SM auxiliary cruiser "Wolf"
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | SM auxiliary cruiser "Wolf" |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1918 |
| length | 13 minutes |
| Rod | |
| production | Image and Film Office (BUFA) ( Berlin ) |
| camera | Unknown |
SM auxiliary cruiser "Wolf" is a German documentary film that was shot in Kiel in 1918 for propaganda purposes on board the auxiliary cruiser SMS Wolf .
action
The returning wolf encounters a German torpedo boat . The first officer , Kapitänleutnant Schmehl, gives orders on the bridge . The steamer is greeted by civilians and members of the navy in the port of Kiel. Maneuvers are carried out on a sailing training ship lying in the harbor.
The head of the naval base of the Baltic Sea , Vice Admiral Gustav Bachmann , gives the Wolf - Commander , Commander Karl August Nerger , the Pour le Mérite . Since Bachmann did not properly fasten the ribbon around Nerger's neck, the medal threatens to slip, which is prevented by a naval member standing behind Nerger by holding the ribbon on Nerger's shoulder.
Admiral Prince Heinrich of Prussia , brother of Kaiser Wilhelm II, visits the Wolf . Prisoners of war merchant ship sailors and Portuguese and New Zealand (or Australian ) soldiers move on deck. The prisoners get their food in large buckets.
The board aircraft Wölfchen , a Friedrichshafen FF 33 is made ready to go. The two pilots board the machine. The dogs on board, mostly dachshunds , frolic in front of the camera. There are artillery exercises carried out, is demonstrated in which, as the camouflage of the auxiliary cruiser is canceled in the application. Meat is brought on board, according to the intermediate table, the first fresh meat in 12 months. The prisoners' luggage is examined, then they are transported to the land captivity on a small steamer that lies alongside the Wolf .
Production history
In contrast to Count Dohna and his seagull , no film recordings were made on the Wolf during its journey. Why, in contrast to the seagull , no film camera was taken on board is unknown. All recordings of the SM auxiliary cruiser "Wolf" were shot in the port of Kiel.
In his autobiographical novel Des Kaisers Kulis (Berlin 1929), the writer Theodor Plivier , who was a member of the crew on board the Wolf , reports on the shooting. After that, most of the recordings are made, as no camera team was present when the ship entered the port of Kiel and when Admiral Bachmann was awarded the medals:
... The admiral has come back on board. This time with a captain from the "Propaganda Office to Raise the War Mood in the Hinterland". A film machine! Close- up : of the commander, the pack of dachshunds, the crew.
The cameraman cranks. The admiral lends the collected Iron Crosses a second time, asks the same idiotic questions, reads the same Emperor's telegram , puts the Pour le Mérite on the commandant again. A huge cinema ! The nation's highest order of war has become a theater prop . The commandant, who has been denied a marriage consensus with his wife because she is an actress, is pushed into the role of an actor himself. The other officers, including the admiral and chief of the Baltic Sea station, make up the extra series . The crews of the warships lying in the harbor and the jetties populated on command provide the large and cheap background. We shout Hurray, half a hundred times, until we're hoarse, and grin: Propaganda to raise the war mood in Germany! 500 m film for the hinterland and the hospitals . The captured cargo worth 40 million marks ... is not intended for the hinterland and the hospitals ...
Plivier, Des Kaisers Kulis , p. 307
According to Plivier, the film was 500 m long, which is considerably longer than the traditional version. It is noticeable that the Wolf is never taken in from the outside, which is probably due to the fact that the ship was in a condition, in some cases considerably damaged by the long journey and the effects of storms. The opening sequence that the Wolf allegedly shows when arriving in Kiel was probably filmed at the rear of a much smaller and faster vehicle. The content of the recording of the sailing school ship Grand Duchess Elisabeth of the German School Ship Association is not related to the Wolf trip and should evidently suggest a maritime flair.
For decades, the film was only available in a four-minute version and has apparently been restored by the Federal Film Archives .
See also
literature
- Theodor Plivier: The emperor's coolie. Novel of the German navy , Berlin (Malik) 1930.