Mourning for Verhoeven

Senta Berger: “Michael was my life”

Senta Berger mourns the death of her husband Michael Verhoeven. The director died earlier this week at the age of 85 after a short illness.

(Bild: APA/dpa/Ursula Düren)

Senta Berger has spoken publicly for the first time about the death of her husband Michael Verhoeven. "Michael was my life. I can only say that I can't say anything now. Because anything I could say now would make it smaller than it is," Berger (82) told "Bild am Sonntag" when asked how the family was dealing with the loss.

The filmmaker ("The White Rose") died on April 22 at the age of 85 after a short, serious illness in the Munich suburb of Grünwald.

"My father was all her happiness"
His son, director and screenwriter Simon Verhoeven (51), told the newspaper: "My father was all her happiness. It will stay that way. I can't even put into words the farewell and the pain we all feel. My father was the most loving, warm and funny dad my brother Luca and I could have wished for. He was our hero without ever wanting to be a hero." Younger son Luca Verhoeven is also active in the film industry.

Simon Verhoeven with his parents Senta Berger and Michael Verhoeven

(Bild: APA/dpa/Tobias Hase)

He said of his famous mother: "I hope that my mother will find the strength and courage to turn back to life. And I also hope that my mother will return to filming one day. Because, of course, work is always a form of therapy for all of us."

Died surrounded by family
His father died at home, "with my mother and his sons by my side", Verhoeven told Bams. "We are all with my mother, her children and her grandchildren. We hug and hold each other. We look at pictures and family movies and we see Michael as a young, beautiful man with sparkling green eyes, in his 20s, 30s, 40s or 50s. How charming, funny and fun-loving he was. So we enjoy him and cry together at the same time."

As a son, he is very happy "that we have always been clear about how we feel about each other, what we mean to each other and that we love each other. And yet you always have the feeling that it wasn't enough, that you should have said it more often".