Death Kessler twins this not only touched the heart of the world of Italian entertainment, but also represented testimony of the final act – namely assisted suicide – that the two were willing to perform to underline their bond, their inability to imagine life without each other. A need, shared by the Kessler twins, throughout their lives, made them face good and bad things together. A way of life rooted in Alice and Ellen’s past, when together they had to face asad childhoodviolence, punctuated by loss and fear.
In the glittering collective imagination associated with their career, the Kessler twins have always been symbols of a musical variety, a world of sequins. With their long legs, iconic songs and countless appearances on the small screen – helping to build their history – Alice and Ellen Kessler are remembered primarily for their artistry and not many know that behind this wonderful world of entertainment there were difficult years, bad times where having a happy future didn’t seem like a viable option.
Born in Nerchau on August 20, 1936, in Saxony, Alice and Ellen grew up in West Germany before the construction of the Berlin Wall, under the supervision of their mother Elsa and their father Paul Kessleran alcoholic and violent man who left a deep mark on the little Kessler twins. In an interview reported by RepublicAlice and Ellen attribute their almost symbiotic relationship to the horrific years when their father beat them and their mother: “Our mutual attachment has deeper roots than the casual harmony that characterizes twins: for us it is survival instinct“. Therefore, what marked the childhood of those who later became the two most famous showgirls in Italy was fear of this paternal brutalitythe fear of returning home and finding a father ready to beat or abuse their mother. “Our fear of his blind anger,” they said, “and the feeling of not being able to depend on anyone else cemented us forever“. The Kessler twins never hid the fact that their unhappy childhood was punctuated by violence and domestic abusehave a big impact on their life choices as adults: such as not getting married or not having children. Alice Kessler said that “Domestic violence is an everyday occurrence. And we swear it will never happen to us”emphasized that they both did not want to “men around the house.”
In addition, the Kessler twins lived through terrible years war: on the one hand with America which, in the memories of the Kessler twins, helped the population, on the other hand, with the arrival of Russia and the occupied areas, which would mark their lives until they managed to move to Paris. However, the war conflict also had a negative impact on Alice and Ellen’s family, because it resulted in the loss of the lives of their two older brothers, death from typhus and jaundice. This death not only left the two girls without someone ready to defend them from their father’s abuse, but also forced them to go to work at a very young age. In an interview he reported Messenger of Godthe two sisters reminisce about how they experienced it”started working at the age of 15 in a small cabaret in Dusseldorf, without knowing the joy of his friends who went dancing or having fun. But for us it’s normal: work, earn income, be independent, build freedom“.
And it was precisely freedom – individual, economic, and familial – that the Kessler twins always sought and desired. It is that same freedom that also makes them choose their own date of death.
