Biography
Raab was born in Bergreichenstein, Sudetenland, what is now Kašperské Hory, Czech Republic. He made his cinema debut in Fassbinder's Liebe ist kälter als der Tod (Love Is Colder than Death) in 1969. Over the next few years, he made numerous films with Fassbinder, including Warum läuft Herr R. Amok? (Why Does Herr R. Run Amok?) and Der Amerikanische Soldat (The American Soldier) in 1970, Warnung vor einer heiligen Nutte (Beware of a Holy Whore) in 1971, and Der Händler der vier Jahreszeiten (The Merchant of Four Seasons) in 1972.
He also worked as a production designer, assistant director, producer, and a screenwriter.
On 28 June 1988, at age 46, Raab died of AIDS related complications. Before Raab died, he worked to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS in Germany. In 1987 he discussed his illness in Herbert Achternbusch's Wohin?, a film about AIDS-hysteria. In 1988 he made Mitten im Leben, a documentary about AIDS, for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen. However, the illness remained poorly understood and Raab was placed in quarantine-like conditions in the Hamburg Tropical Institute. Prejudice about AIDS was also evident when Raab's body was refused burial in the Lower Bavarian town in which his family had settled in 1945.
He is buried in the Ohlsdorf cemetery in Hamburg.
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