Dagmar Hansen
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| Dagmar Hansen | |
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 Dagmar Hansen on stage in 1908 |
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| Born | Dagmar Julie Augusta Hansen November 12 1871 Rungsted, Denmark |
| Died | April 13, 1959 Rungsted, Denmark |
| Years active | 1882–1928 |
| Spouse(s) | Fritz Heinemann |
Dagmar Hansen (1871–1959) was a Danish cabaret singer and stage performer who became a national sensation as Denmark's first "pin-up girl."
[edit] Biography
Dagmar Julie Augusta Hansen, born November 12 1871 in Rungsted, Denmark, was the daughter of a blacksmith.[1] At an early age, Hansen showed promising stage talent, and was asked to join the Royal Theater Ballet at the age of 10. However, her father refused to allow it.[1] She made her stage debut when she was 11-years-old in the role of a child general in the fantasy play Tommeliden at the Casino Theater in Copenhagen.[2] She also began singing in the Saint Stefan's Church choir at the age of 13.
Hansen's physical maturity developed at an early age as well, and she received her confirmation one year earlier than usual.[1] Her mature physical appearance allowed her to join a Theater Revue at 14-years-old. Her performances won critical praise in the press for her enjoyable singing voice, charming presence, and well-developed figure.[1] However, when her age was revealed in a newspaper interview, it caused a scandal, and Hansen moved to Sweden for a year to escape the attention.[1]
In 1890 Hansen worked at the Morskabstheater and in the National Theaters revue. She sang a repetoire specially written for her, such as Aah, Dagmar and Linger Longer Loo and performed in small revealing costumes which she had sewn herself.[2] Her erotic performances were praised in the national newspapers, and in 1895 the song Oh Dagmar written by Olfert Jespersen became a sensation. Hansen became Denmark's first "pin-up girl" when she posed for a series of racy postcards and the photographic albums, Dagmar-Album i 31 Billeder, 1899 and Dagmar-Album i 49 Billeder, 1910.[1] She also posed as a nude model for several of the Danish artists' masterworks, including Julius Paulsen's 1887 painting Adam og Eva, (see [1]) and Vilhelm Bissen's sculpture from 1890 En Jægerinde, (see [2]).[1]
Hansen's performances as an erotic singer brought her into conflict with the public morality. In 1899, she was forbidden from performing within the capital city of Copenhagen.[1] In 1900, when she began to build a villa in the Copenhagen suburb of Hellerup, the neighbors circulated petitions to prevent it. However, she obtained the support of Frederick VIII, King of Denmark, who allowed her to give performances in a revue in Charlottenlund just outside the city.[2] Her success continued and the transportation to Charlottenlund soon became nicknamed "The Dagmar Train."[2] Hansen also traveled and gave guest performances in Hamburg, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Holland, Hungary and Sweden.
In 1906, Hansen married a German businessman 14 years her junior, 21-year-old Max Moritz Fritz Heinemann.[1] They lived in Hamburg until the outbreak of World War I, when Heinemann was drafted and sent to the Western Front. Hansen returned to Denmark and continued her career as an operetta singer. After the war, her husband, ill from mustard gas, moved to Denmark with her.[1]
Hansen's sister died in 1925, and Hansen, who never had children of her own, took guardianship of her sister's children and raised them.[1] In 1928, Hansen retired from the stage. Her husband died in 1954 and she moved to a home for the aged in her hometown of Rungsted, where she died April 13, 1959 at the age of 87.[1]
[edit] References
[edit] Further Reading
- Dagmar Hansen in Encyclopedia of Danish Women (In Danish)
- The Danish Film Database
- Danish Graves Website
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