Tannhauser Gate
The Tannhäuser Tor is a fictional place that was first mentioned in the film Blade Runner in 1982 and has been used repeatedly in other contexts since then. In the English original name is Tannhauser Gate , which in the German version of the film with Tannhauser Gate was translated. Due to the great influence of the cult film Blade Runner , especially on cyberpunk , the outstanding position of the quotation and the poignant recitation in the film, the term has become more widespread, especially among science fiction fans.
The Tannhauser Gate in Blade Runner
The place is mentioned for the first time in the film Blade Runner . There, towards the end of the film, the replicant Roy Batty (played by Rutger Hauer ) chases his opponent Rick Deckard (played by Harrison Ford ). After saving his life on the roof of a skyscraper in the rain, he reports to Deckard, aware of his imminent death (replicants are only granted a four-year lifetime), of experiences during his extraterrestrial combat missions:
“I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser Gate . All those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain. [Pause] Time to die. "
“I've seen things that you humans would never believe. Gigantic ships on fire out on Orion's shoulder. And I saw C-Beams, glittering in the dark, near the Tannhauser Tor . All these moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain. [Pause] Time to die. "
After saying these words, Batty dies. In the Channel 4 documentary On the Edge of Blade Runner , director Ridley Scott , screenwriter David Peoples and Rutger Hauer confirm that the latter wrote these lines himself, although a basic idea was already in Peoples' draft. In a later interview, Hauer stated that the first sentences were in draft and that he added the last two sentences.
The Tannhauser Gate only appears in the above quote. Only in the comic for the film by Marvel Comics is it mentioned again without any explanation ("He'd flown gypsy ships with the Russian at Tannhauser Gate ..."). In the novel, do androids dream of electric sheep? by Philip K. Dick , on which the film is based, it is not included at all. So it is not determined what it is.
Origin of the name
The name Tannhäuser has its origin in the legend of the minstrel of the same name. On the way to a singing competition, he passes the mountain of the woman Venus , who lures him with her charms. The knight then stays with her and enjoys the joys. After a year, the knight regrets his decision and wants to leave her. She only lets him go with a promise to return if he finds no mercy. Then Tannhäuser goes to the Pope . He refuses him grace with the words: "As little as this dry stick turns green and will and can ever turn green again, just as little can you hope that you can and will ever be granted mercy and forgiveness from God and me!" The knight turns so back to Mrs. Venus. After three days the Pope's staff begins to turn green. The knight Tannhäuser was never seen again.
Tannhäuser (actually Tannhäuser and the Singers' War on Wartburg ) is also the name of an opera by Richard Wagner that deals with this topic. It has been played since 1845, also worldwide, and therefore contributed significantly to the popularity of this name.
Exemplary references
Several musicians referred to the Tannhauser Gate. Among other things, "Tan-Hauser Gate" is the name of an English rock band and a rock band from Kiel in Schleswig-Holstein . "Tannhauser Gate" is a song title by the group The Electric Hellfire Club on the album Electronomicon , a title by the group Fightstar on the album One Day Son, This Will All Be Yours and the title of a demo by the group Cubicle. The band Tocotronic quotes the Tannhauser Tor in the title Spiralen on the album Tocotronic (2015).
The term is used several times in connection with computer games. Tannhauser Gate was the name of a Polish game development company, but other companies also use the name. In the Homeworld computer game , the player has to protect the Bentusi from enemy attacks at the so-called Tenhauser Gate. In the Heavy Gear game series, mankind spread to nine other planets via Tannhauser gates. In the computer game Tomb Raider 2, the heroine travels to the Himalayan mountains . One place there is the (fictional) Tannhauser Gate.
It is also used in other areas: In the film Star Force Soldier , which plays in the same film universe as Blade Runner , the main character Todd (played by Kurt Russell ) took part in a battle at Tannhauser Tor. In the Perry Rhodan Universe, the Tannhauser Gate is a building on the planet Lepso. In the Gainax studio's anime Gunbuster, a Tannhauser Gate is mentioned several times . There it is the only way to fly faster than light.
In the volume River of Blue Fire from Tad Williams' Otherland cycle , a character recites a modified version of the above quotation; the Tannhauser Tor does not appear in this version.
“I've seen things that you humans would never believe. [...] Dropships that were on fire off the coast of the Nonestic Ocean. And I've seen magical blunderbusses, flashing and glittering in the dark near Glinda's palace. All these moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain. […] Time to die …"
Web links
- The quote as a video file: German ( AVI ; 7.6 MB) - English (avi - 7.2 MB)
- The quote as an audio file: German (MP3; 487 kB) - English (MP3 - 0.5 MB)
Individual evidence
- ^ Blade Runner: The Director's Cut, 1991
- ↑ Hampton Fancher, David Peoples: Bladerunner: Screenplay by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples . February 23, 1981 ( online [accessed July 23, 2007]).
- ↑ Interview with Rutger Hauer in September 2009
- ^ Archie Goodwin, Al Williamson, Carlos Garzon, and others. a .: Blade Runner Comic . Marvel Comics, S. 10 ( online [accessed July 23, 2007]).
- ^ Website of the Tan-Hauser Gate group. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on May 14, 2007 ; Retrieved July 26, 2007 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Website of the Tannhauser Gate group. (No longer available online.) October 25, 2007, archived from the original on October 15, 2007 ; Retrieved October 25, 2007 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Track list of the LP Electronomicon. Discogs, accessed July 26, 2007 .
- ↑ Cubicle: Tannhäuser Gate - Video of the demo on youtube. April 9, 2012, accessed October 3, 2017 .
- ^ Tocotronic : Spirals. In: Tocotronic . May 1, 2015, accessed on October 3, 2017 (to be heard from around 1:34 with: "[...] near the Tannhauser Tor.").
- ↑ Kubold Games & Animation. Retrieved June 27, 2017 .
- ↑ Company register for Tannhauser Gate
- ↑ Review Homeworld II. Retrieved March 8, 2008 .
- ↑ David Peoples: SOLDIER: Screenplay by David Peoples . October 2, 1997 ( dailyscript.com [accessed July 26, 2007]).
- ↑ Wim Vandemaan: Dead Diver . Fantasy Productions, Erkrath 2006, ISBN 3-89064-486-4 .
- ↑ Perrypedia -Tannhäuser Gate
- ↑ Kentaro Onizuka: Reach for the stars! ( ne.jp [accessed July 26, 2007] translated and commented script).
- ↑ Tad Williams: River of Blue Fire . Heyne, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-453-53216-3 , p. 422-423 .
