Alice and Ellen Kessler, Beloved Twin Entertainers of Europe, Die at 89

Born in 1936 in Nerchau, Germany, the sisters began ballet at age six and trained with the Leipzig Opera’s children’s ballet. In 1952, as teenagers, they fled East Germany with their family and resettled in Düsseldorf, where their precision dancing and charm soon won them stage work. Their real breakthrough came in Paris at the famed Lido cabaret, where the twins perfected the shimmering, synchronized act that made them international sensations.

In 1959, they represented West Germany in Eurovision, and soon after became household names in Italy through the hit variety show Studio Uno. Celebrated as le gemelle Kessler, they embodied the optimism of postwar European entertainment and appeared in films, on American television, and even graced the cover of Life magazine. Honors followed in both Germany and Italy, reflecting their status as cultural ambassadors of grace, glamour, and professionalism.

The twins retired quietly to Grünwald in the 1980s, living in adjoining homes and remaining inseparable in daily life. In their later years, both became increasingly candid about their wish not to endure prolonged decline. After Ellen suffered a stroke, the sisters made the deeply personal decision to end their lives together through a legal assisted-death program in Germany. Their passing was peaceful, voluntary, and carefully prepared.

They requested cremation and asked that their ashes be joined in a single urn alongside those of their mother and beloved dog. Tributes across Europe have remembered them not only as performers but as symbols of resilience—two women who carried themselves with dignity through a lifetime of shared artistry. With their deaths, a uniquely synchronized chapter of European entertainment closes, but the image of Alice and Ellen Kessler moving in perfect unison under the stage lights endures.