Uschi Obermaier
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Uschi Obermaier (September 24, 1946 in Munich, a.k.a. Chrissi Malberg) is a former fashion model and one of the protagonists of the 1968 left-wing movement in Germany. In the latter she is considered an iconic sex symbol of the so-called "1968 generation".
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[edit] Obermaier and the Kommune 1
Uschi Obermaier was discovered by the magazine twen. Thin and petite but feminine she represented a new type of model and exposed frontal nudity for the first time on a magazine cover.
In Munich, Obermaier was briefly involved with Pamir survivor Othello (a.k.a. Rudolf Liebzeit). Obermaier moved from Munich to the Berlin-based Kommune 1 after she had become Rainer Langhans' girlfriend. Langhans and Obermaier talked openly to the media about their relationship, becoming symbols of the sexual revolution. Some commentators in Germany claim that John Lennon and Yoko Ono, among others, followed their example.[citation needed]
Obermaier was not viewed by most in the Ausserparlamentarische Opposition as one of their activists. She did not take part in radical feminist campaigns like other female members and friends of the Kommune 1. She was best known for appearances in German magazines such as Stern, in which she appeared openly nude and using marijuana.[citation needed]
Rainer Langhans mentions in his autobiography that he and Uschi Obermaier met Peter Green in Munich, where they invited him to their "High-Fish-Commune". They were not really interested in Peter Green. They just wanted to get in contact with Mick Taylor: Langhans and Obermaier wished to organize a "Bavarian Woodstock". They wanted Jimi Hendrix and "The Rolling Stones" to be the leading acts of their Bavarian open air festival. They needed the "Green God" just to get in contact with "The Rolling Stones" via Mick Taylor.
Obermaier probably was the best known German groupie of the 1960s. She was briefly a member of the Krautrock-band Amon Düül, and is said to have had affairs with Keith Richards, Mick Jagger and Jimi Hendrix.[citation needed]
[edit] Films
Obermaier had featured roles in several films. In "Detektive" (1968, directed by Rudolf Thome) she played alongside Iris Berben. She was the main protagonist of the movie Rote Sonne (1969). (Rote Sonne at IMDB). Together with Rainer Langhans, she had a small role in the movie Haytabo.
[edit] Music
- Obermaier’s photo is featured on the cover of the 12-inch single “These Days” by Xu Xu Fang, (released in 2007 by Vacancy Records).[1]
- She played maracas in the Krautrock band Amon Düül on two albums: Collapsing (1970, released by Metronome) and Disaster (1972, released by BASF).
[edit] Life after the Kommune 1
In 1973, Uschi Obermaier fell in love with Dieter Bockhorn, the wealthy owner of a club in Hamburg's Reeperbahn red-light district. Together, they traveled the world in a customized bus, first spending three years in Asia, then going to Mexico and the U.S. for another three years. In an Interview (Galore, Issue25) Obermaier marked reports that she and Bockhorn had a traditional wedding in every country they traveled in as completely fictitious. They only married once, in India. After ten years their relationship ended abruptly. On New Year's Eve 1983, Dieter Bockhorn died in a motorcycle accident in Mexico.
By then, Uschi Obermaier had been granted American citizenship. Today, she lives in Topanga Canyon near Los Angeles, working as a jewelery designer.
Her life has been depicted in a biopic called Eight Miles High (in German "Das wilde Leben"). The controversial movie was directed by Achim Bornhak and was released in February 2007. It is based on the bestselling book High Times, an authorized biography of Obermaiers life, written by Olaf Kraemer, who also wrote the screenplay to Eight Miles High. The book went to number 3 on the bestseller list and stayed there for five months. The movie was reclassified by distributors from PG 16 to PG 12 and made number 10 at the box office. The movie stars Natalia Avelon as Uschi Obermaier, Matthias Schweighöfer as Rainer Langhans, Victor Norén (singer of the Swedish band Sugarplum Fairy) as Mick Jagger, Alexander Scheer as Keith Richards and David Scheller as Dieter Bockhorn.
[edit] Literature
- Uschi Obermaier: Das wilde Leben, Hoffmann und Campe, Hamburg 1994, ISBN 3-455-08603-9
- Olaf Kraemer, Uschi Obermaier: High Times - Mein wildes Leben(Biography), Heyne Verlag, München 2007, ISBN 978-3-453-13010-4
