VEB Progress Filmvertrieb had the monopoly on film distribution in East-Germany and produced thousands of wonderful star postcards to help promote the films. These cards give an unique impression of the East-block stars in the 1960s and 1970s. Photographers like Linke, Schwarz and Balinski portrayed many young actors from Poland, Russia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and East-Germany in a black and white, non-glamorous but very attractive style. For this post we selected 25 of these Progress postcards with beautiful pictures of young actresses from another time, another world.
![Mari Töröcsik]()
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2036, 1965. Retail price: 0,20 MDN.
Ever since her first film appearance Mari Töröcsik (1935) has been the leading Hungarian screen actress. The sensitive and intelligent actress played a great diversity of roles both on stage and for the camera. During her long career she appeared in more than 120 films and TV films.
![Annekathrin Bürger]()
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2569., 1966. Photo: Arno Fischer.
German actress Annekathrin Bürger (1937) was one of the prominent DEFA stars in the GDR during the 1960s and 1970s. She also appeared in television series such as Wolf Among Wolves (1965), set in 1920s Berlin.
![Eva-Maria Hagen]()
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2730, 1966. Retail price: 0,20 MDN.
German actress Eva-Maria Hagen (1934) is also a well-known singer, painter and author. From 1957 till 1965 she appeared in some 50 films and TV-productions and became known as "East-Germany’s Brigitte Bardot".
![Kati Szekely]()
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2740, 1966. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Schwarz.
German actress Kati Székely (1941) is a former star of the DEFA studio.
![Helga Piur]()
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vetrieb, Berlin, no. 27/49, 1967. Photo: DEWAG / Herbst.
Helga Piur (1939), is a German actress and voice actress, who was mainly known for her TV roles in the GDR. She also appeared in DEFA films of the 1960s.
![Angelika Waller]()
Big East-German card by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2985, 1967. Photo: Balinski.
East German actress Angelika Waller (1944) appeared in more than hundred films and TV productions since 1962. Her first leading role was in Das Kaninchen bin ich/The Rabbit Is Me (1965), a film which was banned in East Germany and which had its world premiere only in 1989.
![Anna Prucnal]()
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3001, 1967. Retail price: 0,20 MDN. Photo: Balinski.
Beautiful Polish actress Anna Prucnal(1940) was a star of the East-European cinema of the 1960’s. From 1970 on she worked in France as an actress as well as a successful singer. Her role in the controversial and shocking film Sweet Movie (1974) caused her to be banned from her homeland for 15 years.
![Monika Gabriel]()
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3324, 1969. Photo: Schwarz.
German actress Monika Gabriel (1943-2007) was known for her many DEFA films and her appearances in TV series in East-Germany. From 1971, she worked in West-Germany, mainly for television.
![Barbara Brylska]()
Big East-German card by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 112/69, 1969. Retail price: 0,40 MDN. Photo: Nasierowska.
During the 1970s, Polish actress Barbara Brylska (1941) was featured in numerous films throughout the countries of the Warsaw Pact. She is noted especially for her role as Nadya in the classic Soviet comedy Ironiya sudby/Irony of Fate (1975).
![Evelyn Opoczynski]()
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, no. 184/69, 1969. Photo: Uhlenhut.
Evelyn Opoczynski (1949) is a German actress and assistant director, known for for such DEFA films as Meine Freundin Sybille (1967), Du und ich und Klein-Paris (1971), and Sieben Sommersprossen (1978).
![Beata Tyszkiewicz]()
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 190/69, 1969. Retail price: 0,20 MDN.
Beata Tyszkiewicz (1938) is one of Poland’s quintessential film beauties and she is referred to as the First lady of the Polish cinema. Exclusively working for the cinema, she appeared in more than 100 films.
![Ana Szeles]()
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, no. 212/69, 1969. Photo: Balinski.
Hungarian, Romanian-born Anna Széles (1942) was a ravishingly beautiful actress, who worked with directors like Miklós Jancsó and Péter Bacsó. She also appeared in Communist musicals of the 1960s and as a princess in East-European fairy tales of the 1970s.
![Uta Schorn]()
Big East-German card by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 247/69, 1969. Photo: Linke.
Caption: In the October days of the year 1969, we encountered the graceful Uta Schorn for the first time on the screen in the role of intern Renate in Verdacht auf einen Toten/Suspicion of a Dead (Rainer Bär, 1969). Moved from the classrooms of the Staatliche Schauspielschule Berlin by director Rainer Bär into the atmosphere of life on a large stud farm, the acting debutante secured with this role a permanent place with her future film and theatre audience.
In the youth clubs of the Deutsches Theater and the Volksbühne Berlin, Uta Schorn's decision was made to imitate her parents and also to climb the "Thespis cart". And so came after a well-passed high school graduation and acquisition of the skilled worker's letter as a gardener, the intake exam at the Staatliche Schauspielbühne Berlin. The young student later wants to try everything the stage offers, from the classical play to the musical. For now, however, it means for Uta Schorn to finish her studies with good results. So: toi, toi, toi.
![Heidemarie Wenzel]()
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 167/70, 1970. Retail price: 0,20 MDN. Photo: Uhlenhut.
German actress Heidemarie Wenzel (1945) became known in DEFA films of the early 1970s, such as Zeit der Störche/Time of the storks (1971) and Nemuritorii (1974).
![Magda Vášáryová in Na komete (1970)]()
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 51/71, 1971. Photo: Magda Vásáryová in Na komete/On the Comet (Karel Zeman, 1970).
Magda or Magdaléna Vášáryová (1948) is a Slovak Actress and diplomat. She is prominent for her liberal anti-nationalist stances and for such popular films as Marketa Lazarová (1967).
![Irena Karel]()
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 71/71, 1971. Retail price: 0,20 MDN. Photo: Nasierowska.
Irena Karel (1943) is a Polish theatre and film actress and cabaret artist. She was called 'the Polish Brigitte Bardot'.
![Monika Woytowicz]()
Big East-German card by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 82/71, 1971. Photo: Schwarz.
Caption: Her latest film role seems tailor-made for her: temperamental, a little bit cool and full of charm - as she is herself - she plays the dancer Peggy in Konrad Petzold's new Indian film Osceala. After a four-year break, Monika Woytowicz is back on the screen. Her last film was Das Mädchen auf dem brett/The Girl on the Board, still as a student at the Leipzig Theater, she played in Mir nach, Canaillen!/After me, scoundrels!, she became known through her role as Gundel in Die Abenteuer des Werner Holt/The Adventures of Werner Holt. The young actress has found her artistic home at the Städtische Theater Leipzig.
![Traudl Kulikowsky]()
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, no. 105/71, 1971. Photo: Linke.
In the 1960s and early 1970s, German actress Traudl (or Traudel) Kulikowsky (1943) was one of the most popular young actors of the DDR (GDR), also because of her youthful, fresh appearance. After the Wende, it became known that she also had worked as a Stasi spy.
![Regina Beyer]()
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 114/73, 1973. Photo: Günter Linke.
German actress Regina Beyer (1947) starred in many DEFA films of 1960s and 1970s but she became most popular with her TV appearances for the East-German Television (DFF). She also worked for the theatre and the radio.
![Eva Lorenzová]()
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 151/72. Photo: Linke.
Eva Lorenzová (1948) is a Czech actress, who appeared in supporting parts in a dozen Czech films during the 1970s.
![Andrea Cunderliková]()
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 172/74, 1974. Photo: Linke.
Czech actress Andrea Čunderlíková (1952) appeared in films, on stage and on television. She began in 1964 as a child star in Czech films and later became a star as nurse Ina in the popular Czech TV series Nemocnice na kraji města/Hospital on the Edge of the City (1978-1981).
![Blanche Kommerell]()
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 92/76, 1976. Photo: Linke.
Blanche Kommerell (1950) is a German actress and writer. She has appeared in more than fifty films since 1962.
![Helena Vondrácková]()
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 100/76, 1976. Photo: Linke.
Helena Vondráčková (1947) is a Czech singer and actress whose career has spanned five decades. She is the best selling singer ever of her country. The Czech pop diva also appeared in films and stage musicals.
![Viola Schweizer]()
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 159/78, 1978. Photo: Söhner. Publicity still for the TV film Über sieben Brücken musst du gehen/You have seven bridges to cross (Hans Werner, 1978).
German actress Viola Schweizer (1954) is known for such TV series as Polizeiruf 110/Police Call 110 (1974-1989), Spreewaldfamilie/Spreewald Family (1990) and Tatort/Crime Scene (1995). In former East Germany, she also appeared in several DEFA films. In 2001, she finished her acting career.
![Karin Düwel]()
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 75/79, 1979. Photo: Ute Mahler.
Karin Düwel (1954) is a German actress, who had her breakthrough in the DEFA film Sabine Wulff (1978), followed by such films as the popular family film Das Schulgespenst/The school ghost (1986). She also appeared in many German TV series and on stage.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2036, 1965. Retail price: 0,20 MDN.
Ever since her first film appearance Mari Töröcsik (1935) has been the leading Hungarian screen actress. The sensitive and intelligent actress played a great diversity of roles both on stage and for the camera. During her long career she appeared in more than 120 films and TV films.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2569., 1966. Photo: Arno Fischer.
German actress Annekathrin Bürger (1937) was one of the prominent DEFA stars in the GDR during the 1960s and 1970s. She also appeared in television series such as Wolf Among Wolves (1965), set in 1920s Berlin.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2730, 1966. Retail price: 0,20 MDN.
German actress Eva-Maria Hagen (1934) is also a well-known singer, painter and author. From 1957 till 1965 she appeared in some 50 films and TV-productions and became known as "East-Germany’s Brigitte Bardot".
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2740, 1966. Retail price: 0,20 DM. Photo: Schwarz.
German actress Kati Székely (1941) is a former star of the DEFA studio.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vetrieb, Berlin, no. 27/49, 1967. Photo: DEWAG / Herbst.
Helga Piur (1939), is a German actress and voice actress, who was mainly known for her TV roles in the GDR. She also appeared in DEFA films of the 1960s.
Big East-German card by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 2985, 1967. Photo: Balinski.
East German actress Angelika Waller (1944) appeared in more than hundred films and TV productions since 1962. Her first leading role was in Das Kaninchen bin ich/The Rabbit Is Me (1965), a film which was banned in East Germany and which had its world premiere only in 1989.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3001, 1967. Retail price: 0,20 MDN. Photo: Balinski.
Beautiful Polish actress Anna Prucnal(1940) was a star of the East-European cinema of the 1960’s. From 1970 on she worked in France as an actress as well as a successful singer. Her role in the controversial and shocking film Sweet Movie (1974) caused her to be banned from her homeland for 15 years.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 3324, 1969. Photo: Schwarz.
German actress Monika Gabriel (1943-2007) was known for her many DEFA films and her appearances in TV series in East-Germany. From 1971, she worked in West-Germany, mainly for television.
Big East-German card by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 112/69, 1969. Retail price: 0,40 MDN. Photo: Nasierowska.
During the 1970s, Polish actress Barbara Brylska (1941) was featured in numerous films throughout the countries of the Warsaw Pact. She is noted especially for her role as Nadya in the classic Soviet comedy Ironiya sudby/Irony of Fate (1975).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, no. 184/69, 1969. Photo: Uhlenhut.
Evelyn Opoczynski (1949) is a German actress and assistant director, known for for such DEFA films as Meine Freundin Sybille (1967), Du und ich und Klein-Paris (1971), and Sieben Sommersprossen (1978).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 190/69, 1969. Retail price: 0,20 MDN.
Beata Tyszkiewicz (1938) is one of Poland’s quintessential film beauties and she is referred to as the First lady of the Polish cinema. Exclusively working for the cinema, she appeared in more than 100 films.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, no. 212/69, 1969. Photo: Balinski.
Hungarian, Romanian-born Anna Széles (1942) was a ravishingly beautiful actress, who worked with directors like Miklós Jancsó and Péter Bacsó. She also appeared in Communist musicals of the 1960s and as a princess in East-European fairy tales of the 1970s.
Big East-German card by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 247/69, 1969. Photo: Linke.
Caption: In the October days of the year 1969, we encountered the graceful Uta Schorn for the first time on the screen in the role of intern Renate in Verdacht auf einen Toten/Suspicion of a Dead (Rainer Bär, 1969). Moved from the classrooms of the Staatliche Schauspielschule Berlin by director Rainer Bär into the atmosphere of life on a large stud farm, the acting debutante secured with this role a permanent place with her future film and theatre audience.
In the youth clubs of the Deutsches Theater and the Volksbühne Berlin, Uta Schorn's decision was made to imitate her parents and also to climb the "Thespis cart". And so came after a well-passed high school graduation and acquisition of the skilled worker's letter as a gardener, the intake exam at the Staatliche Schauspielbühne Berlin. The young student later wants to try everything the stage offers, from the classical play to the musical. For now, however, it means for Uta Schorn to finish her studies with good results. So: toi, toi, toi.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 167/70, 1970. Retail price: 0,20 MDN. Photo: Uhlenhut.
German actress Heidemarie Wenzel (1945) became known in DEFA films of the early 1970s, such as Zeit der Störche/Time of the storks (1971) and Nemuritorii (1974).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 51/71, 1971. Photo: Magda Vásáryová in Na komete/On the Comet (Karel Zeman, 1970).
Magda or Magdaléna Vášáryová (1948) is a Slovak Actress and diplomat. She is prominent for her liberal anti-nationalist stances and for such popular films as Marketa Lazarová (1967).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 71/71, 1971. Retail price: 0,20 MDN. Photo: Nasierowska.
Irena Karel (1943) is a Polish theatre and film actress and cabaret artist. She was called 'the Polish Brigitte Bardot'.
Big East-German card by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 82/71, 1971. Photo: Schwarz.
Caption: Her latest film role seems tailor-made for her: temperamental, a little bit cool and full of charm - as she is herself - she plays the dancer Peggy in Konrad Petzold's new Indian film Osceala. After a four-year break, Monika Woytowicz is back on the screen. Her last film was Das Mädchen auf dem brett/The Girl on the Board, still as a student at the Leipzig Theater, she played in Mir nach, Canaillen!/After me, scoundrels!, she became known through her role as Gundel in Die Abenteuer des Werner Holt/The Adventures of Werner Holt. The young actress has found her artistic home at the Städtische Theater Leipzig.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Filmvertrieb, no. 105/71, 1971. Photo: Linke.
In the 1960s and early 1970s, German actress Traudl (or Traudel) Kulikowsky (1943) was one of the most popular young actors of the DDR (GDR), also because of her youthful, fresh appearance. After the Wende, it became known that she also had worked as a Stasi spy.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 114/73, 1973. Photo: Günter Linke.
German actress Regina Beyer (1947) starred in many DEFA films of 1960s and 1970s but she became most popular with her TV appearances for the East-German Television (DFF). She also worked for the theatre and the radio.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 151/72. Photo: Linke.
Eva Lorenzová (1948) is a Czech actress, who appeared in supporting parts in a dozen Czech films during the 1970s.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 172/74, 1974. Photo: Linke.
Czech actress Andrea Čunderlíková (1952) appeared in films, on stage and on television. She began in 1964 as a child star in Czech films and later became a star as nurse Ina in the popular Czech TV series Nemocnice na kraji města/Hospital on the Edge of the City (1978-1981).
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 92/76, 1976. Photo: Linke.
Blanche Kommerell (1950) is a German actress and writer. She has appeared in more than fifty films since 1962.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 100/76, 1976. Photo: Linke.
Helena Vondráčková (1947) is a Czech singer and actress whose career has spanned five decades. She is the best selling singer ever of her country. The Czech pop diva also appeared in films and stage musicals.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 159/78, 1978. Photo: Söhner. Publicity still for the TV film Über sieben Brücken musst du gehen/You have seven bridges to cross (Hans Werner, 1978).
German actress Viola Schweizer (1954) is known for such TV series as Polizeiruf 110/Police Call 110 (1974-1989), Spreewaldfamilie/Spreewald Family (1990) and Tatort/Crime Scene (1995). In former East Germany, she also appeared in several DEFA films. In 2001, she finished her acting career.
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 75/79, 1979. Photo: Ute Mahler.
Karin Düwel (1954) is a German actress, who had her breakthrough in the DEFA film Sabine Wulff (1978), followed by such films as the popular family film Das Schulgespenst/The school ghost (1986). She also appeared in many German TV series and on stage.