Acting was almost in Willi Millowitsch’s blood. In 1922, at the age of 13, the stage was his profession. In 1940, he took over the Millowitsch Theater, named after the acting dynasty and founded in 1895, from his father. Here he was often both director and actor.
But Willi Millowitsch was not only successful on the Cologne stage: he appeared in over 125 television and cinema films.
But he was also able to prove his versatility as a musician, initially as a singer of mood songs and hits from 1960.
It wasn’t long before Millowitsch sang the first songs in the Cologne dialect, especially carnival songs. The most well-known is probably “Ich bin ene kölsche Jung”, which was also played at his funeral on September 25, 1999.
Here you can see Millowitsch at one of his last performances with the song.
Millowitsch was more closely connected to the cathedral city than almost anyone else through the numerous and successful plays of the Millowitsch Theater and the many atmospheric and thoughtful carnival songs.
In his honor, a very beautiful monument has been erected here on the former Gertrudenplätzchen, which is now Millowitsch Square. It seems as if Millowitsch wanted to invite us and tell us so much more, so popular was he even outside the city limits of Cologne.
By the way, he has also “passed on” acting to his children: Mariele Millowitsch has shown this in outstanding film roles on television, Peter Millowitsch as an actor in almost every play at the Millowitsch Theater since 1993.
In addition, Peter Millowitsch was also the writer of numerous plays and was also the sole director of the Millowitsch Theater from 1997 to 2018.
Now follow me to Hahnentorburg. There you will find out, among other things, who or what the gate owes its strange name to.
