Gisela Getty

Gisela Getty (born Gisela Schmidt) is a German photographer, film director, designer and author. She and her late sister, Jutta Winkelmann, are known in Germany as high-profile representatives of what German historiography calls the '68-movement.[1][2][3]

Gisela Getty
... on the blue sofa
2008
Born
Gisela Martine Schmidt

(1949-04-03)3 April 1949
Kassel, Hessen, US occupation zone of Germany
Alma materKassel Arts Academy
OccupationIcon of '68
Photographer
Author
Spouse(s)1. Gerhard Büttenbender
2. Rolf Zacher
3. John Paul Getty III
ChildrenAnna Getty
Balthazar Getty
Parent(s)Julius Schmidt
Ruth Winzenburg-Schmidt

Life

Provenance and early years

A few weeks before the launch of the German Federal Republic (West Germany) Gisela Martine Schmidt was born, emerging twenty minutes after her sister.[4] The twins were born in Kassel,[3] a mid-size town north of Frankfurt.[4] The family in which they grew up was a traditionalist one but conflicted by recent history. Equestrian activities were encouraged: so were the violin lessons. Julius Schmidt, their father, was a writer and military historian. He was, in addition, a hunting enthusiast, even contributing a regular column in the local paper about his hobby. He had served as a National Socialist SS (paramilitary) officer during the Hitler years, and emerged from that period deeply ashamed of the atrocities inflicted by Germany after 1933, while unapologetically regretful that during the age of great European empires it had been the anglophone powers rather than Germany that had dominated the known world culturally. Gisela's mother, born Ruth Winzenburg, was a qualified teacher who had quit her job in an agricultural college to concentrate on her family. She was the product of a traditionalist "very old" family.[3] Jutta and Gisela attended the Waldorf school in Kassel[5] and then went on to study graphic arts, fashion, film and photography at the Kassel Arts Academy between 1966 and 1970.[6][lower-alpha 1]

In 1968 the sisters teamed up with Adolf Winkelmann and Gerhard Büttenbender to found the Kassel Film Collective.[7] In 1969 they won first prize at the International Short Film Festival in Oberhausen. Their (completely uncut) winning film "Heinrich Viel" was filmed the Volkswagen factory in Baunatal and lasts 31 minutes. It concerns a production line worker. Gisela later cheerfully described it as "unwatchable".[3][8] It was also in 1969 that Gisela Schmidt married Gerhard Büttenbender. "But one thing was completely clear, that it was not a life-long union".[8] Her sister married Adolf Winkelmann shortly afterwards.[9]

Berlin, Rome, California

The twins came to public attention as eye-catching and popular participants in the student protests of 1968 and the years that followed, active in the demonstrations in Kassel and in West Berlin, much to their father's consternation.[3] Gisela's first marriage quickly ended, and in 1970 the sisters relocated to Berlin. Many years later, asked what she hoped to find in Berlin, Gisela answered without hesitation: "Revolution, of course". Sexual liberation was an important part of that, along with the total rejection more broadly of their parents' value system, which was central to the "'68-movement".[10][11] The actor Rolf Zacher and the hippie mentor Rainer Langhans were among their new friends.[11][12] Sources are not fully consistent over when a group including Jutta and Gisela, along with Rolf Zacher, moved to Rome. At around the same time Gisela married Zacher.[1] The marriage was brief, but it lasted long enough to produce a daughter, Anna, born towards the end of October 1972.[13] The "life without limits" that Gisela was leading in Rome[14] was not conducive to safely bringing up a new baby, and Anna was quickly sent to Kassel to be looked after by the family.[3]

During the early part of 1973 she met the teenager John Paul Getty who a few months later, still in Rome, became the victim of a very widely publicised 'Ndrangheta kidnapping. Getty had been expelled from his Rome-based international school the previous year, following the death of his step-mother, and become a teenage drop-out. Soon after he first set eyes on the twins the three of them became inseparable, living together in a shared basement apartment in Rome-Trastevere, sharing the bed as a threesome and "convinced that we could achieve anything we wanted".[15] Nevertheless, as Gisela later told an interviewer, at that stage "...there wasn’t more than holding hands".[3]

Following the kidnapping Gisela and Jutta fell under suspicion and were briefly detained by the authorities in Rome.[16] By the time the kidnapping took place, during July 1973, the relationship with Getty had intensified. Following the child's release after five months (believed to have been in return for a large ransom payment from an enraged grandfather) Gisela Zacher and Paul Getty were in love.[16] They married towards the end of 1974.[14] Gisela was by now aged 25 and her third marriage was more public and, as matters turned out, more enduring than either of the first two had been.[14] Getty was disinherited by his grandfather who had some time previously stipulated that the boy should not marry before reaching the age of 22 or 23 (sources differ).[17] Balthazar Getty, the young couple's son, was born towards the end of January 1975.[3][17] Many aspects of the kidnapping incident remain unknown or undisclosed: media speculation has proliferated.[18]

By the time Balthazar was born Gisela and her husband were in California, initially living together in Los Angeles and subsequently in San Francisco. Gisela and Jutta had become media personalities through their involvement in the 1968 protests. The tragic events of 1973 and the marriage to Paul Getty greatly enhanced Gisela's media profile. By the time she left Rome for California she and her husband were part of a social network of arts-world celebrities that included Dennis Hopper, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, Carlo Ponti, and Federico Fellini.[1][10][15]

The kidnapping had inflicted levels of intense trauma on each of them that would remain with both. In California Gisela was separated from her sister, but the "wild child" lifestyle continued in other respects. Sources relate how her husband found refuge but also dependency through intensification of his drug habit. There are reports that it was to get them away from the excesses of the lifestyle she and her husband shared, that Gisela eventually took the children away from their home together to live in a state of "relative normality" in San Francisco. Here she became professionally involved with the Magic Theatre Company and wrote plays. Matters took a turn for the worse in 1981 after a medically prescribed combination of drugs – allegedly intended to reduce his dependency issues – sent Paul Getty into a coma. Physically, his recovery was never more than partial: his sight was permanently impaired and he was required to use a wheel chair for the rest of his life.[3] The couple had separated in 1980 and following "the accident" in 1981 Gisela Getty returned to the Federal Republic, settling in Munich.[19] Gisela and Paul remained friends: divorce followed only in 1993.[3]

Membership of "The Harem"

Jutta and Gisela had met Bob Dylan for the first time during his European tour in 1966: a certain mutual attraction had been sparked by the encounter. When they realised that the threesome they enjoyed in Rome would not last for ever and that Gisela was going to marry Paul Getty, the twins agreed that Jutta would "would hold out for Bob Dylan".[3] By the time Gisela returned to Europe in 1981 her sister had made alternative arrangements, however. In 1976 she teamed up with the film-maker and former communard Rainer Langhans, the photographer Anna Werner and the Photo-model Brigitte Streubel to form a new "principally spiritually oriented self-discovery commune" in Munich. They were joined in 1978 by the film-maker and journalist Christa Ritter, and by Gisela Getty in 1991. The press soubriquet "Harem", which the media-savvy members were content to adopt, was an obvious response to the gender imbalance. "The Harem" has received significant levels of media attention over the years.[20] Gisela Getty "brought money and illustrious contacts" when she joined, and for a time may have distorted the dynamics of the Harem community, but that risk appears to have receded more recently.[21]

Timothy Leary

Timothy Leary was a Psychology professor at Harvard University with a close interest in psychedelic drugs. His dismissal from Harvard in 1963, followed by frequent arrests during the next couple of decades in connection with his enthusiastic endorsement of (probably illegal) aspects of the drug culture, turned him into a media celebrity. President Nixon helpfully described Leary as "the most dangerous man in America".[22] In the early 1990s Leary turned his attention to death. During his later years Leary suffered from prostate cancer, and after accepting that his own death was becoming imminent, Leary agreed that Gisela Getty and Jutta Winkelmann might make a documentary film on the subject. The twins spent a considerable amount of time with Leary and his partner, Aileen Getty, preparing their documentary during 1992 and 1993. (Aileen was a sister of Gisela's husband.) The result was a television documentary "Der Tod steht ihnen gut" (loosely, "Death becomes him well") which appeared in 1994. Critics were underwhelmed that the resulting movie was presented as a "normal" television documentary, without any disclosure that the twins were long-standing friends and admirers of the "High priest of the drug culture". There was much about the things Leary represented that had fallen out of public favour since the 1970s, and although the film was duly screened on one of the more obscure German television channels, it has subsequently been largely overlooked.[23] Nevertheless, as is pointed out in the biographical note on Gisela Getty's web page, "Der Tod steht ihnen gut" did win the bronze medal in the "History and Society" category at the 1995 The New Yorker Festival.[24]

Literary engagement

Gisela Getty's public profile was much diminished after she and Paul Getty divorced in 1993. Nevertheless, she continues to feature in contemporary reports, both in recollections of her wild years and on account, more recently, of her literary work. In 2008 she published "Die Zwillinge oder Vom Versuch, Geld und Geist zu küssen" (loosely, "The twins: on the attempt to embrace mammon and spirit" ) jointly with her sister, Jutta Winkelmann and the Kassel-born writer-journalist Jamal Tuschick.[25] It appeared online five years later.[8] For Jutta and Gisela the book is a confessional autobiographical work, dealing with aspects of the twins' lives, as part of the '68 generation, in Kassel, Berlin and Rome.[25] Critical reactions were mixed, although the power of the book to stimulate overblown prose in others was on shameless display in the reviews. Rainer Moritz shared with readers of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung his opinion that the book was "interesting principally as a historical record of deluded narcissism" ("...vor allem als historisches Dokument eines verblendeten Narzissmus interessant").[26] Writing in Der Spiegel, Matthias Matussek had clearly had more fun with the book: "... a devlish cocktail of drug-fuelled delirium, gangsterly insanity and sex in the beds of artists .... The twins have a sexual gangsterism and a sadomasochistic sophistication that is still compelling even at the second reading".[2]

"Unter dem Cherrytree" appeared in 2013 and was reviewed in Die Welt. Matthias Matussek was on hand again. He seems to have been perplexed, describing the little book as "a personal mythology ...., half Japanese manga, [and] half a blend of Indian mythology, apocalypse and the eternally spinning wheel of life".[27]

Output (selection)
  • Kidnapping Paul. Die Geschichte einer Entführung (jointly with Jutta Winkelmann), weissbooks.w, Frankfurt am Main 2018, ISBN 978-3-86337-125-8.
  • Unter dem Cherrytree (jointly with Jutta Winkelmann), BoD Norderstedt, Edition Bildstein, Leipzig, Dresden 2013, ISBN 978-3-7322-4630-4.
  • The Twins (jointly with Jutta Winkelmann), Blumenbar, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-936738-72-8.
  • Die Zwillinge oder Vom Versuch, Geld und Geist zu küssen, (jointly with Jutta Winkelmann und Jamal Tuschick), weissbooks.w, Frankfurt am Main 2008, ISBN 978-3-940888-01-3.
  • Future-Sex (gemeinsam mit Jutta Winkelmann), Metropolitan-Verlag, Düsseldorf, München 1996, ISBN 3-89623-017-4.

Notes
  1. Sources differ over whether the twins attended the Kassel Arts Academy between 1966 and 1970, or between 1968 and 1972.

References
  1. Sven Michaelsen (20 February 2008). "Wilde Zwillinge und ihre Nacht mit Bob Dylan". Axel Springer SE (Welt), Berlin. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  2. Matthias Matussek (10 March 2008). "Zweimal Exzess, bitte!". 68er-Ikonen Getty und Winkelmann ... Jung, ephebenhaft, unwiderstehlich: Gisela Getty und Jutta Winkelmann waren die Sirenen der 68er-Revolte – jetzt haben sie ihre Memoiren geschrieben. Ein teuflischer Cocktail aus Drogendelirien, Gangster-Irrsinn und Sex in Künstlerbetten. Der Spiegel (online). Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  3. Mark Rozzo (30 April 2018). "The Virtually Unknown Saga of Gisela Getty and Jutta Winkelmann, It Girls on a Bumpy Ride". As the tale of John Paul Getty III's kidnapping resurfaces, it's worth taking a look at the lives of Gisela Getty and Jutta Winkelmann, twins who frolicked and tripped with him through a wild decade. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  4. "Kommune, Geiselnahme und Symbiose: Zum Tod von Jutta Winkelmann". Gebürtige Kasselerin. Verlag Dierichs GmbH & Co KG: Hessische/Niedersächsische Allgemeine (HNA). 24 February 2017. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  5. Dagmar von Taube (6 February 2010). "Wilde Zwillinge der 70er über Drogen und Sex". "Wir waren doch total verklemmt". Axel Springer SE (Welt), Berlin. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  6. "Jutta Winkelmann: Mein Leben ohne mich". book review. "events.at". Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  7. Caroline Rosales (22 November 2016). "Jutta Winkelmann kämpft mit einem Comic gegen die Wut". In grellen Bildern und mit radikalen Texten kämpft Hippie-Ikone Jutta Winkelmann, die an Krebs leidet, gegen Schmerzen und Ohnmacht. Berliner Morgenpost. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  8. Gisela Getty; Jutta Winkelmann; Jamal Tuschick (18 December 2013). Erste Ehemänner. Das Kasseler Filmkollektiv. Die Zwillinge: oder vom Versuch, Geist und Geld zu küssen. weissbooks. p. 95. ISBN 978-3-86337-056-5.
  9. Peer Moritz. "Adolf Winkelmann – Filmmacher, Regisseur". CineGraph – Lexikon zum deutschsprachigen Film. edition text+kritik im Richard Boorberg Verlag GmbH & Co KG, München. ISBN 978-3-86916-222-5. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  10. Annika Kuhlmann (28 April 2010). ""Wir wollten einfach intensiv leben"". Die Zwillingsschwestern Gisela Getty und Jutta Winkelmann waren Ikonen der 70er Jahre. In einem Fotoband gewähren sie nun Einblick in ihre wilde Zeit. Ein Gespräch über Gleichberechtigung, Groupies und die 68er-Generation. Verlag Der Tagesspiegel GmbH, Berlin. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  11. Lena Kappei (4 May 2018). "Was erwartete Gisela Getty von Berlin? „Revolution natürlich!"". It-Girl der 68er Jahre. Axel Springer SE (B.Z.), Berlin. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  12. "Lebensdaten und Werke von Rainer Langhans" (PDF). Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  13. "Zwillinge teilen Drogen und Männer". Das bewegte Leben der Zwillingsschwestern Jutta Winkelmann (l.) und Gisela Getty. .... Aus der Kurzehe mit Schauspieler Rolf Zacher hat Gisela Getty eine Tochter. Axel Springer SE (Welt), Berlin. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  14. Dagmar von Taube (27 August 2013). "„Es kann nicht sein, dass du einfach verlischst"". Getty-Twins. Axel Springer SE (Welt), Berlin. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  15. Alain Elkann (interviewer, author and publisher) (19 August 2018). "Gisela Getty". Fighting the Hitler within.... Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  16. Irmgard Hochreither (1 March 2008). "Ikonen der Hippie-Ära". Sie waren die Ikonen der Hippie-Ära: Die Zwillingsschwestern Gisela Getty und Jutta Winkelmann haben die Geschichte ihrer wilden Jahre aufgeschrieben. Ein Buch über Drogen, Sex und Männer – und die Suche nach Geist und Geld. Stern, Hamburg. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  17. ""Lass nicht zu, dass ich getötet werde"". Getty-Entführung ... Fünf Monate in Todesangst: 1973 wurde der Millionenerbe John Paul Getty III. in Rom entführt. Weil sein milliardenschwerer Großvater sich weigerte, das Lösegeld zu zahlen, griffen die Entführer zu brutalen Mitteln. Der Spiegel (online). 10 July 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  18. "Wife of John Paul Getty III claims she was held by Mafia BEFORE kidnapping". ExpressDigest. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  19. "Die Zwillinge der Revolte". Bild, Berlin. 18 July 2010. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  20. Christa Ritter (6 November 2000). "'Das ist eine utopische Situation'". 'Big Brother' ist eine konsequente Fortsetzung von '68, meint Rainer Langhans, Begründer der Kommune 1 – Gespräch. Die Welt (online). Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  21. Barbara Nolte (30 March 2003). "Im Harem ist die Hölle los". Verlag Der Tagesspiegel GmbH, Berlin. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  22. Mansnerus, Laura (1 June 1996). "Timothy Leary, Pied Piper of Psychedelic 60s, Dies at 75". The New York Times. Obituary. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  23. "Familiäre Wackelbilder". „Der Tod steht ihnen gut". taz Verlags u. Vertriebs GmbH, Berlin. 7 July 1994. p. 14. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  24. "gisela getty .... biography". Gisela Getty photography. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
  25. Gisela Getty; Jutta Winkelmann; Jamal Tuschick (2008). Die Zwillinge oder Vom Versuch, Geld und Geist zu küssen. Weissbooks, Frankfurt am Main. ISBN 978-3-86337-056-5.
  26. "Offenbarung am Strand". «Ab nach Kassel» – diese Aufforderung ist keine Sympathieerklärung. Der derart in die nordhessische Wüste Geschickte soll rasch aus dem Blickfeld verschwinden, und nicht leicht ist es, diese Einöde wieder hinter sich zu lassen. Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 9 September 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  27. Matthias Matussek (5 March 2014). "Logbuch einer Abenteuerreise ins Ungewisse". Axel Springer SE (Welt), Berlin. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
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