# Lili Marleen singer

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lili-marleen-singer/113135>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 9, 2002, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lili-marleen-singer/113135 "2002-06-09T20:58:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lili-marleen-singer/113135/1 "2002-06-09T20:58:00Z")

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I just watched the Fassbinder movie “Lili Marleen”. I had no idea about who could have been “Lili Marleen” singer, but the character presented in the movie didn’t seem credible at all to me. Was her story a figment of Fassbinder’s imagination, or is there anything true (or at least some elements indicating that part of the story could be true) in this movie?

I made a quick search about this singer, but I didn’t find much, except some hints that even her identity wasn’t really certain.  
So, do anybody has some hints or knowledge on this topic?

I hesitated before posting this question here. Perhaps the moderators will think it should be moved to the “cafe society”…

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**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lili-marleen-singer/113135/2 "2002-06-09T21:17:24Z")

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“Lili Marlene” (note spelling, it helps in searches) was a very popular song in both Germany and the West during WW2. It’s usually associated with Marlene Dietrich, a German singer/actress who had moved to the US.

I haven’t seen the movie, though.

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**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lili-marleen-singer/113135/3 "2002-06-09T21:18:25Z")

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Marlene Dietrich sang Lili Marlene in “real life,” but I don’t know about the movie.

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**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lili-marleen-singer/113135/4 "2002-06-09T21:37:12Z")

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Actually I (and the movie) was refering to the original singer, during WWII, and it wasn’t Marlene Dietrich…

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**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2002, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lili-marleen-singer/113135/5 "2002-06-09T21:53:06Z")

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Here is the official Lili Marlene page…  
[http://ingeb.org/garb/lmarleen.html](http://ingeb.org/garb/lmarleen.html)

Just go to Google, you’ll find lots more.