Germany - terminus east

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Movie
Original title Germany - terminus east
Country of production GDR , Belgium
original language German
Publishing year 1964
length 84 minutes
Rod
Director Frans Buyens
script Frans Buyens
production DEFA , KAG “camera ddr”,
Iris Films, Antwerp
music Wolfgang Lesser
camera Hans-Eberhard Leupold
cut Lucien Vivier

Germany - Endstation Ost is a documentary film by DEFA Studios for Wochenschau und Documentary Films and Iris-Films, Antwerp by Frans Buyens from 1964.

action

Three years after the construction of the Berlin Wall , the film by the Belgian documentary film director Frans Buyens begins at the Checkpoint Charlie border crossing , where thousands of western visitors drive from West to East Berlin every day . These include business people, diplomats, tourists and, in many cases, members of the American, English and French troops stationed in West Berlin, whose first destination is usually at the memorial for the victims of fascism and militarism on Unter den Linden . After pointing out again that this is a border through the middle of a city, which is underlined by shots of concrete walls and barbed wire, the director begins his interviews on the streets of Berlin. He introduced himself as a foreign filmmaker and wanted to know what East Berliners thought of the Wall. Their answers ranged from approval to total disapproval. Further interviews were filmed with four soldiers from the GDR border troops who were on duty on the border with West Berlin. They reported the means by which they should hold back border violators and under what circumstances the weapon should be used. They agreed that luckily they had not yet been able to do so.

After an explanation of the history of Berlin and the division after the Second World War and the indication that this city lies in the middle of the territory of the GDR , which comprises about a third of pre-war Germany, it is pointed out that this territory was previously used almost exclusively for agriculture. After the war and the subsequent land reform , the collectivization of agriculture came in the 1950s , which was completed in 1960. The next person we spoke to was a farmer who had been LPG chairman for 10 years . He explains the purpose of land reform and the mistakes that were made at the beginning of collectivization and that can only be removed slowly. An agriculture student sitting next to him who is doing his internship here says that farmers are naturally skeptics who do not cheerfully welcome every change.

Frans Buyens talks to the former owners of private production companies who are now employed as plant managers or in similar managerial positions in their previous companies about shots full of shop windows that are supposed to show the progress in supplying the GDR population. He meets them in Karl-Marx-Stadt at a regulars' table they founded, where they talk about the new conditions in their companies since they have been working with state participation . They all went this way voluntarily, as they have seen other examples of the advantages of this step. In any case, it gives more economic security, even if the private income could be much better, but this is due to the current tax policy.

The director talks about the culture, the social security system, including free health care, including the outpatient clinics spread all over the country and the care of children in crèches and kindergartens. Since about two out of three women are employed in the GDR, the next topic is about them, for which he chooses technical draftsmen from the Warnow shipyard in Warnemünde and workers from a company that builds transistors . He wants to know why they go to work. Most of these respondents work because they enjoy doing something meaningful. This is made easier for them because they are equal to their male colleagues in operational tasks, management functions and also in terms of earnings. It is also not necessary to go to work just for the education of the children, because all of these measures are free until they graduate.

During a discussion with medical students, Frans Buyens learns that the social support is exemplary and that a job is safe after graduation. A lengthy discussion follows about whether material security alone is responsible for a person's happiness. In another conversation, young industrial workers give answers to the question of whether they can have a say in the company and whether they have an influence on politics. This question is answered positively by almost everyone, which can also be seen from the fact that progress has been made in the GDR, although not as quickly as desired, which is also due to the bureaucracy that is still predominant in many cases. Now is the opportunity for the Belgian filmmaker to show an outline of the history of the GDR, in which it is emphasized that the construction took place against much resistance from the capitalist countries and with the support of the other socialist countries. In the further discussion, which consists almost exclusively of the advocacy of life in this country, a colleague also volunteers who has a different interpretation of the term freedom. For him, freedom to travel to capitalist countries is also part of it, which is not offered to him.

A final discussion group consists of foreign students who are learning the German language at the Herder Institute in Leipzig . Then they want to study economics, political economy and the like at the universities of the GDR. They express the conviction that they are not influenced politically, which is, however, very questionable in these subjects. They only talk positively about their stay in the GDR and after their experience there is almost no xenophobia.

Production and publication

The outdoor shots in Berlin were shot in Friedrichstrasse , Schönhauser Allee , Karl-Marx-Allee , Ackerstrasse , in Volkspark am Weinberg , on Weidendammer Bridge , Unter den Linden and at various points on the Berlin Wall .

Germany - Endstation Ost was shot on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the GDR by the DEFA studio for newsreels and documentary films , KAG "camera ddr" and the Belgian production company Iris Films, Antwerp under the working title The GDR through the eyes of a foreigner as a black and white film.

The film premiered in a special performance on November 20, 1964 during the 7th Leipzig Documentary and Short Film Week .

criticism

In New Germany , Horst Knietzsch and Horst Schiefelbein wrote:

“The film by Belgian director Frans Buyens was shot in the 'Capitol' that afternoon with loud applause. The "GDR through the eyes of a foreigner" is a convincing document about the great intellectual and material changes that have taken place in the GDR since 1949. "

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Neue Zeit of November 21, 1964, p. 1
  2. ↑ Neues Deutschland from November 21, 1964, p. 5