Martin Luther (GDR 1983)

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Movie
Original title Martin Luther
Country of production GDR
original language German
Publishing year 1983
length 450 minutes
Rod
Director Kurt Veth
script Hans Kohlus ,
Kurt Veth
production DEFA
on behalf of East German television
music Karl-Ernst Sasse
camera Erich Gusko
cut Renate Bade ,
Christine Schöne
occupation

Martin Luther is a five-part feature film made in the GDR from 1983 by Kurt Veth with the actor Ulrich Thein in the leading role of Martin Luther . The film was broadcast on Luther's 500th birthday in 1983.

action

The life and work of the monk and later reformer Martin Luther is treated in this film in five parts:

Part 1: The protest It is the year 1517, the Dominican Johann Tetzel travels through the country and sells indulgences . Having arrived near Wittenberg , he hopes to be able to bring indulgences to the people there too soon. But Elector Friedrich the Wise refuses to allow him to enter his country. Dr. Luther, a lecturer at the University of Wittenberg, hears about Tetzel's indulgence sermons and writes 95 theses against the indulgence trade. Johann von Staupitz , confessor and vicar general of the Augustinian order , tries to appease him. But Luther cannot be put in a mild mood. He had his 95 theses printed by the printer Grunenberg and then banged them on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg . They are also being distributed through book printing , and so Tetzel receives news of them too. Tetzel foams and calls for Luther's burning. When he learns that Luther is said to have given the daughter of a farmer's wife and witch into the care of Lucas Cranach , he immediately calls him the devil's son in increased anger. Tetzel decides to formulate opposing theses together with Professor Koch and has Luther reported as a heretic .

Part 2: The Son of Malice It is the year 1518. Luther's theses and writings spread all over the country and he is gaining followers. Luther is ordered to Augsburg and he actually leaves. There he is asked by Cardinal Cajetan to revoke his theses, but he does not follow the invitation.

Part 3: The Secrets of the Antichrist Luther recognizes that the Pope must be the Antichrist and has this proclaimed. The bull of excommunication , which Johannes Eck demanded and obtained from the Pope , he burns with his supporters in front of the gates of the city of Wittenberg. On this occasion they are singing Luther's new song A strong castle is our God .

Part 4: Here I stand ... It is the year 1521. Luther, quoted in front of the Reichstag in Worms , stands there in front of Emperor Karl V. Again he is asked to revoke what he refuses. The emperor is imposed and the imperial ban on him. On the way back to Wittenberg, Luther was abducted to the Wartburg on behalf of his sovereign, Elector Friedrich , which was under the command of Captain Berlepsch . In this hiding place, Luther translates the New Testament into German. Meanwhile there are riots in Wittenberg. Wittenberg citizens who are under the influence of Karlstadt have devastated the churches. They destroyed the pictures and statues of saints . The terrified Luther hurried back to Wittenberg and helped restore order.

Part 5: Conscience The last episode deals with the years 1523 to 1527. Luther marries the former nun Katharina von Bora . Peasant revolts break out in the south of the empire. Luther's former supporter, Thomas Müntzer , supports the uprisings and continues to fuel them. Luther opposes Thomas Müntzer and the rebellious peasants. The peasant uprisings , which were later described by the historiography of the GDR as the so-called " early bourgeois revolution ", failed. Thomas Müntzer is executed. The plague breaks out in Wittenberg and Luther also feels bad and sick. The film adaptation ends with Luther regaining his strength, who knows that the Reformation is endangered by war.

Production circumstances

The 500th birthday of Martin Luther in 1983 gave the opportunity to produce programs about his life and work. From 1981 to 1983 this GDR television film was shot in five parts. At the same time, a new Luther film called Martin Luther was produced in the Federal Republic of Germany . Both productions showed that they were shot during the Cold War . The GDR film was produced in the DEFA studio for feature films for GDR television in cooperation with the Barrandov studio in Prague. Filming locations were not only used in the GDR, but also in socialist countries abroad. In contrast to the German film adaptation by Rainer Wolffhardt, a lot of effort was made; to this day the GDR film is the longest Luther film ever. Specialist advisers were the theologian Herbert Trebs and the historian Gerhard Brendler . When making the GDR film, however, the filmmakers had to pay attention to political guidelines. The film was broadcast on East German television in October 1983. In 1985 he was shown in the Third Programs .

Similarities and major differences to other Luther films

  • Ulrich Thein (1930–1995) is the oldest Luther in comparison to the Luther actors from the other films.
  • The so-called thunderstorm experience is completely unmentioned, and Luther's acceptance into the Augustinian order is only treated briefly as a retrospective in the film adaptation.
  • As in many other film adaptations, Luther nailed the 95 theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg . However, he is not alone in his act. Two students accompany him. Cut into the scene at the same time, a book seller prophesies, screaming out loud, that a savior will come from Kyffhäuser . The scene shows a serious difference between this and the German film adaptation of Martin Luther by Rainer Wolffhardt . In the GDR film, social processes are emphasized much more strongly. Luther is presented less as a hero than as a person who is supported by society.
  • At the Reichstag in Worms , Luther shouted out loud in this film: “Here I stand, I can't help it”. The wording is not available in the surviving copies of the speech. This is why many historians believe that this phrase was never spoken. Apart from the fact that the speech was given in Latin, the sentence must have been spoken very loudly (and probably in German) if the oral tradition was affirmed. In the film adaptation of Martin Luther by Rainer Wolffhardt, this is not the case in comparison.
  • Luther throws his inkwell at the Wartburg, much like it is portrayed in the well-known legend. The inkwell, however, is just a legend.
  • Thomas Müntzer is portrayed much more positively than in the film adaptation of Martin Luther by Rainer Wolffhardt, because Friedrich Engels had transfigured the events around Müntzer into pre-socialist events in his book “Der Deutschen Bauernkrieg” and Müntzer was considered a martyr of socialism among his successors . The Central Committee of the SED had therefore specified that in the film, the "right relationship between Luther and Müntzer should be observed".
  • In the scene in which Thomas Müntzer is executed, there is an authoritarian / authoritarian narrator . This makes this film one of the few Luther films in which such a narrator appears. Otherwise there is only such a narrator in the film The Poor Man Luther , who is not supposed to represent a propagandistic element there.

Reviews

"... the West German reviewers were completely impressed, celebrated the GDR film and criticized ARD and ZDF, which had not achieved anything comparable."

"The critics in the Federal Republic liked the GDR Luther film at least as much as the in-house productions of ARD and ZDF, many even better."

See also

References and comments

  1. ↑ a b Michael Schmidt [u. a.]: German history. Volume 2.1348-1755. Augsburg, 2001, p. 246.
  2. ↑ cf. Horst Dähn: Luther and the GDR . Berlin 1996, pp. 121-127.
  3. ↑ See for example EKD - Martin Luther in the film ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ekd.de
  4. ↑ See WA 7, p. 832 ff.
  5. ↑ See Brothers Grimm : Deutsche Sagen , No. 562.
  6. ↑ In the Weimar edition, section table speeches , no. 6816 there is only a similar, but not identical, story to that of the Brothers Grimm.
  7. ^ Johann Baptist Müller: Luther and the Germans. Stuttgart 1996, p. 152 ff.
  8. ↑ See ibid.
  9. ↑ EKD - Martin Luther in Film ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ekd.de
  10. ↑ Torsten Wahl: A film becomes a state act . In: Berliner Zeitung in review of October 13, 2003. Accessed on February 20, 2013.
  11. ↑ See Brother Martin (1981)
  12. ↑ Horst Dähn: Luther and the GDR . Berlin 1996, p. 116.

literature

Web links