The discovery of Germany
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The discovery of Germany |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1916 |
| length | approx. 60 (1916), 18 (2015) minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director |
Georg Jacoby Richard O. Frankfurter |
| script | Richard O. Frankfurter |
| production | Mars film, Munich |
| occupation | |
| |
The Discovery of Germany is a German silent film from 1916 with science fiction elements and a propaganda orientation.
action
World War I in Europe: The turmoil in the theaters of war and the news propaganda both over there and over there have assumed such proportions that even on the planet Mars one got wind of it. The local journalist Mavortin listens to the cable messages of the warring Earthling nations. If one were to believe the newspapers and agencies of the French and British, such as Reuters , there must be hunger and misery in Germany and the most important factories of the empire would come to a standstill. Mavortin wants to make up his own mind and therefore decides to pay a visit to the distant planet. As luck would have it, the Martian scientist Marsilius invented the antibaryn, a mixture of drug and fuel. Antibaryn works against gravity. Mavortin and Marsilius swallow the epoch-making wonder drug and get to earth in no time at all.
The two aliens land in Munich near the Frauenkirche and are initially astonished. Life is humming on the streets and in the squares, everyone has gathered there to greet the guests from the strange world. The mood is friendly and determined by interest, people understand each other blindly, and there is no trace of hunger or even impoverishment. Local delicacies such as meatballs and pretzels are eaten together with the Bajuwaren, and good beer is served with them. Afterwards, the two Martians travel to Berlin by train and can also feast to their heart's content in the dining car. In the capital, Mavortin and Marsilius visit the Bolle dairy, and later also locomotive, grenade, champagne and cigarette factories. The message is: German industry is doing very well, all factories are fully operational. The Martians enjoy these Germans, and by the way, the foreign reports of Germany's enemies are exposed as shabby lies.
Production notes
The discovery of Germany is a curious and unusual mixture of film propaganda and science fiction history that emerged in the middle of the war. The strip was created in autumn 1916 and premiered on December 21, 1916 in the Union Palast in Berlin. Only afterwards (February 1917) did the five-act act, which was classified as important for reasons of war propaganda, pass the film censorship and receive a youth ban. The length was 1678 meters. When the new censorship on April 11, 1924, the discovery of Germany was released for young people.
The production company Mars-Film was founded especially for this film and was merged with UFA, which was founded at the end of 1917 .
About 18 minutes of what was once an hour-long film still exist today. A Dutch compilation entitled "Per vliegball naar de aarde" was given to the Dutch Film Museum in Amsterdam in 1971 by a private film collector .
classification
"'The discovery of Germany by the Martians' is, of course, a propaganda film, but not just any one: 'It is the first official film that was expressly intended for German domestic propaganda during the First World War.'"
literature
- Britta Lange: The discovery of Germany. Science fiction as propaganda. Verbrecher Verlag, Berlin 2015