.

1968:"The Miracle of Love" in the cinema

With his educational films, Oswalt Kolle wants people to talk openly about their sexuality.

Oswalt Kolle's cinema successes are now also on the agenda at this level:his series become books, and the books eventually become films. Kolle's educational work hits the nerve of the times. The '68ers are discussing Vietnam - and they're discussing sex and free love. His books are translated into twelve languages, including Chinese. Magazines and films show more nudity and sex scenes - if they make it through the censors. Between 1968 and 1972 Kolle had a number of his books made into films, starting with "The Miracle of Love", which premiered in Hamburg on February 1, 1968.

Scientific education instead of pornography

The film about the sexual difficulties of two married couples is finally approved by the authorities because Kolle can credibly convey that it is about scientific education and not about pornography. In the film, a discussion between Kolle, a sexologist and a psychologist alternates with game scenes. The participants are by no means porn actors, but mostly trained actors. Manfred Tümmler, "Klaus" from "The Miracle of Love", later took part in numerous well-known films and television series such as "Tadelloser &Wolff". From today's perspective, the film seems constructed, the dialogues seem wooden. But at the time, conservative circles and the Catholic Church in Germany reacted with horror.

Dutch people recommend Kolle's film

Kolle speaks of a "cheese dome of morals" that lies in the FRG over an open exchange about sexuality. "That was the rule:Under no circumstances should sex be talked about," says the tireless enlightener, looking back on the unwritten norm of the time. A completely different picture emerges in the Netherlands:Here the film is given the title "Important for public health" and a visit to the cinema is expressly recommended.

Oswalt and Marlies Kolle have an open marriage

With "The Miracle of Love", which attracted six million viewers to the cinemas in the Federal Republic of Germany, Kolle became famous in one fell swoop. But he doesn't feel comfortable in this society, so he goes to Italy with his family for a while before emigrating to the Netherlands and also acquiring Dutch citizenship. He has an open marriage with his wife Marlies, has numerous affairs and flirts, including with Romy Schneider. Kolle also stands by his bisexuality, who wants to explain the sexual needs of women and men and in return strictly rejects pornography.

Resistance from right and left

In Germany, Kolle shoots other educational films, all of which are huge successes at home and abroad. "Your Wife, the Unknown Creature", "Your Husband, the Unknown Creature" or "Love as a Parlor Game" attract millions to the cinemas, but they also trigger violent reactions. While the Catholic Church and conservative circles are outraged by bare skin, the student movement regards Kolle as a bourgeois because of his efforts to get married. It wasn't until 2000 that he got some of the official recognition he longed for when the German Society for Social Science Sex Research awarded him the Magnus Hirschfeld Medal.

Book author and talk show guest

From the 1980s Kolle became a popular guest on talk shows. He has written numerous books devoted to his affairs of the heart. Among other things, the book "Open to Both Sides", which deals with bisexuality. In 1996, Kolle gave a widely acclaimed speech on this subject at the opening of the 4th Symposium on Bisexuality (IBIS) in Berlin. When the private broadcaster RTL wanted to repeat Kolle's educational films in 1997, he revised the scripts. The topic won't let him go:In 2008 he was still filming the series "Sexualreport 2008" about the sexual behavior of Germans.

Kolle:"Sex is important at any age" - if necessary also with Viagra

Until his death in 2010, Kolle wrote books - also about love in old age. "An orgasm gets the happy hormones going, which is why sex is important at any age," he explained in 2005 in the NDR Nordmagazin. For a fulfilled sex life, Kolle advocates the use of aids such as the sexual enhancer Viagra. The tireless enlightener looks back on his life in an autobiography. In "I'm so free" he also reports on euthanasia for his wife, who is suffering from cancer and dies in 2000. Two years later he finds a new partner in the Dutch woman Jose del Ferro.

Kolle is committed to sexual education to the end

While many are of the opinion that Kolle has contributed to a more positive and tolerant attitude towards sexuality among Germans, the enlightener sees a lot going wrong until the very end. He laments the free access to pornography on the Internet and the isolation of people associated with it. Because in his mind, sex should always be based on togetherness and direct, open communication.

But Kolle was not only committed to sex education until his death, but also had other socio-political issues in mind. In a 2008 interview with the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" he called for a "global revolution" against problems such as human rights violations and environmental destruction. Oswalt Kolle died on September 24, 2010 at the age of 81 in his adopted home of Amsterdam.