Thomas Müntzer - A film of German history

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Movie
Original title Thomas Müntzer - A film of German history
Country of production GDR
original language German
Publishing year 1956
length 119 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director Martin Hellberg
script Martin Hellberg ,
Horst Reinecke ,
Friedrich Wolf
production DEFA
music Ernst Roters
camera Götz Neumann
cut Lieselotte Johl
occupation

Thomas Müntzer - A Film of German History is a film shot in the GDR from 1956, directed by Martin Hellberg .

The historical film depicts the life and work of Pastor Thomas Müntzer against the background of the German Peasants' War .

action

In German lands in 1519, the indulgence trade has come to a standstill. Martin Luther's ideas spread throughout the country. His doctrine of the priesthood of all believers is also popular with the peasants. Some of the farmers think that Luther belongs to the Bundschuh , an alliance of farmers against the power of the princes. The priest Thomas Müntzer is also enthusiastic about Luther's teachings. But in contrast to Luther, he is not averse to violent measures against the bailiffs , i.e. the authorities . Because the bailiffs were cruel masters of farmers and already in this world , the bitter situation must improve the farmers. The news is that Dr. Eck asked Martin Luther to hold a disputation in Leipzig . Meanwhile, Müntzer is working as a confessor in a nunnery. There he met the nun Ottilie von Gersen . A year later, in 1520, the farmers in Thuringia and Saxony can also read notices on which it is announced that Luther has come under the spell because of the bull threatening Exsurge Domine . But many of the peasants stick to Luther, who has meanwhile published his work “ On the Freedom of a Christian Man ”. In the next scene, a Catholic clergyman tells the emperor that the princes' support for Luther would only be about power, ultimately about ownership of the church. The emperor had the imperial ban issue to curb the prince. The Pope will be grateful to him, support and strengthen him. Luther is called to the Reichstag in Worms. He does not revoke and ends up under princely protective custody at the Wartburg . The emperor did not stop Luther, the princes can celebrate.

In 1523 Thomas Müntzer traveled to Allstedt with his young wife Ottilie von Gersen, who left the monastery for him . There he takes over the pastor's position. The Allstedt community is boiling. The farmers have already complained to the city council because the taxes to be paid are too high. The shady councilor Smoke had received the complaints. In addition, Hans Buss was arrested by two of the Count von Mansfeld's twigs . Hans Buss had killed a mine overseer in the affect , because he had tried to rape his sister, Bärbel Buss. Müntzer is on Hans' side. In a tavern in the small town he engages the two men in a conversation, which distracts the two so that Hans can escape. Hans Buss uses the opportunity and so the Count von Mansfeld hears from Thomas Müntzer for the first time.

Soon afterwards, Müntzer held a mass in German for the first time. Incited by the sermon to destroy pictures and figures of saints, the rural community storms a small nearby chapel in folk festival style and sets it on fire. The soldiers of the Count Mansfeld come over and try to intervene. But the enthusiastic farmers fight back and surprisingly overwhelm the soldiers. However, the triumph was short-lived, a reinforcement brought in by Mansfeld soldiers brought many farmers out of their houses, the houses were set on fire and the prisoners were taken away. Müntzer now recognizes his differences with Luther. Luther had spoken out against rebellion in his writings. Müntzer got into the situation that rebellious peasants from his community were in custody, he set himself apart from Luther and protested. The pregnant Ottilie sews a flag with a rainbow for him , as a sign of an alliance that he wants to lead.

Shortly afterwards, Müntzer was taken over by Elector Johann von Sachsen , his son and Chancellor Dr. Brück visited, who want to check whether Müntzer could be of use to them. The curious princes want Müntzer to preach to them. On July 13, 1524, Müntzer gave a sermon that is known today as the Prince's Sermon . In the sermon he exhorts the princes in the most violent way to give in to the peasants. The princes leave, they show no enthusiasm. After the sermon, the captured peasants are tried. As a deterrent and punishment, the executioner's eyes, hand or tongue will be removed. After that they are free. Müntzer has to flee. He goes with the Schwabenhannes, a Swabian farmer, to southern Germany , where farmers also protest, and joins the local farmers.

He stayed in southern Germany for about five months. Müntzer is also there when a mighty castle is stormed. He expertly oversees how the armed peasants take the castle. Ottilie has meanwhile given birth to her son. Homesickness plagues Müntzer. When Heinrich Pfeifer calls him to Mühlhausen , that is, back to Thuringia, he immediately sets off. The two make Mühlhausen the center of the Thuringian peasant uprising. Councilor Qualm also takes part in administrative work, but plays a double game. The country does not come to rest. The princes advance with troops. So farmers have to lose their lives again, some of the bereaved accuse Müntzer of being to blame for their misery. Müntzer goes to Frankenhausen , where the decisive battle will take place. With fanaticism, Müntzer leads the peasants into battle, but cannot avert the defeat brought about by the betrayal and sabotage of the councilman, Rauch. After his defeat against the army of the princes, he was captured, tortured and finally executed on May 27, 1525.

Ottilie, her son, the Schwabenhannes and a student who fought on Müntzer's side, go south. They join the Waldshut heap , to which they deliver the last written words of Thomas Müntzer, in which the latter calls for the fight to continue.

background

The DEFA film Thomas Müntzer - A film of German history was made for DEFA's 10th birthday. VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb took over the distribution . The color film was shot in Quedlinburg in Saxony-Anhalt .

In the GDR, the film was officially approved on April 7, 1956 and shown for the first time on May 17, 1956. The original version was 135 minutes long. In a service meeting with the Minister of Culture on May 8, 1973, it was decided to intensify the film on the occasion of the celebrations for the 450th anniversary of the Peasants' War in 1975, but to use it in a very shortened version. Then the film was changed by director Martin Hellberg according to the specifications. The individual cuts and their reasons can be read in the minutes of the admission meetings published by the "Berlin Institute for Comparative State-Church Research" (see web links). The restart was on October 18, 1974.

The film was also released in Greece, there under the title Gia ena kommati gis . In the Federal Republic of Germany, the film did not make it over the hurdle of the Interministerial Committee for East-West Film Issues , a body of the federal government composed of representatives of the various ministries, which previewed films from the socialist countries and granted or refused import. A test criterion when viewing the films was apparently also the question of whether the content of the film in question was politically impeccable , as can be seen from the minutes of the founding of the committee.

In the feature film, Martin Luther's life and work was almost entirely left out. This gap was only closed with the GDR documentary Credo: Martin Luther - Wittenberg 1517 , which was released in 1967 and presented the socialist perspective on Martin Luther. On the 500th birthday of the reformer Martin Luther in 1983, the feature film Martin Luther was released , which tried to close the gap even more. Ulrich Thein , who played a student in the film Thomas Müntzer - A Film of German History, played Martin Luther in this film adaptation. In the year the Berlin Wall came down, a less well-known film was made about the life of Thomas Müntzer, Ich, Thomas Müntzer, Sichel Gottes , which was no longer able to develop any propaganda effect because of the political events.

In 2005 the film was released on DVD under the title The Life and Fate of Pastor Thomas Müntzer . The uncut version of the film was first broadcast on July 10, 2017, 10:05 p.m. on Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk television.

Backdrops

Parts of the film take place on the castle ruins of Rothenburg am Kyffhäuser and the backdrop of the castle (from the direction of Kelbra) is shown in the film as a burning castle with peasants passing by.

Historical inaccuracies

  • Many of the roles represent fictional characters, for example Bärbel Buss .
  • At the beginning of the film, two farmers talk about the priesthood of all believers . But Luther only wrote about it in 1520. However, the scene takes place in 1519, the year of the Leipzig disputation .
  • When rushing to the castle, a German flag can be clearly seen on the farmers' side . At the end of the film, when scattered farmers meet, one of them can be seen again. According to a legend, according to the communist politician and journalist Albert Norden , during the German Peasants' War the farmers of the Stühlingen landgraviate were drawn into the uprising under the black, red and gold imperial flag, but this legend is generally not believed. The representation of the flag in the film was therefore probably inserted for propaganda reasons.
  • In the film, the farmers only lose the battle of Frankenhausen through betrayal and sabotage . In truth, the militarily poorly armed peasants were not in a position to counter the princes with anything adequate.
  • Emperor Karl V speaks broken German in the film and has a heavy French accent. In truth, Karl spoke in Low German when dealing with Germans .
  • The tortured Müntzer sticks to his ideas. When asked on the scaffold whether he wanted to withdraw, he refuses and instead confirms his views. In truth, he is reported to have revoked his teachings and beliefs under the torture that preceded his execution.

The film shows a large number of other historical inaccuracies, which can be identified by looking at the real biographies of the individual characters. The portrayal of Thomas Müntzer in the film is strongly influenced by the socialist historiography of the GDR. Due to the number of historical inaccuracies among the features, the published DVD with the feature film contains a film with the title Thomas Müntzer - A Disturber of the Unbelievers, which was produced especially for the DVD release. In this thirteen-minute film, the religious scholar Susanne Galley tries to briefly summarize what actually happened in history and what is known about Thomas Müntzer.

criticism

The absence of Martin Luther , with the exception of some of the aforementioned statements by Luther on the peasant war , led Western critics to accuse of falsifying history .

For example, the film-dienst wrote : “A historical film about the fate of the Protestant clergyman and farmer's leader Thomas Müntzer, made with immense external effort, was created as a“ real national film work ”( Hellberg ) [...] The DEFA production lists Müntzer as a visionary of a“ new World order ”, which ultimately only fails because of the sabotage of the nobility. The film appears superficial and tendentious in its interpretation of history; In terms of staging, too, he remains anemic despite the lavish crowd scenes. "

Der Spiegel wrote: "Martin Hellberg (motto of life:" Art is an erotic process "), winner of the" National Prize "and the" World Peace Prize ", has the Anabaptist rebels, iconoclasts and martyrs of the peasant war in this agfacolored" picture arch of German history " haired into an original communist ancestor of Walter Ulbricht . On the historic battlefield near Bad Frankenhausen in Thuringia, where in 1525 the core troops of the peasant warriors were beaten up by the princes' mercenaries, 2000 disguised people's police officers and students from the construction schools of Erfurt and Gotha fight a bloody, decorative film battle. 206 main and secondary actors - the title role is handled by the Hamburg actor Wolfgang Stumpf with subdued nobility - devour the predominantly reddish threads in a monumental confusion. Only runs in the east zone. "

Criticism was also expressed in the East itself. The organ of the East CDU, the publication Neue Zeit , was also critical and rejected the film.

media

  • VHS : Thomas Müntzer - The life and fate of Pastor Thomas Müntzer. Icestorm Entertainment
  • DVD : The life and fate of Pastor Thomas Müntzer. Icestorm Entertainment

References and comments

  1. ↑ Length checked using the DVD release of the film.
  2. ↑ The character is referred to as Vogt in the film .
  3. ↑ a b c Wolfgang Jäschke: Martin Luther. Reformer - heretic - national hero? Munich 1983, p. 275.
  4. ^ The Internet Movie Database - Companies involved for Thomas Müntzer - A film of German history
  5. ↑ a b The Internet Movie Database - Start dates of the film Thomas Müntzer
  6. ^ Censorship of DEFA films in the Federal Republic ; Retrieved on: January 21, 2016
  7. ↑ The film was released on the occasion of the 450th birthday of the Reformation on the day the theses were posted on October 31, 1967. The film in question is included as a feature on the DVD release of the film.
  8. ↑ The film first ran on December 10, 1989 on GDR television . See: The Internet Movie Database - Ich, Thomas Müntzer, Sichel Gottes
  9. ↑ Thomas Müntzer - Reconstructed film version ( Memento of the original from July 13, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. and Thomas Müntzer - Der Film ( Memento of the original from July 13, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) 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. , accessed on: July 14, 2017 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mdr.de @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mdr.de
  10. ↑ See: Albert Norden : Um die Nation . Berlin 1953, p. 17.
  11. ↑ See, for example, Manfred Mai : Nothing but freedom! The German Peasants' War. Munich 2004.
  12. ↑ film-zeit.de - Reviews - THOMAS MüNTZER ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.film-zeit.de
  13. ↑ Thomas Müntzer (Eastern Zone). In: DER SPIEGEL. 28/1956.

literature

  • Horst Dähn: Luther and the GDR. Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-929161-81-8 .
  • Wolfgang Jäschke: Martin Luther. Reformer - heretic - national hero? Munich 1983, ISBN 3-442-06443-0 .
  • Robert Walinski-Kiehl: History, Politics and East German Film: The Thomas Müntzer (1956) Socialistic Epic. In: Central European history (CEH). Volume 39

Web links