Life, work and legacy.
Born Elisabeth Roswitha Oettl on 2 July 1944 in Eger, Sudetenland (today Cheb, Czech Republic), Elisabeth Wicki-Endriss shaped Germany’s cultural memory as an actress, director and author – and preserved the legacy of Bernhard Wicki.
Growing up as the child of actors, she was on stage and in front of the camera from an early age. At just four years old she appeared in the film “Der Brandnerkaspar schaut ins Paradies” (1948). After training at the Otto Falckenberg School in Munich, she worked primarily in theatre, while also appearing in numerous cinema and television productions.
In 1977 she met Bernhard Wicki and starred in his films “Sansibar oder der letzte Grund” and “Das Spinnennetz”. After the death of Wicki’s long-time wife Agnes Fink, she married Wicki in 1995. During the years of his serious illness she cared for him personally and set aside her own artistic work.
The idea for the peace award came to her in the period of mourning after Wicki’s death, when her gaze fell on a certificate from the United Nations honouring Wicki for his services to peace. In 2002 she founded the “German Film Award for Peace – The Bridge”.
