Overview
- Her death at age 94 was confirmed by a close confidante to dpa, and no medical cause has been disclosed.
- According to media interviews, Schnitzler discovered her in bed in Eyendorf, where the actress had recently been blind and largely immobile on a small pension.
- New reporting says relatives plan to use a Swiss legal procedure, via the group Oase der Ewigkeit, so the urn can remain with family despite Germany’s cemetery requirement.
- Focus cites Bild in saying the urn would first stay with Schnitzler before later going to van Bergen’s daughter Andrea, with the process described as costing €490.
- Van Bergen rose to fame in the 1950s–60s, won RTL’s jungle reality show in 2009, and was convicted of manslaughter in 1977, a period when her friendship with Schnitzler began in prison.