Featured Image Credit: Gisela Schober/Getty Images
Topics: Film and TV, Money, World News, Germany, Europe
Ellie Kemp
Topics: Film and TV, Money, World News, Germany, Europe
Warning: this article contains discussion surrounding suicide that some readers may find distressing.
Alice and Ellen Kessler made a major decision about their finances before dying via medical aid.
The showbiz twins, who'd rubbed shoulders with Elvis and performed alongside Frank Sinatra, died on Monday (November 17).
The famous duo left this world the same way they came into - together.
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Having grown up in Germany, the sisters had their breakthrough representing the country in the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest, winding up in eighth place.
Moving to Italy in the early 1960s, their fame rocketed on the variety show Studio Uno, followed by a cover feature in Playboy magazine.
They also appeared in the US shows including CBS variety show The Red Skelton Hour and The Ed Sullivan Show.
For the past 39 years, the Kessler twins have lived in a large house together in Grünwald, near Munich, Bavaria.
They remained active in the industry, attending premieres as recently as last month.
German newspaper Bild reported news of the sisters' deaths and that they 'no longer wanted to live'. They were 89 years old.
Dying via medical aid has been legal in Germany since 2019, and is different from euthanasia, which is illegal.
With medical aid in dying, patients administer the prescribed drug themselves to end their lives, rather than it being carried out by a doctor.
Among other factors, it's legal when the person 'acts responsibly and of their own free will'.
The sisters had previously expressed a desire to buried in the same urn, together with the ashes of their late mother Elsa and their dog Yello.
In an April 2024 interview with Bild, the duo revealed they'd changed who they were leaving their money to in a will.
Neither Alice nor Ellen went on to marry or have children.
They'd previously left all their fortune - the amount undisclosed - to the charity Doctors Without Borders.
But upon reflection, the Kessler twins decided they 'didn't want to lump everything together'.
Instead, they said they'd split their money between multiple charities, including the CBM blind mission, the UNICEF children's aid organization, the Paul Klinger Artists' Social Welfare Fund and the German Foundation for Patient Protection.
Ellen told the publication: "Last autumn, my sister and I discussed that it shouldn’t just be one person who gets something, but several. We wanted to divide our inheritance more fairly, not throw everything into one pot. There are so many people who need donations."
At the time, she added: "We still have a little something saved up. We earned very well, never threw our money away, and invested it wisely."
Bild reported the pair's inheritance 'wouldn't be a small amount' and that it included their house, which boasts a 900 square meter garden and pool.
On ensuring they got their will executed correctly, Ellen said at the time: "Our lives have been characterized by discipline.
"Now we are approaching the end. We won't live much longer. Therefore, we must also approach the end with discipline."
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 to reach a 24-hour crisis center or you can webchat at 988lifeline.org. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.