Early Life
Nico was born Christa Päffgen in Cologne, five years after the Nazis came to power in Germany. When she was two years old, she moved with her mother and grandfather to the Spreewald forest outside of Berlin. Her father was enlisted as a soldier during the war, and sustained head injuries that caused severe brain damage; he died in a concentration camp. In 1946, Nico and her mother relocated to downtown Berlin, where Nico worked as a seamstress. She attended school until the age 13, and then began selling lingerie in the exclusive department store KaDeWe, eventually getting modeling jobs in Berlin. Standing at five feet, ten inches tall and with chiseled features and porcelain skin, Nico rose to prominence as a fashion model as a teenager.
At 15 years of age, according to various conflicting accounts, Nico was said to have been raped by a GI of the U.S. Air Force who was sentenced to death. Her song "Secret Side" from the album The End, made oblique references to this. A review of the album The End examines the poetry of "Secret Side" and questions the validity of the rape legend.
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Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“O troubled forms, O early love unfortunate and hard,
Time has estranged you into a jewel cold and pure;”
—Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892–1950)
“There is a delicate balance of putting yourself last and not being a doormat and thinking of yourself first and not coming off as selfish, arrogant, or bossy. We spend the majority of our lives attempting to perfect this balance. When we are successful, we have many close, healthy relationships. When we are unsuccessful, we suffer the natural consequences of damaged and sometimes broken relationships. Children are just beginning their journey on this important life lesson.”
—Cindy L. Teachey. “Building Lifelong Relationships—School Age Programs at Work,” Child Care Exchange (January 1994)