Ellen Schwiers had probably tired of life, aging and pain caused her own statement to create: Now Schwiers has died at the age of 88 years in her house on Lake Starnberg, as her daughter Katerina Jacob could communicate.
Schwiers had been on stage for 70 years. Above all, she had made a name for herself as an actress of great women's roles. As "Mother Courage" she toured in Bertolt Brecht's eponymous play through the country, in Salzburg she played the passion in "Everyman".
Schwiers was also on display in numerous film and TV productions, for example in the classic "Das Erbe von Björndal" as well as in series such as "Derrick", "Tatort", "Unser Charly" or "Der Bulle von Tölz" alongside her Daughter Katerina. In the movie drama "3096 Days" about the fate of Natascha Kampusch, Schwiers played the girl's grandmother.
A heart project for Schwiers was her 1982 touring theater "Das Ensemble". It has always been important to her that the whole ensemble counts on stage - hence the name. "I did not want to have a star and big desert around it." It made her proud that "The Ensemble" was awarded numerous prizes.
Considered euthanasia
Privately, Schwiers had to cope with heavy fatalities: her son Daniel died of cancer in 1985, and her husband died a few years later. "If one experiences how a 21-year-old dies, who would like to live, then one can feel own life only as a gift."
When Schwiers became increasingly difficult to play, she ended her career shortly before her 85th birthday. Previously she had been seen with her brother Holger Schwiers and her daughter in the comedy in the Bavarian court in Munich. In order to persevere, they got infusions at that time, Schwiers told a few days after their last appearance in the interview of the German Press Agency.
Leaving the stage was a logical step for the actress. Nevertheless, as Katerina Jacob told two weeks ago on the ZDF program "Markus Lanz", her mother has since missed a task, she had felt worthless. As the dying of her mother has already begun, so Jacob.
Several weeks ago, Schwiers himself said in an interview that he wanted to consider euthanasia. In "Markus Lanz" said Jacob, her mother had begun with mortal fasting and stopped drinking. Nothing is known yet about the exact circumstances of Schwiers's death.