Rosemarie Nitribitt

Rosalie Marie Auguste Nitribitt (February 1, 1933 – October 29, 1957), better known as Rosemarie Nitribitt, was a German luxury call girl whose violent death caused a scandal in the Germany of the Wirtschaftswunder years. The case gave rise to a novel, three movies and a musical.

Early life and career

Born in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, "Rosemarie" Nitribitt and her two younger half-sisters were raised in poor conditions by their mother in Ratingen and Düsseldorf. The girls were placed in a juvenile home and after 1939 lived with foster parents. There she was raped at the age of 11. Still in her teenage years, she began working as a prostitute. She was later sent to juvenile correctional homes, from where she escaped several times. She then moved to Frankfurt am Main, where, after a brief interlude of waitressing and modelling, she took up prostitution again and was arrested at the Frankfurt railway station in 1951.

According to people who knew her at the time, Nitribitt tried hard to disguise her humble origins in order to be able to keep up conversation in posh society and to attract more sophisticated customers. For example, she started learning English and French.