Sometimes, when you turn on the radio, it’s there again—this voice: dark, smoky, unmistakable: “My best friend is lost to me, the one who bound me to childhood.” Nostalgia, longing, melancholy—feelings rising from the deepest part of the soul.  

“My friend, the tree, is dead—he fell in the early morning glow…” On July 31, 1969, Germany’s great chanson hope Alexandra died under mysterious circumstances in a car accident. She was only 27, and had been successful in show business for just under three years. Her truly big career still lay ahead of her. And yet she soon had to recognize the price of fame: denial of one’s personality, destruction of private life, psychological breakdown.  

The film and the first biography take a critical look behind the scenes of the entertainment industry. Through archive footage and interviews with her son and relatives, producers, and fellow artists, a portrait emerges of an extraordinary woman and artist whose voice became a legend.  

Alexandra: First broadcast: 19/12/1999 on NDR Television (12.9% audience share)