The great king

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Movie
Original title The great king
The great king Logo.png
Country of production Germany
original language German
Publishing year 1942
length 118 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Veit Harlan
script Veit Harlan
production Veit Harlan
for Tobi's film art
music Hans-Otto Borgmann
camera Bruno Mondi
cut Friedrich Karl von Puttkamer
occupation

The Great King is a German, propagandistic monumental film by Veit Harlan from 1942. The film was shot on behalf of Joseph Goebbels and was intended to help build up the population psychologically during the Second World War . The film is one of the so-called Fridericus Rex films .

action

The action takes place between 1759 and 1763: In the battle of Kunersdorf , the Prussian army flees from the overwhelming Austrian forces and is completely crushed. The King of Prussia, Frederick II, called the Great , is desperate. His personal environment advises surrender, but the monarch decides to fight to victory, despite all adversities and personal blows of fate.

At the same time, the Prussian sergeant Paul Treskow met the miller's daughter Luise, who was caring for wounded soldiers. They both fall in love and get married. In the Battle of Torgau , Treskow, who was on observation post, gave the signal for a cavalry attack on his own initiative, thus saving the Prussians from victory. However, he is punished by the astonished king for his disobedient behavior. Treskow, deeply shocked by this, revolted and thus gambled away the promotion to lieutenant already ordered by the king - without Treskow's knowledge - (The film explains the paradoxical behavior of the king from the Prussian-German military doctrine, according to which disobedience is punished, but special bravery and circumspection are rewarded Treskow's behavior combines both aspects, which the king now serves on an equal footing, but follows a logic that appears morally dubious from today's perspective: "He must have three days (tied to the wheel of a cannon), discipline must be. But I want to reward it if my soldiers act decisively and independently. ").

The former model soldier Treskow bitter about the king's "justice" written on him. He repeatedly indulges in indiscipline and almost loses the trust of his regimental commander (according to the non-Prussian indulgent script, however, Treskow escapes demotion and remains a sergeant until his death). Together with the musketeer Spiller, who came from the Rhineland, a prototype of the eternally complaining defeatist from the beginning , he even wants to desert. Luise, however, reminds Treskow of his duty to his comrades, and so he sets out with his regiment to the siege of Schweidnitz . Tresckow died in the victorious battle of the "honest" soldier in the face of the king, but Spiller is taken as a deserter and on the orders of the ruler firing squad . Luise stays behind with their child.

But the King of Prussia is now also alone, many of his friends and relatives died in the war. But Prussia is saved - thanks to the sacrifice of its inhabitants and their ruler.

background

  • Shooting began on September 24, 1940. After the German attack on the Soviet Union ( Operation Barbarossa ) in the summer of 1941, the depiction of the Russian military was revised and turned into a disadvantage. Scenes that had already been completed showing the Russian share in the Prussian victory were shot again. In particular, the figure of the Russian General Tschernyschow ( kyril. Чернышёв, transliterated with Czernitscheff in the production data , in older literature also Czernitsche w ) now drifted into a negative cliché (see below).
  • The premiere was on March 3, 1942, in Berlin's Ufa-Palast am Zoo . At this point in time the German blitzkrieg strategy had already failed, and the German population's belief that the war would end quickly gave way to initial skepticism. Germany was at war with the Soviet Union and the USA. Great Britain remained undefeated in the Battle of Britain and from then on engaged in a grueling sea and air war with the German Empire. The German offensive against Russia had stalled in the winter of 1941/42, and after the battle for Moscow the Soviet Union had even started a counter-offensive that was costly for the Germans. A series of first air strikes on German cities had demonstrated the vulnerability of the civilian population. Three weeks after the premiere, the British air raid on Lübeck on March 29, 1942 marked the beginning of the area bombing of German cities. Although the situation of the German Reich at the time of the film's release did not seem hopeless, the “now-especially” attitude of the Great King anticipated the perseverance slogans of the later war years. The audience was prepared for a longer war and coming hardships.
  • With production costs of 4,779,000 Reichsmarks, The Great King was one of the most expensive films of the Nazi regime to date. Veit Harlan notes in his memoir that he was able to dispose of real soldiers and 5,000 horses in the battle scenes.
  • Otto Fee plays the role of the Prussian King for the last time. Originally Werner Krauss was planned for this film , as Fee already seemed too old. However, it was feared that the audience would not accept a change in the role.
  • Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels ordered that any resemblance between Frederick the Great and Adolf Hitler should be avoided. However, this was hardly taken into account, and so one can see many parallels to Hitler from today's perspective (outbursts of anger, speeches, etc.). Hitler himself was extremely enthusiastic about the film.
  • Since in most of the previous period films the audience in mass battles could hardly tell which army was which, Veit Harlan attached great importance in this film to the fact that the Austrians always attacked from the right and the Prussians from the left. In addition, each army got its own musical theme, which was played with the respective camera view.

Manipulation of historical facts

  • Despite the assurance given in the opening credits that the film "adheres strictly to historical facts in its essential scenes", it shows a problematic way of dealing with the real events. The British, allied with Prussia, are not mentioned, the opponents of Prussia are presented stereotypically: the Austrians as arrogant, the Russians cunning and only interested in their own advantage. The French are only touched on in a few subordinate clauses.
  • The share of the Russian army in the Prussian defeat at Kunersdorf is almost entirely suppressed. In a short scene, the Austrian commander Laudon orders, “(the Russian general) Czernitscheff should attack with his Cossacks”. However, only Austrians (in white uniformed) are shown involved in the fighting. In fact, however, it was not the Austrians, but (green uniformed) Russian troops - supported by Austrian artillery - who wiped out the attacking Prussians at the Kunersdorfer Kirchhof and the so-called Judenberge and Spitzberg and then drove them to flight. The battle, which the Prussians had almost won, was ultimately lost not because of the alleged cowardice of their own exhausted troops, but because of their excessive demands by the over-ambitious strategy of their king. Only in a later scene does Friedrich's brother, Prince Heinrich the Elder, address the Russian part in Prussia's defeat at Kunersdorf in more detail.
  • It goes unmentioned that after Kunersdorf the Russian General Saltykow deliberately refrained from persecuting the Prussians and thus from their complete annihilation, since in his opinion the Russians had already "bled enough for Habsburg". The film characterizes him as a schemer who, together with General Tschernyschow, pursues his own interests.
  • The Russian Lieutenant General Sachar Tschernyschow (see above) appears in the film as the decal of a devious, but ultimately simple-minded Russian (quote from the film: "The Russians are not clever, but clever"). The historical Tschernyschow was the commander of a 15,000-strong auxiliary corps, which after the death of Tsarina Elisabeth her successor Tsar Peter III. had made available to the Prussian king. After Tsar Peters was soon dismissed, he received the order to withdraw from Tsarina Catherine the Great on July 19, 1762 . Chernyshev delayed the march by three days. In doing so, he tied the attention of Austrian troops and thus favored the Prussian victory in the Battle of Burkersdorf on July 21, 1762. Whether personal admiration for the Prussian king was decisive for Chernyshev's behavior or simply bribery (allegedly 15,000 ducats , according to Curt Jany ) controversial. In The Great King , Frederick II had doubts about Chernyshev's sincerity from the start and kept him in custody until the battle was over.
  • The shown Russian support in favor of Prussia in the siege of Schweidnitz is historically wrong. The Russian army provided passive assistance in the battle of Burkersdorf several months beforehand (see above). The repeal of Russian orders to attack the Austrians by the Prussian king, as discussed in the film, would certainly not have been in his power, especially since Tschernyschow was only allowed to provide passive support from the beginning in order not to annoy Tsarina Katharina. The plans of the Russian Generals Chernyshev and Saltykov to defer to the Austrians in the event of the Prussian king becoming weak are also not guaranteed. This would have violated Tsarina Katharina's new political line of completely detaching Russia from the war.
  • In addition to the manipulation of the main storyline, the revealing handling of historical details is striking. The Bernburg Infantry Regiment (actually: Anhalt-Bernburg, Old Prussia Inf.-Reg. 3 ), punished at the beginning of the film for its military failure with the loss of uniform jewelry (tress) and side arms (team saber), actually lost the grace of its king once, but not at Kunersdorf , but during the unsuccessful siege of Dresden in July 1760. The regimental commander at that time, Franz Adolf Prince v. Anhalt-Bernburg , then by no means shot himself, but made it to lieutenant general . Before that, barely three weeks after the demotion, his regiment had fully rehabilitated itself in the Battle of Liegnitz (and not first, as shown in the film, later in the Battle of Torgau).
  • The rescue of the battle of Torgau in favor of Prussia by a sergeant (embodied by the film character Treskow ) is invented. A similar self-determined intervention in a threatening situation is, however, awarded to one of Friedrich II's adjutants, Major General Hans Friedrich von Krusemark . This is said to have corrected a misguided Prussian cavalry attack. The alleged action by Krusemark is not exactly proven by sources.
  • The poison attack allegedly commissioned by the Habsburgs on Frederick II using hot chocolate, shown in the film, is historically controversial. According to legend, it was not the king's French chef (as shown in the film), but a former chamber hussar and servant named Glazov who offered the king the chocolate. Contrary to what the film suggests, the action did not claim any human life, as Glazov is said to have warned the king at the last moment. It is documented that Glasow was imprisoned in the Spandau Fortress in 1757 and died a year later. The reason for this was not a poison attack, but Glazov's alleged abuse of the government seal for private purposes.
  • The visit of Prince Henry the Younger to the royal camp does not seem truthful. Portrayed in the film by a 17-year-old actor, the prince was only twelve years old in 1759; Also, this favorite nephew of Friedrich did not die during the Seven Years' War, but only four years after its end. The relocation of this historical episode to the time of the film is a dramaturgical trick that shows the king's private, "soft" side. At the same time it is conveyed that the monarch always puts his own feelings aside in favor of his obligations as a statesman: Frederick II refuses to visit Heinrich's deathbed because he has to prepare for a battle.
  • The portrayal of Ensign Niehoff as the standard bearer is historically incorrect. At the time of the Seven Years' War this was already the task of the lower-ranking free corporal , no longer that of the ensign as the lowest officer. The fact that Niehoff is the latter is shown by his uniform, which shows all the attributes of an officer: officer's sash, sword with portepee, hat with braid (like all the Prussian officers depicted, however, he lacks the ring collar as a mandatory service badge). The filmmakers did not “confuse” the rank designation, but rather Niehoff's role.
  • The described Duz friendship between Sergeant Treskow and Ensign Niehoff is unlikely. The former is a non-commissioned officer from a humble background, the latter an officer of civil descent. Friendships across social barriers were rare in the 18th century, and in the Prussian military hierarchy they were completely undesirable until the 20th century.
  • Further military-historical errors: The use of a trumpeter in the Prussian infantry shown in the battle episode of Kunersdorf; The drummers were responsible for signaling (the horn players in the foothunters and the trumpeters in the cavalry). The Austrian artillery was uniformed in brown, not white.
  • The celebration of the 50th birthday of Frederick II is chronologically incorrect. The Prussian king was born on January 24th, 1712, but in the film he celebrates shortly before the conquest of Schweidnitz (October 9th, 1762).
  • Frederick II is dubbed King of Prussia throughout the film . At the time of the Seven Years' War he was still king in Prussia.

literature

  • Veit Harlan, In the shadow of my films. Autobiography. Published by HC Opfermann, Sigbert Mohn, Gütersloh 1966.
  • Curt Jany , History of the Prussian Army from the 15th Century to 1914, Volume Two , The Army of Friederich the Great 1740-1763 , reprint ed. by Eberhard Jany, Osnabrück 1967. On the Seven Years War: 625ff.
  • Constanze Freiin von Kettler, The Instrumentalization of Prussia in National Socialist Propaganda Feature Film (Master's Thesis), Grin Verlag 2004
  • Erwin Leiser, “Germany, awake!”. Propaganda in the film of the Third Reich , Reinbek (Rowohlt) 1978
  • Axel Marquardt, Heinz Rathsack, Prussia in the film. A retrospective of the Deutsche Kinemathek Foundation , Reinbek 1981
  • Eberhard Mertens (compilation and introduction), film programs. Vol. 6: The great Prussian films. II. Production 1932–1945 , Hildesheim, New York (Olms Press) 1981

See also

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ FSK approval for a slightly shortened version of 116 minutes.