Omaruru (TV series)
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Omaruru |
| Country of production | Federal Republic of Germany |
| original language | German |
| Year (s) | 1976-1977 |
| length | 25 minutes |
| Episodes | 26 in 2 seasons |
| genre | adventure |
| Director | Peter Schulze-Rohr , Hagen Mueller-Stahl |
| script | Charles Lucas , Theodor Schübel |
| production | Peter Voss and Klaus D. Pätzold for Karat-Film Hans Kühle, Johannesburg and WWF |
| music | Sam Spence |
| camera | Hans Kühle Jr. , Reginald Naumann |
| First broadcast | Unknown on WDR |
| occupation | |
| |
Omaruru is a West German television series from 1976/77, produced by the WWF in cooperation with the South African company Karat-Film in the Republic of South Africa and set in the colony of German South West Africa from 1893 to approx. 1905 . One of the dramaturgical highlights of the series is the uprising of the Herero and Nama in 1904. In 1992 the series was repeated on WDR III . The series title is derived from the community of the same name , which was founded in 1872 as a mission station by the Rhenish Mission .
action
First season
Westphalia 1893. The young farmer's son Karl Pollgries from (the fictional place) Fredeburg emigrates to the colony of German South West Africa to become a farmer . After the crossing, after his sea voyage, he lands in Swakopmund and settles in the “Zum Fürsten Bismarck” hotel, a better shack. The port consists only of a few houses and shops. Here Karl meets the windy businessman Röder, who offers him the opportunity to buy a farm with him, but immediately distances himself from his offer when he learns from a German businessman that you can only get rich in German Southwest in trade. A trade, however, that is not legal.
Fortunately for Karl, the former seaman Hans Moll works as a temporary waiter in the pub he and Röder visit in the evening . Hans is a good 20 years older than Karl and doesn't really know what to do with his life. He gave up the sea voyage because he still gets seasick despite his long journey . When he learns that Röder no longer wants to work as a partner with Karl, he spontaneously decides to farm with Karl in his place. Hans doesn't understand anything about cattle breeding and is also afraid of horses, but as a former seaman he is very skilled at work.
Karl also discovers that the relationship between whites and black Africans is not regulated as fairly as he imagined. He witnesses how a drunken member of the protection force for German South West Africa beats a black man out of sheer high spirits. He doesn't want to let the matter rest. On the advice of an elderly businessman, a complaint is made against the soldier. The defendant is later sentenced to a lengthy prison term by Governor Leutwein , who is considered very fair.
The two new settlers purchase a wagon, draft oxen and all the equipment they need to build a farm and housekeeping from Karl's capital and hire a few Herero as ox drivers and future farm workers. The clever and practical Herero Hosea becomes her foreman and mediator between the exclusively Herero- speaking Herero workers and the two Germans who do not speak any foreign language. Hans and Karl name the draft oxen and horses " Bismarck " or " Moltke " after well-known German politicians and soldiers .
The first attempt to acquire a farm fails right from the start. After building a well with a lot of effort, they find out at the land registry that a cunning crook who observed them building a well immediately registered the land in his name and sold it to a family of settlers. Eventually, however, they find a suitable piece of land with a size of 5000 hectares near Omaruru, register it in their names and name it Fredeburg after Karl's hometown in Westphalia.
Little by little they overcome the first difficulties, such as building houses and raising livestock, until Hans realizes that neither of them can continue to do so. There is no woman in the house, and Hans no longer feels like cooking the food all the time. An attempt by Hans to couple Karl with a farmer's daughter fails miserably. But Hans also realizes that it is time to start a household and travels to Swakopmund. Here he meets Maria, who left Germany because she has an illegitimate daughter who lives with her mother. She wants to start a new life in the southwest.
Hans and Maria get married. But Maria quickly realizes how difficult the monotonous life is on the completely isolated farm. She also misses her daughter who lives in Germany. A farmer's wife from the neighborhood who is friends with her also dreams of finally being able to travel to her hometown Cape Town again . Finally, Maria accepts her fate. She gives birth to a son, whom they name after Hans, who went to great lengths to find a doctor for Maria.
Meanwhile, Hosea tries to understand the customs and traditions of the Germans, which often seem completely nonsensical to him, such as monogamous marriage or the strange rules of Skat . Hans is a passionate skat player and is always looking for a third man to play, but Hosea cannot be persuaded to learn the rules. Hosea also doesn't understand why schnapps can be sold to whites, but not to the Herero and other black Africans. He thinks this is a great injustice, as this rule gives black people a fundamental mistrust.
When a very wealthy brother Hoseas dies, a conflict arises between him and the pastor of the Omaruru mission station. Hosea is a baptized Christian and married. His brother's inheritance consists of 50 oxen; a fortune in the southwest. The Herero laws, however, stipulate that the widow of the heir must be married by the heir so that she is provided for and is not socially worse off than before. However, the pastor considers the acceptance of the inheritance under these conditions to be completely incompatible with Christian principles of faith, but does not want to lose Hosea for his community either. But his attempts to win Karl and Hans over to a moral sermon fail because the two farmers view the matter pragmatically and do not want to interfere in the customs of the Herero, which they see as a private matter. In addition, they don't want to compromise their good relationship with Hosea, which they urgently need on the farm. Hosea accepts the inheritance and his former sister-in-law moves in as his new wife on Fredeburg. When the old and the new wife are constantly fighting, Hosea buys a third wife for 25 oxen, who is quite silent.
One day, to the great surprise of Hans and Karl Röder, appears at Fredeburg. Röder has set up his own business and moves across the country in a freight truck to sell goods to the natives . When asked what he sells, he answers evasively. At night, Hosea finds one of the Herero workers lying under Roeder's car, completely drunk. Hosea discovers that alcohol has dripped through the floor of the car from a leaky liquor barrel, which the worker discovered and then caught lying under the car. As Hosea examines the car more closely, he discovers a box of rifles. He immediately notifies Karl and Hans. They are appalled by Roeder's unscrupulous dealings; the sale of weapons and liquor to the natives is strictly forbidden. Röder reacts calmly to her reproaches. He doesn't want to live in the southwest, he just wants to get rich quickly and then lead a comfortable life as a reindeer in Germany or in Nice . Because Karl has known Röder since his arrival in the southwest and he has never caused any harm, he refrains, albeit with reservations, from filing a criminal complaint with the authorities. Röder leaves Fredeburg that night.
A new conflict arises when one day the mining inspector Gabert appears on the farm and asks for permission to examine the soil for copper deposits . At the insistence of Maria and Hans, Karl finally agrees, although he hated the idea of being able to sell the farm for a considerable fortune. Eventually it turns out that the copper deposits would not guarantee any recovery and Gabert disappears.
1903. Fredeburg is now making a profit, and the Pollgries have also had a daughter, Klara. Karl now offers Maria a trip to Germany, where they not only visit the relatives, but also want to take a vacation in the Alps. Finally Maria should see her daughter again. At a moment when Hans and Karl were absent, Hosea approached Maria and asked her to start the planned trip to Germany with the two children this year and not to wait too long. Maria is irritated and asks what this advice should mean. Hosea replies evasively, but makes it clear that Africans do not always agree with white rule and that "bad times" are coming.
A sergeant of the Schutztruppe appears on Fredeburg. He is looking for the former ensign of the protection force Wolfram, who is now to be drafted into the reserve service, but of whom no place of residence is known. Karl pricks up his ears, but the sergeant reassures him: there is no real danger, but a rebellion of the Bondelswarts has broken out in the south of the colony . The staff in the north is very thin; he himself only has four soldiers left in Omaruru. The team is to be increased by drawing in reservists. If he meets the ensign, he should inform him of the presentation order.
Through Hosea, Karl learns that Wolfram now lives unregistered in a Herero settlement. Karl sends Hosea to Wolfram that he has an important message for him. In fact, Wolfram appears with his wife at Fredeburg and explains that he lives with her and that they also have a child together. He radically rejects colonial rule and calls for equal coexistence with the natives; nor did he see himself as a German for a long time. The draft notice is no longer valid for him, although it is clear to him that he is in fact deserting . The rumors of an uprising are nonsensical. Hans is enthusiastic about Wolfram's wife.
The sergeant appears again at Fredeburg. He heard that Karl had contact with Wolfram. Karl explains to him about the conversation with the former ensign. The sergeant announced that family fathers could soon be drafted into the protection force. Karl and Hans discuss the situation in the colony. Hans blames dealers like Röder for the escalating situation; Karl should have reported the merchant for his illegal liquor and arms deals. On the other hand, the land belongs to whoever works it, i.e. the white settlers, because the Herero are too lazy to work the land.
At a Herero council, Wolfram learns that an uprising is actually planned. Although he does not pass on his knowledge, he is killed by the Herero so that the plan cannot be revealed. When Karl goes to Herero village to visit Wolfram, the inhabitants have disappeared. Karl only finds Wolfram's corpse. It finally becomes clear to him that difficult times are ahead of Fredeburg and the colony.
Second season
In the first episode of the second season, Hosea asks Maria Pollgries to start her planned trip to Germany with her family as early as possible. When Mrs. Pollgries asks him to explain this wish in more detail, Hosea evades and indicates that the Africans do not necessarily agree with German colonial rule. When the Herero uprising breaks out, Hans Moll is shot by the Herero; Walter Giller's participation in the series was over.
Lore
The first season was edited in 2010 by Pidax series classics on DVD . The release of the second season has not yet been announced (2015).
Web links
- Omaruru in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Omaruru at Fernsehserien.de
- Omaruru in the online film database