Hedwig "Vicki" Baum ( / b aʊ m / ; January 24, 1888 – August 29, 1960) was an Austrian writer. She is known for the novel Menschen im Hotel ('People at a Hotel,' 1929 — published in English as Grand Hotel), one of her first major successes that became popular worldwide. The story was adapted into a film in 1932 and a Broadway musical in 1989.

Education and personal life

Baum was born in Vienna to a Jewish family. Her mother, Mathilde (née Donath), had mental illness and died from breast cancer when Baum was a child. Her father, described as a strict and overly worried man, worked as a bank clerk. He was killed in 1942 in Novi Sad, which is now part of Serbia, by soldiers from the Hungarian occupation. She began her artistic career as a musician who played the harp. She studied at the Vienna Conservatory and performed with the Vienna Concert Society. She moved to Germany with her husband, a conductor, in 1916–1923, living in Hannover and Mannheim. Later, she worked as a journalist for the magazine Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung, which was published by Ullstein-Verlag in Berlin.

Baum was married twice. Her first marriage, which lasted only a short time, was in 1906 to Max Prels, an Austrian journalist who introduced her to the Viennese cultural scene. Some of her early stories were published using his name. They divorced in 1910, and in 1916, she married Richard Lert, a conductor. Together, they had two sons: Wolfgang, born in 1917, and Peter, born in 1921.

Boxing

In the late 1920s, Baum began training in boxing. She practiced at a boxing and fitness studio in Berlin, where she trained with Turkish champion Sabri Mahir. Although the studio welcomed both men and women, Baum wrote in her memoir, It Was All Quite Different (1964), that only a few women, including Marlene Dietrich and Carola Neher, trained there. She noted, "I don’t know how women managed to join a male-dominated space, but only three or four of us were determined enough to continue." Baum positioned herself as a "New Woman," showing independence in the male-dominated sport of boxing and challenging traditional ideas about gender roles. She wrote that Sabri allowed women to train but set limits: no sparring in the ring, no injuries like black eyes or bloody noses. However, punching a ball was permitted to help develop strong, quick punches. While training with Mahir, Baum learned a rope-jumping routine originally designed for German heavyweight champion Franz Diener. Later, she credited her strong work ethic to the skills she gained during her time at Mahir’s studio.

Writing career

Baum started writing when she was a teenager, but she became a professional writer after having her first child. Her first book, Frühe Schatten: Die Geschichte einer Kindheit (Early Shadows: The Story of a Childhood), was published in 1919 when she was 31. After that, she wrote a new novel almost every year. She published more than 50 books in total, and at least ten of them were made into movies in Hollywood. Her ninth novel, Stud. chem. Helene Willfüer (Helene Willfüer, Student of Chemistry), was her first major success, selling over 100,000 copies. Baum is considered one of the first modern bestselling authors. Her books are seen as examples of New Objectivity in mainstream literature. Her main characters were often strong, independent women living through difficult times.

Baum is most famous for her 1929 novel Menschen im Hotel (People at a Hotel), which created the "hotel novel" genre. The book was turned into a stage play in Berlin in 1929, directed by Max Reinhardt, and into the Academy Award-winning film Grand Hotel in 1932. Baum moved to the United States with her family after being asked to write the screenplay for the film. She lived in the Los Angeles area and worked as a screenwriter for ten years, achieving some success. As National Socialism grew in Germany, her books were criticized as sensational and immoral and were banned in the Third Reich starting in 1935. She became a U.S. citizen in 1938, and her books written after World War II were in English instead of German.

In 1935, Baum visited Mexico, China, Egypt, and Bali. She became close friends with the painter Walter Spies. With help from Spies, she wrote Liebe und Tod auf Bali (Love and Death in Bali), published in 1937. The book was later translated into English as A Tale From Bali and republished in German as Love and Death in Bali. The story follows a family involved in a massacre in Bali in 1906, during the fall of the last independent Balinese kingdom to the Dutch.

Last years

After World War II, Baum's reputation became less respected. She passed away from leukemia in Hollywood, California, in 1960, at the age of 72. Her book, It Was All Quite Different, was published after her death in 1964.

Honors

In 1999, the intersection of Wiedner Hauptstraße and Waaggasse in Vienna was named Vicki-Baum-Platz to honor her. In 2009, a street in Berlin was named after her.

Works

• 1919: Frühe Schatten: Die Geschichte einer Kindheit (Early Shadows: The Story of a Childhood)
• 1920: Der Eingang zur Bühne (Once In Vienna)
• 1921: Die Tänze der Ina Raffay (The Dances of Ina Raffay), republished in 1982 as Kein Platz für Tränen
• 1922: Die anderen Tage (The Other Days)
• 1923: Die Welt ohne Sünde (The World Without Sin)
• 1924: Ulle der Zwerg (Ulle the Dwarf)
• 1926: Tanzpause (Pause in the Dance)
• 1927: Hell in Frauensee (Martin's Summer)
• 1927: Feme (Secret Sentence)
• 1928: Stud. chem. Helene Willfüer (Helene / Helene Willfüer, Student of Chemistry)
• 1929: Menschen im Hotel (Grand Hotel)
• 1930: Zwischenfall in Lohwinkel (Incident in Lohwinkel, Results of an Accident (UK), and And Life Goes On (US))
• 1930: Miniaturen (Miniatures)
• 1931: Pariser Platz 13 ("13 Paris Square")
• 1932: Leben ohne Geheimnis (Published in the UK and US as Falling Star, 1934)
• 1935: Das große Einmaleins / Rendezvous in Paris (Men Never Know / Rendezvous in Paris)
• 1936: Die Karriere der Doris Hart (Sing, Sister, Sing)
• 1937: Liebe und Tod auf Bali (Love and Death in Bali / A Tale from Bali / Tale of Bali)
• 1937: Hotel Shanghai (Shanghai '37. Also printed in the UK under the name Nanking Road)
• 1937: Der große Ausverkauf (Central Stores), Querido, Amsterdam
• 1939: Die große Pause (Grand Opera)
• 1940: The Ship and the Shore / One Tropical Night (Es begann an Bord)
• 1941: The Christmas Carp (Der Weihnachtskarpfen)
• 1941: Marion Alive (Marion lebt / Marion)
• 1943: The Weeping Wood (Kautschuk / Cahuchu, Strom der Tränen)
• 1943: Hotel Berlin / Hotel Berlín 1943 / Berlin Hotel (Hotel Berlin / Hier stand ein Hotel), a sequel to Menschen im Hotel
• 1946: Mortgage on Life (Verpfändetes Leben)
• 1947: Flight of Fate (Schicksalsflug)
• 1948: Headless Angel (Clarinda)
• 1951: Danger from Deer (Vor Rehen wird gewarnt)
• 1953: The Mustard Seed (Kristall im Lehm)
• 1956: Written on Water (Flut und Flamme)
• 1957: Theme for Ballet (Die goldenen Schuhe)
• 1964: It Was All Quite Different (Es war alles ganz anders) — memoir

Filmography

• Assassination, directed by Richard Oswald (Germany, 1927, based on the novel Feme)
• The Three Women of Urban Hell, directed by Jaap Speyer (Germany, 1928, based on the novel Hell in Frauensee)
• Stud. chem. Helene Willfüer, directed by Fred Sauer (Germany, 1930, based on the novel Stud. chem. Helene Willfüer)
• Grand Hotel, directed by Edmund Goulding (1932, based on the novel Grand Hotel)
• Lake of Ladies, directed by Marc Allégret (France, 1934, based on the novel Hell in Frauensee)
• Helene, directed by Jean Benoît-Lévy (France, 1936, based on the novel Stud. chem. Helene Willfüer)
• Return at Dawn, directed by Henri Decoin (France, 1938, based on the short story Between 6 and 6)
• The Great Flamarion, directed by Anthony Mann (1945, based on the short story Big Shot)
• Hotel Berlin, directed by Peter Godfrey (1945, based on the novel Hotel Berlin)
• Week-End at the Waldorf, directed by Robert Z. Leonard (1945, based on the novel Grand Hotel)
• A Woman's Secret, directed by Nicholas Ray (1949, based on the novel Mortgage on Life)
• La Belle que voilà, directed by Jean-Paul Le Chanois (France, 1950, based on the novel Die Karriere der Doris Hart)
• Le Château de verre, directed by René Clément (France, 1950, based on the novel Das große Einmaleins)
• The Red Needle, directed by Emil-Edwin Reinert (France, 1951, based on the short story Das Joch)
• Dreaming Days, directed by Emil-Edwin Reinert (West Germany, 1951, based on the short story Das Joch)
• School for Love, directed by Marc Allégret (France, 1955, based on the novel Der Eingang zur Bühne)
• Studentin Helene Willfüer [de], directed by Rudolf Jugert (West Germany, 1956, based on the novel Stud. chem. Helene Willfüer)
• Love, directed by Horst Hächler (West Germany, 1956, based on the novel Danger from Deer)
• Menschen im Hotel, directed by Gottfried Reinhardt (West Germany, 1959, based on the novel Grand Hotel)
• Haus der Schönheit, directed by Eugen York (West Germany, 1963, TV film, based on the play Pariser Platz 13)
• Rendezvous in Paris, directed by Gabi Kubach [de] (France/West Germany, 1982, based on the novel Das große Einmaleins)
• Die goldenen Schuhe, directed by Dietrich Haugk (West Germany, 1983, TV miniseries, based on the novel Theme for Ballet)
• Hell in Frauensee, directed by Wolfgang Panzer [de] (West Germany, 1983, TV film, based on the novel Hell in Frauensee)
• Shanghai 1937, directed by Peter Patzak (Germany, 1997, TV miniseries, based on the novel Hotel Shanghai)

• 1934: I Give My Love (dir. Karl Freund)
• 1935: The Night Is Young (dir. Dudley Murphy)
• 1938: The Great Waltz (uncredited) (dir. Dudley Murphy)
• 1939: Idiot's Delight (uncredited) (dir. Clarence Brown)
• 1940: Dance, Girl, Dance (dir. Dorothy Arzner)
• 1942: Powder Town (dir. Rowland V. Lee)
• 1942: Girl Trouble (dir. Harold D. Schuster)
• 1945: Behind City Lights (dir. John English)
• 1947: Honeymoon (dir. William Keighley)