Alfred Struwe (April 22, 1927 – February 13, 1998)Peter Hahn
"Struwe, Alfred (Südwestkirchhof Stahnsdorf): Die Serie "Zahn um Zahn" war ein Knüller im DDR-Fernsehen"
'' Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung'', 20 April 2007 was a German actor, best known for his television role as Dr. Alexander Wittkugel in '' Zahn um Zahn''. Struwe was born in Marienburg,

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 177 ...

(today Malbork in Poland), the son of a postman, and grew up there with five siblings. His first acting experience was in

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth (german: Hitlerjugend , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth organisation of the Nazi Party in Germany. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. ...

summer camps. In 1944 he was called up first into the

Reich Labour Service The Reich Labour Service (''Reichsarbeitsdienst''; RAD) was a major organisation established in Nazi Germany as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy, militarise the workforce and indoctrinate it with Naz ...

, then into the military. After attending officer training school in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, he was sent along with other young contemporaries into battle in the final days of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In 1945 he rejoined his family in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

. Since his father, Gustav, was opposed to his making acting his career, he instead had to attend a police academy, until in 1948 it closed and he was also discharged. From then on, he was able to dedicate himself entirely to acting. He had already performed part-time in amateur productions and taken private acting lessons during his police training. In 1949 he joined the theater company in

Greiz Greiz () is a town in the state of Thuringia, Germany, and is the capital of the district of Greiz. Greiz is situated in eastern Thuringia, east of state capital Jena, on the river '' White Elster''. Greiz has a large park in its center (Fürs ...

Sabine Wagner
"Heute fällt der letzte Vorhang - Erinnerung an über 100 Jahre Theatertradition in Greiz"
OTZ.de, 31 December 2010 and subsequently was engaged in

Brandenburg Brandenburg (; nds, Brannenborg; dsb, Bramborska ) is a state in the northeast of Germany bordering the states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony, as well as the country of Poland. With an area of 29,480 sq ...

Zittau Zittau ( hsb, Žitawa, dsb, Žytawa, pl, Żytawa, cs, Žitava, Upper Lusatian Dialect: ''Sitte''; from Slavic "'' rye''" (Upper Sorbian and Czech: ''žito'', Lower Sorbian: ''žyto'', Polish: ''żyto'')) is the southeasternmost city in the Ge ...

Cottbus Cottbus (; Lower Sorbian: ''Chóśebuz'' ; Polish: Chociebuż) is a university city and the second-largest city in Brandenburg, Germany. Situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree, Cottbus is also a major railway junction with exte ...

Karl-Marx-Stadt Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany ...

and

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

. Struwe made his first appearance before the cameras in 1954, in the

DEFA DEFA (''Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft'') was the state-owned film studio of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) throughout the country's existence. Since 2019, DEFA's film heritage has been made accessible and licensable on the PRO ...

co-production '' Leuchtfeuer''. Then beginning in the 1960s, his face was often seen on both movie and television screens. Several times he played the part of the would-be assassin of Hitler,

Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg Colonel Claus Philipp Maria Justinian Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg (; 15 November 1907 – 21 July 1944) was a German army officer best known for his failed attempt on 20 July 1944 to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair. Despite ...

. In 1985 he played what would become his signature role, the eccentric dentist Dr. Alexander Wittkugel in the television series ''Zahn um Zahn'' ("A Tooth for a Tooth"). This was so successful that in response to viewer demand the 7 projected episodes were extended and in the end 21 stories of "Dr. Wittkugel's Practices" were produced. Struwe's daughter Catharina Struwe is likewise an actress, with, for example, a longstanding engagement at the Neue Bühne in Senftenberg. With the dissolution of the Iron Curtain, the popular actor's life became quieter. Struwe made occasional further appearances on stage and on television, but otherwise enjoyed his retirement. He died in

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream o ...

in 1998 after a lengthy illness caused by

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

and was buried in the Southwest Cemetery in Stahnsdorf.

Selected filmography

*1954: '' Leuchtfeuer'' - Junger Fischer *1963: ''

Geheimarchiv an der Elbe ''Geheimarchiv an der Elbe'' (''Secret Archive on the Elbe'') is an East German war film set in the last days of World War II in Europe and directed by Kurt Jung-Alsen. It stars Hans-Peter Minetti, Albert Hetterle and Günther Simon. Based on ...

'' - Adjutant von Upitz *1963: ''

Vanina Vanini ''Vanina Vanini'' is a short story published in 1829 by Stendhal (1783–1842), the pen name of Marie-Henri Beyle. Set in the 1820s during the early Risorgimento, when Italy was under Austrian control, it concerns the love affair of a young Roman ...

'' (TV Movie) - Fürst Savelli *1966: ''Ohne Kampf kein Sieg'' (TV Mini-Series) - Claus von Stauffenberg *1968: ''Die Toten bleiben jung'' - von Klemm *1969: ''Krupp und Krause'' (TV Series) - Alfried Krupp *1969: ''Verdacht auf einen Toten'' - Scheitler *1971: '' KLK Calling PTZ - The Red Orchestra'' - Bellini *1971: '' Liberation III: Direction of the Main Blow'' - Stauffenberg *1971: ''Istanbul-Masche'' (TV Movie) - Alfred Gärtner *1972: ''Die Bilder des Zeugen Schattmann'' (TV Mini-Series) - Fritz Marcus *1973: ''Die Hosen des Ritters Bredow'' - Hauptmann Otterstädt *1973-1979: ''

Das unsichtbare Visier ''Das unsichtbare Visier'' (, ''The Invisible Visor'') was an East German television series, broadcast between 1973 and 1979. In its first and longest season it starred Armin Mueller-Stahl in the role of Werner Bredebusch, a Stasi agent active ab ...

'' (TV Series) - General Gert von Wieseneck *1974: ''Wolz - Leben und Verklärung eines deutschen Anarchisten'' - Zweiter Polizist *1974: ''

Ulzana Ulzana ( – 1909, also known as Josanni, Jolsanie or Ozaní’ – ″Tanned buckskin″ or Bį-sópàn – ″Big Buckskin″), was a Tsokanende Apache war chief, brother of Chihuahua. Biography Both the brothers were loyal and warlike support ...

'' - Aldrigton, Bürgermeister von Tucson *1975: ''Fischzüge'' (TV Movie) - Nienhusen *1976: ''

Im Staub der Sterne ''In the Dust of the Stars'' (German: ''Im Staub der Sterne'', Romanian: ''Revoltă în cosmos'') is a 1976 East German science fiction film, co-produced with Romania and directed by Gottfried Kolditz. Some of the film's props were part of a 2009 ...

'' - Suko *1976-1989: ''

Polizeiruf 110 ''Polizeiruf 110'' ("Police call 110") is a long-running German-language detective television series likened to Poirot. The name links to the emergency telephone number of the ''Volkspolizei''. The first episode was broadcast 27 June 1971 in the ...

'' (TV Series) - Uwe Kellerbauer / Dr. Frowein / Friedrich Bader *1977: ''Osvobození Prahy'' - von Matzmer *1978: '' Anton the Magician'' - Bankmensch *1978: ''Zwei Betten in der Hohen Tatra'' - Wolfgang Witt *1979: ''Bis daß der Tod euch scheidet'' - Jens' Schwager *1980: '' Archiv des Todes'' (TV Series) - Standartenführer Hauk *1980: ''Oben geblieben ist noch keiner'' (TV Movie) - Flugplatzleiter Behrens *1980: ''Wizja lokalna 1901'' *1980: ''Jesli serce masz bijace'' *1981: ''Asta, mein Engelchen'' *1981: ''Der ungebetene Gast'' (TV Movie) - Felix Hollerbusch *1981: ''Berühmte Ärzte der Charité: Der kleine Doktor'' (TV Movie) - Geheimrat Dr. Lehnert *1982: ''Dein unbekannter Bruder'' - Staatsrat Diestelkamp *1982: ''Der lange Ritt zur Schule'' - Erster Guter *1983: ''Frühstück im Bett'' (TV Movie) - Georg Hartmann *1983: ''Die lieben Luder'' (TV Movie, Sequel to ''Polizeiruf 110'') - Herr Zander *1983: ''Verzeihung, sehen Sie Fußball?'' - Dr. Kobermann *1983: ''Automärchen'' - Sauerboom *1984: ''Mensch, Oma!'' (TV Mini-Series) - Redner *1984: '' Front ohne Gnade'' (TV Series) - Obersturmbannführer Maas *1984-1990: ''Schauspielereien: Gesucht und gefunden'' (TV Series) *1985-1988: ''Zahn um Zahn'' (TV Series) - Dr. Alexander Wittkugel *1987: '' Magnat'' - Wilhelm II, German Emperor *1987: ''Sachsens Glanz und Preußens Gloria: Gräfin Cosel'' (TV Movie) - Graf Jacob Heinrich von Flemming *1989: ' *1991: ''Aerolina'' (TV Series) - Zirkusdirektor Bernhard *1992: ''Karl May'' (TV Mini-Series) - Lawyer Bernstein *1997: ''Verdammtes Glück'' (TV Movie) - Herr Leipold (final film role)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Struwe, Alfred 1927 births 1998 deaths People from Malbork People from West Prussia German male film actors German male stage actors German male television actors Deaths from pneumonia in Germany 20th-century German male actors Hitler Youth members Reich Labour Service members German Army officers of World War II